Thank you, Sharon Corbitt-House
Several weeks back, when a local developer bought the building that contained Nashville's historic RCA Studio A and announced his intentions to tear it down and build condominiums, he caused a huge uproar in the local community.
Nashville's in the midst of a huge economic boom right now, and lots of land in the city is more valuable than the businesses that sit on it. But Studio A, started nearly 50 years ago and operated under various names during that time, has seen some of music's biggest names come through its doors and record songs like Lee Ann Womack's I Hope You Dance, George Strait's Amarillo by Morning, Dolly Parton's Love Is Like a Butterfly and Eddy Arnold's Make the World Go Away. Willie Nelson and Bobby Bare have recorded there. So have Hunter Hayes and Kacey Musgraves. It may not be Nashville's most important studio, either currently or in the past, but there's a lot of history there. And Nashville's got a mixed record when it comes to preserving its history, usually because the people in the town are so focused on what they're doing next, they don't always spare time to worry about keeping what they did.
That's why Ben Folds, who currently leases the RCA Studio A space, decided to draw a line in the sand. He feared he'd probably lose the studio, but he wanted to make sure the residents of Nashville knew what they were losing and paid attention to keep it from continuing to happen.
Folds was the name attached the cause, but in many ways his studio manager, Sharon Corbitt-House, was the driving force behind the push to save Studio A. She got the word out about rallies, stayed in touch with the media and made sure the people who cared knew what was going on.
Fast forward to a few days ago, and a preservation-minded business man named Aubrey Preston, who attended the first brainstorming meeting about saving the studio, walked into the developer's office and walked out two hours later having bought the property.
Folds sounded the alarm. Preston laid out the cash. Both are being rightly recognized as heroes in Nashville right now. But Corbitt-House deserves great thanks, too — without her work, Studio A likely would be a hole in the ground right now.
A friend of mine got it into his head that Corbitt-House deserves a day of pampering at a local spa in gratitude for the work she put into saving the studio and that part of Nashville's legacy. I couldn't agree more. People like Sharon ought to be recognized and rewarded for their hard work. I didn't have a way to donate to buying the space, but I can sure help thank one of the people who did.
Thanks, Sharon.
Oct. 14: Send Sharon Corbitt-House Out to a Day Spa for Pretty Much Saving Studio A, via Fundly
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