South Central Kentucky, while at times wanting for public performance venues to showcase it, has long been associated with a wide variety of musical talent, so the recent explosion in exposure always seemed to be on the horizon.  More than once, the world has taken note.  More than once,  the world’s musical landscape has been impacted by grounding breaking, locally bred talent.

Morgantown’s Arnold Shultz, a mentor of Bill Monroe is said to have put the blue in bluegrass; Bowling Green’s Ernest Hogan, not only broke racial barriers to become the highest paid performer of any color in the 1900’s, he is credited with the first syncopated music concert in history and is often cited as predating Scott Joplin as the Father of Ragtime; Sam Bush is the undisputed Father of Newgrass, which he launched with his other Grammy award winning friends Curtis Burch who settled in Bowling Green, Courtney Johnson of Hiseville and later John Cowan who honed his skills while residing in Bowling Green; The Hilltoppers were ranked as the number one group in the country in the early 50’s and their member, Glasgow born Billy Vaughn went on to become the first artist to have a platinum record in the US and the first American artist to have a gold record in Europe; Charles Neblett, Russellville’s first black magistrate would leave his childhood home in Simpson county to begin his political career as one of the Freedom Singers, the groundbreaking group credited with giving voice and solidarity to the Civil Rights Movement under the tutelage of Pete Seeger; and Bowling Green raised John Carpenter would change the horror industry forever with not only his script and directorial work, but the composition and performance of a theme song that appears on some lists as the most recognized song in the world today. 

Other groups like The Kentucky Headhunters of Barren and Metcalfe counties or Nappy Roots and Cage the Elephant of Bowling Green have been critically acclaimed for their originality and influence over new generations in country, rap and rock.  Still others have made a comfortable living and made their mark as professionals whether by recording and performing on sound tracks and albums by top artists like violinist Chris Carmichael of Bowling Green, arranging and performing jazz standards like Cave City’s reknowned Beegie Adair, rocking it out on the road like Black Stone Cherry, touring with legends such as Robert Plant like Byron House, making their mark on Gospel like John Edmonds and WKU graduate Larnelle Harris or writing hits for mega stars as Philip Douglas has done for George Strait and Aaron Tippin or Morgantown’s Coweta House has for Bobby Vinton and LeeAnn Rimes. 

The list, by no means complete here, of rich talent to emerge from the area seems unusually large for the population size, yet in recent years recognition appears to be growing at a faster rate once again.  The latest group to take the first step towards what they hope will be their chance to make their mark on today’s music scene is Schools.  The garage rock band, centered on the songwriting of Jeremi Simon, includes an all star cast of local performers from some of Bowling Green’s most popular bands: Russell Brooks (00TheRabbit) on keys; J.D. Minor (The Hungry Ears, Dead Dick Hammer) on lead guitar; Joey Bennett on bass and Daniel Marlowe on percussion.

After being together for just a year, the group has caught the attention of Grammy award winning producer, songwriter and musician Jay Joyce.  Joyce’s resume is diverse, from playing for Iggy Pop to writing and recording for Emmylou Harris.  His is a name both recognized and respected in the music industry, and a production deal with him has the potential to be the springboard for a music career – just ask local rockers Sleeper Agent. 

Sleeper Agent, the 6 piece band, self labeled on Facebook as jaggernaut/manic/melody/rock, is fronted by the dueling vocals of Alex Kandel and guitarist/songwriter Tony Smith and backed by Justin Wilson on drums,  Lee  Williams on bass,  Scott  Gardner on keys and Josh  Martin on lead guitar.  What began as a simple production deal for an album with Joyce, lead to being signed on the Mom+Pop label and appearing in most every major music publication from Rolling Stone to Spin before their debut album was even completed.

When asked what’s next for the group, Schools’ manager Ryan Zumwalt said, “I’d like for them to take the time to be as creative as possible and be themselves.  Great artistry can come out of that and Jay Joyce is great at capturing it… usually something magical can happen.”  He hopes working with Joyce will influential in finding others needed to build the team that can help Schools be recognized for their talent. 

Having penned a repertoire of songs to choose from, Jeremi Simon talked to me by phone about the exciting process of choosing and then enhancing the music with Joyce for their upcoming album.  “Honestly, it’s like Christmas morning every day to be able to focus on songs and get input from such a talented personal.  It’s just a dream come true… We came in eager to get experience and see what his ideas were.”  Any fear of being changed has already dissipated as Simon describes Joyce as “true to the heart of the songs” in his arrangements and colloboration.  That instinct, says Simon has made all of them more comfortable with being open to all of his ideas.

So how does a Jay Joyce become acquainted with local groups like Schools and Sleeper Agent with so many artists vying for his attention?  There’s little doubt that it is in part due to the support  of Cage the Elephant, who has become seemingly omnipresent in the music world, appearing in a broad spectrum of magazines, late night talk shows, movie soundtracks and even on video games. Their rise to the top of U.S. rock charts after their success overseas has been accompanied by a relentless dedication to promoting their roots and continuing to embrace the local scene.  Sleeper Agent and Schools are two among several groups which also include Canago, Morning Teleportation, Thee Japanese School girls and others that the band has arranged shows with, listed online among their favorite groups and mentioned in interviews with major publications.  They’ve even become deeply involved with the local music festival Starry Night Music Festival, determined to see it evolve into a prestigious showcase event.  And, with their boundless energy and deep rooted sense of community, it may not be long before we are reading about another local band in the pages of Rolling Stone.