Two-time Grammy Award nominee Sarah Kelly and her husband, producer Jonas Ekman, opened the Sarah Kelly Music School in Market Street in September.
The couple has housed the school in The Woodlands since 2011, but they needed a larger space to accommodate the number of students enrolled.
“I can help prepare them for how the music industry actually is without the fluff,” Kelly said. “We are not management. We are not a label, but we do kind of function as both. We are not pretending to want to be that. We don’t make them sign anything. We don’t want to own their music. That’s a core principle of mine.”
Kelly brings 2,000 gigs and a decade of touring experience to the table. With five full-length albums and experience in the Christian and secular music industries, her goal is for her students to become well-versed in all aspects of the business.
Ekman, who is originally from Sweden and formerly worked as the music director at Woodlands Church, has been producing music for 20 years.
Since Kelly specializes in vocal production and Ekman specializes in music production, they said they hire the best in the business to cover the other aspects.
“The industry is just full of a lot of glorified karaoke singers right now,” Kelly said. “We’re trying to combat that and help the singer-songwriters fill in that gap between now and the [time when they have] 200,000 fans so that someone can take them seriously and put them on a different map than even we can.”
Special guests who have visited the school to teach include five-time Grammy Award winner Bruce Swedien, who recorded and mixed Michael Jackson’s music; Mike Clink, who has worked with Guns N’ Roses and Heart; and Bill Hearne, president and CEO of Capitol Christian Music Group.
“We just don’t give them the license to be less than they can be,” Kelly said. “Of course, when they mess up, we’re there to hug them at the end of it, especially the ones that are hard on themselves. But, the ones that need to be a little harder on themselves and practice a little more, we’re not afraid to demand it. We are a specialty sport. We are not your average piano lesson.”
Classes
The Sarah Kelly Music School offers courses for all ages.
- Music Slam is a two-hour weekly class in which students learn to sing and play piano or guitar. Ages 5-12. $195 per month.
- Music Boot Camp is a two-hour weekly class that helps students sharpen two of four skills: vocals, piano, guitar or music production. Ages 13 and up. $195 per month.
- Songwriting is a 90-minute weekly class taught by Sarah Kelly herself, and students learn everything necessary for becoming an artist or a worship leader. Ages 13 and up. $250 per month.
- Career Coaching is for students who have proven their dedication to their craft and are good candidates for launching an actual music career.
