Driving down Broadway in downtown Prosper is reminiscent of the small town it was not too many years ago. Catty-corner to The Gin and up the stairwell to your right once you come in Texas Amps and Axes, you may stumble upon the unassuming office of Iris Meneley. Celina residents Iris and John Meneley are proud owners of the space at 117 W Broadway Street, where they have been bringing the joy of music to the Prosper and surrounding communities.
Since opening in 2016 with five teaching rooms, the music-school-meets-guitar-shop has expanded four times and grown into the 20 teaching rooms they now have at their Prosper location. Although there isn’t much public information to release yet, Iris says they are also excited to be working on opening a Celina location.
“Coming soon to Celina—we hope, we think, we feel, we’re confident—trust in God that that’s going to continue to be the pathway,” Iris said. “It’s been a journey; it’s been really magical.”
The music school and guitar shop Texas Amps and Axes prides today all began their senior year of college with John’s business plan capstone project and Iris’s love of other worlds within pages.
“I’m obsessed with books; I love reading. If I could just read for a living, I would be the happiest person in the planet. That’s my favorite place to be - is in a book,” Iris said. “We always talked about opening what we called The Beatnik, and it was like a café bookstore with a music shop on it. So, that was like the first [iteration] of—the inception, the idea—of Texas Amps and Axes, and then it became what it is today.”
Equipped with two degrees in music business from DBU and a dream, John and Iris opened their doors. The Meneleys’ business opened just six weeks after their son Hendricks was born, and like their beginnings, quickly brought family to music.
“When we first opened…we actually had a pack and play behind the desk, and that’s where he was for so much of our beginning years: in his little pack and play, and then toddling around…All the other kids in the studio would come and go play with him, and it was my favorite,” Iris said. “The kid has never met a stranger; he would grab books from his room, and then he would go hand them to parents and crawl in their lap like, ‘Read to me!’”
The family, Iris says, they have built through the 38 teachers they have today, showcasing a long list of accolades and degrees amongst them, are not just impressive and talented.
“We’ve been extremely blessed to find some of the coolest, oddest, funniest teachers on the planet,” she said. “…And they’re all— not just teachers— but they’re performers, too. So, they’re able to kind of share a whole different side and aspect of music with their kids, which I think helps make the students more well-rounded. But they’re great, they’re like a little family to us.”
The teachers they pick are important to them, Iris says, because they all point back to their mission and purpose.
“We’re so passionate about being here in Prosper and Celina that it’s something that we look for: is just someone to grow alongside us,” Iris said. “I think the team that we’ve built is so magical because of that.”
Iris says they push for a more relational, customized approach to music education rather than the transactional, institutional experiences of other music schools.
“What that means on our end is we’re listening and playing a lot more Taylor Swift music than we’d like to. It is tremendously funny to me that I can kind of like track, throughout the years, the different musical phases that we’re in. We definitely had ‘Swift’ years, and we’re back to it,” Iris said. “We see your Shawn Mendes, and we’ll raise you something that’s way better.”
Iris explains that music is not just a skill to learn, but a part of life to appreciate.
“Sarcasm is something that we offer very much for free, here. It’s just part of our charm,” Iris said. “But for our kids, it’s more of understanding that music is meaningful, and powerful, and it has the opportunity to get them through some of the darkest times that they’re going to have in their life, and some of the most celebratory times in their life. We really just want them to understand music for what it really is, not just what you hear, but how it makes you feel, and be able to use that and channel that into their lives.”
As they anticipate opening their Celina location, Iris reflects on the past year they’ve spent working towards it and the two-steps-forward-one-step-back experience they’ve struggled with.
“That’s been the experience, but just trusting that God’s got something that’s perfect for us,” Iris said. “Waiting on His timing, which is not my timing, which is an important thing to remember.”
Texas Amps and Axes, 117 W Broadway Street in Prosper, or online at School.TexasAmpsAndAxes.com.