Chris Kirkpatrick grew up an underprivileged kid. Cheap motels, trailer parks, no electricity or telephone and living in his car when they had one, were all a part of his childhood. So when he was approached about the opportunity to partner with Notes for Notes (N4N), it was a no-brainer for him to jump on board. Notes for Notes is a non-profit organization that provides youth with free access to music instruments, instruction and recording studio environments so that music may become a profoundly positive influence in their lives. Today, N4N has served over 8,500 youth in 23 studios across 11 states/14 cities. Located inside Boys & Girls Clubs/ youth facilities (and soon public schools), N4N studios are gateways to exploring music, careers in the industry and producing original music that empowers young musicians. The Franklin studio opened earlier this year.
"I've been in studios doing production and vocals for the last 30 years of my life," say Kirkpatrick. "And more recently, doing more editing, finalizing, finishing type things, so it was the perfect opportunity. And I know what it's like to need this type of atmosphere, to need camaraderie and not just during school but after school."
"So when these kids go in, they get to work on equipment that they would normally otherwise not get to see," continues Kirkpatrick. They get to learn all the aspects of recording. Some of them want to be singers, some of them want to be guitar players, or drummers, some want to be producers. And Notes for Notes is so good about giving those kids those opportunities And some want to learn, like me, the whole gamut of what goes on in the music business."
In fact, Kirkpatrick and his family (wife Karly and son Nash) moved to the Nashville area a little over eight years ago to be near the music. "We came because of the music," says . I always thought that I felt like a big fish in a small pond in Orlando, and I had a big studio set up there. The scene in Orlando had kind of died out and a friend of mine, one of my business partners, passed away and it was hard to get back into that studio and work again with his kind of aura around it. So we came here for a fresh new start. I had been up here writing since the 1990s. I told my wife this would be the place, if we ever moved out of Florida, that I'd want to go because of the music, because of the scene. And I think one of the greatest things is being a music fan as well, you get venues from Kimbro's to the stadium and everything in between, to where it's like if you want to go see somebody, it's like, 'oh, I'm playing this club, it seats about 200, 500, 700, 1,000, 15,000, 100,000.' It's just a great opportunity as a fan of music to be around the music too. And it gives me a lot of opportunities to rub elbows with producers and writers and do a lot more."
Doing more is in Kirkpatrick's blood. For one thing, he's been a staple on the Pop2000 tour for the last three years. "Every year, I feel like it gets bigger and we do more shows," he says. "The yearning is there for that old 2000s era to come back. And we change the show up and we have a bunch of bands from that era. We've had Mark McGrath from Sugar Ray, Smash Mouth, The Calling, BBMak, Ryan Cabrera, O-Town, Jeff Timmons from 98 Degrees, myself, LFO. And we just bring this fun little package to all these places. People hear the songs and it just brings them back." For another thing, he co-hosts the Name Drop podcast with buddy Brian McFayden, termed 'the VIP section of the airwaves, but without the velvet ropes and bouncers.'
So what's next for Kirkpatrick? Perhaps an NSYNC reunion tour? "It's not a definitive yes, it's not a definitive no, but it's definitely the most it's been discussed. And I feel like there's going to be something." Fans will just have to sit tight on that one.
Whatever is next, Kirkpatrick will give it his all. "I knew the minute we moved here, I was like, this is my place," he says. "This is my home. I love the people. I love the town. I don't want to change anything about it. I just want to enjoy it and I want to feel like I'm part of everything. Being a dad is amazing. Being a husband is amazing. Being a musician is still amazing. I still get to do these tours. We get to do the podcast. And just see what comes out, whether it's going back in the studio and writing some more, getting back to the production side of it. No better place than here to do that. And mostly, just once the next step hits, taking it and running with it. Everything we do, we do 101% and put more than everything we got into it." @iamckirkpatrick NotesForNotes.org
About The 'Name Drop' Podcast
"Brian {McFayden} and I have been friends for 25 years. And we were sitting around one day at one of the Pop2000 shows we were playing, and he was co-hosting with me. We were talking afterwards, and he's like, 'Dude, we need to do a show together. We should do a podcast.' I liked the idea but everybody's got a podcast. What would it entail? We were trying to figure out ideas and who we could have on. I looked at him like, 'Dude, you're just sitting here name-dropping the whole time.' He says, 'Name Drop. That's it.' I was like, 'What are you talking about?'
And we start kicking it around. We all have stories with other celebrities like when you're doing The Tonight Show or you're doing interviews, you're doing magazines. You don't say, 'Well, let me tell you about this time I was with Michael Jackson' or whoever. So we like to get these stories out of people, and basically we tell the person when we start to interview, that we want you to name-drop. We throw out ideas, we go through their history. And if a story comes up like, 'Oh, and that was a time where I met this person, then we can go off on those tangents and talk about whoever that was. And we've gotten a lot of really cool stories and really, really random name-drops. Everyone from the Pope and Nelson Mandela to presidents to whoever, and it always feels like six degrees of separation, which is fun." @namedropshow
Podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/name-drop-with-chris-kirkpatrick-and-brian-mcfayden/id1700562265
"I came from a trailer park to superstardom, and that's a story you hear about a lot and you've seen, but it's major culture shock."
"I knew the minute we moved here, I was like, this is my place. This is my home. I love the people. I love the town."