KTBA Funds Music Production Lab in Pittsburgh

School Name – Pittsburgh Brashear High School

Teacher Name: Mr. Lindey

PITTSBURGH, PA – Thanks to your donations, KTBA donated music production equipment to the music program at Brashear High School! This included a Shure SM58-LC Cardiod Vocal Mic, stands, cables, and acoustic foam that are certain to take their music production courses to the next level!

At Brashear High School, more than half of students come from low-income households. This makes it increasingly difficult for teachers to expect parents to pay for instrument rentals, repairs, or to contribute to classroom fundraisers. However, from a cultural standpoint, the melting pot of cultures and religions has been a huge motivator for classrooms to explore musical concepts that identify with the students’ heritages.

Mr. Lindey, the music teacher at Brashear explains, “Our school is a high needs, inner city, public high school with a large immigrant and refugee population, many of whom speak little to no English. It is a dynamic, racially diverse school that boasts multiple opportunities for innovative creation, including digital photography, STEAM track, spring musical, fall play, band, African drumming, CTE programs, ceramics and now, music technology and TV production!”

The combination of Music Technology and TV Production is a great way to expose students to modern trades, vocational opportunities, and creative outlets of expression. Thanks to the interactive and engaging programming at Brashear, students have become more and more excited to enroll.

“The current electives classes were busting at the seams (thirty plus students per class), which is why music technology and TV production were recently added,” Lindey adds. “[However,] our traditional music technology lab has left students feeling a bit deflated and underwhelmed. Many of my students have been looking for increased opportunities to record their own music, and a recording studio in the classroom will do just that.”

Now that the process of recording music has become easier, it made sense to help Brashear find its way “to the booth” and provide useful tools to let students record their own material. The microphone package and the sound dampening foam will provide opportunities for the students to practice, record, and engineer their own original songs.

Thanks to the generosity of Joe Bonamassa fans and music lovers like YOU, Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation was able to fund Mr. Lindey’s project. The equipment will be delivered to the school within a week.

Mr. Lindey expresses his gratitude:

Dear Keeping The Blues Alive Foundation, Inc.,

Thanks so much for funding this project! You’ll see how much this is appreciated when I send you some photos and thank you letters from my students. This is my first funding request and I’m still a bit in shock over your generosity. My students will be shocked, too!

With gratitude,
Mr. Lindey

Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation is a 501c3 organization that makes a donation to a school in need of music instruments, supplies, sheet music, and more every week! Your donation helps us to keep music in schools, while preserving blues heritage. Without your support, we would not be able to reach as many students around the country. We are grateful for your generosity.

If you would like to help us fund next week’s project, click here to make a donation! All donations are fully tax-deductible!

Thank you for keeping music education in schools!

Shawn Hagood for Keeping the Blues Alive