LEBANON, Tenn. (WTVF) — A place in a quiet part of Wilson County has just opened for business. It's a spot for creatives, and it has a special connection to a history that changed the world.
Being in the middle of a recording studio's creative energy is home for Nettie Freed. If you know a little about rock history, that name 'Freed' might just sound familiar.
"My grandfather was Alan Freed the disc jockey, credited with coining the phrase 'rock 'n' roll,'" said Nettie. "As he famously said, 'rock 'n' roll is bigger than all of us.' It certainly is!"
All around the place, Nettie's got the pictures and posters telling the Alan Freed story; the live concert series he hosted, the films he starred in. In the 1950s, the stars and hits he was promoting were considered bold and controversial.
"The radio and music was so segregated," Nettie explained. "Minority groups were not featured in the same places. [Freed] brought music to a white audience that they wouldn't otherwise hear. That is breaking down barriers of segregation. My grandfather often referred to the fact that, 'I am not a civil rights hero. I just like what I hear.' He did get in a lot of trouble for what he did, but he kept going. To me that's what rock 'n' roll is, community meets rebellion."
Today, Nettie continues a family legacy of music.
"Welcome to Spellbound Recorders!" she smiled.
She's just opened a recording studio, working alongside a team of engineers in rural Lebanon.
"I think the tranquility of nature is so, so important to the creative process," Nettie said. "You feel the silence. You hear the wind going through the trees. Suddenly, you are writing a song."
Nettie never got to meet her grandfather. Alan Freed died in 1965. In opening a place for everybody, any kind of artist, Nettie hopes she'd make her grandfather proud.
"Rock 'n' roll brought people of all ages, races, sexes together," she said. "That's something only music could do. What my grandfather stood for, it was giving artists who otherwise wouldn't have a platform to be heard. My grandfather helped promote artists from all walks of life. I want to create music here that fosters individuality, community, and rebellion just like he did."
For more on Spellbound Recorders, visit here.
