3 minute read
A Famous Friend
Chris Young Café celebrates entertainer's gifts to his alma mater and provides a practice lab for students
story by Gina Fann and Carol Stuart with photos by Andy Heidt and J. Intintoli
Multiplatinum recording artist Chris Young hasn’t forgotten his roots as a former student at MTSU or as someone who grew up in Murfreesboro. While Young’s latest hit pays homage to his “Famous Friends” back in Rutherford County—the football hero, the “life of every party,” a sheriff, a preacher, the teacher of the year— the singer-songwriter continues to invest in students following in his footsteps at his hometown university.
Young even performed the song live for the first time when he christened the stage at the new Chris Young Café on campus in January. Continuing to serve as a benefactor to MTSU, Young donated $50,000 to turn the former dining facility into a College of Media and Entertainment learning lab by day and a live entertainment venue by night.
An eye-catching “Famous Friends” mural and a Tennessee Music Pathways tourism marker also were unveiled outside the café at the livestreamed grand opening.
“I studied jazz, I studied . . . how to sing in multiple languages,” Young said, “and . . . I wouldn’t have the breadth of musical knowledge that I do, sing the way I do, and know some of the people that I know, if not for this University.”
Inside the facility, students will learn skills from nearly every facet of entertainment: music business, audio production, songwriting, venue management, sound reinforcement, and lighting and rigging.
The Charlie Daniels Journey Home Project, a major donor to MTSU’s Charlie and Hazel Daniels Veterans and Military Family Center, also gave $10,000 for a Daniels/Young scholarship for veterans.
Young has maintained his True Blue ties since his time at MTSU in 2005. He donated touring audio equipment in 2012 and funded a Recording Industry scholarship in 2016.
A famous friend, indeed.
Exterior of Chris Young Cafe at Middle Tennessee State University.
From dining hall to performance hall
• $50,000 donation by Chris Young
• 4,096 airy square feet of expanded space
• custom LED video wall for Media Arts
• state-of-the-art audio and lighting control boards
• 2 club-style seating areas and a VIP-type zone
• performance venue and teaching/rehearsal space
• mics, soundboards, amps, and more from Young’s tours
• 240 capacity
• opened as Woodmore cafeteria in 1963
• reopened as the Cyber Café in 1999
Young accomplishments
• 3 billion+ on-demand streams
• 13 million singles sold
• 11 career No. 1 singles
• 28 gold and platinum records
• RCA Nashville country artist
• Grand Ole Opry member
• 2 Grammy nominations
—MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee
—Chris Young
Tennessee Music Pathways now has two heritage markers on campus—with the other at MTSU’s Center for Popular Music.
Generations Before
Young’s mother, Becky Harris (’84), an MTSU alumna and MTSU Foundation board member, is involved in the music business as founding partner at HuskinsHarris Business and was awarded an honorary Recording Industry professorship at the grand opening. Young’s grandfather, Richard Yates, performed on the Louisiana Hayride.
Young and his mother, MTSU alumna and music business entrepreneur Becky Harris (’84), join University and state officials at the ribbon-cutting in front of the “Famous Friends” mural. Professor Leslie Haines (Visual Communication) designed the artwork in collaboration with colleague Jonathan Coulter Trundle (Photography).
Julien Baker, Lecrae, Luke Laird, Hillary Scott, and Torrence “Street Symphony” Esmond are among MTSU-trained musicians and industry stars, educators, and community leaders honored on the “Famous Friends” mural outside the Chris Young Café.
