Today we’d like to introduce you to Justin Clay.
So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I am the youngest child of Bernard Clay and Janet Flagg-Hoard and I was born in Daytona Beach, Florida. My father, also a musician, was the Vice-President of Bethune Cookman College before our family relocated to the metro Atlanta area; I was around 3 years old. We moved to Atlanta to seek treatment for my health condition as I was born with only one kidney. Following the move, I spent the next two to three years undergoing multiple surgeries at Egleston Hospital.
Having grown up here, I consider myself a native of Stone Mountain, Georgia. My love of music began in the church starting when I was six years old, where I played drums with my father who was a skilled traditional gospel pianist. Music and legacy were all around me growing up. The pastor of our church, Benjamin Weldon Bickers, taught Martin Luther King Jr. how to drive and I was told he almost married Martin Luther King’s sister. Reverend Bickers, who baptized me, would always encourage me to play my music and said “I would be a great Morehouse Man one day”. It was also at that church that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s father held me as a baby. At the age of eight, I played drums in a service honoring Bishop Desmond Tutu, and at that same service my dad introduced me to the gospel composer of “God Is” –Robert Fryson. Subsequently, Mr. Fryson would come over our house and expose me gospel music on the piano .
I took up playing piano at home. While at Allgood Elementary, my music teacher Janice Love commissioned me to write and compose the promotion song for my 5th grade class. This was my first original composition, which I performed solo on piano. Music education has played a major role in my life. My beloved music teacher, Marcia Laird, at Miller Grove Middle School selected me as the featured clarinet soloist in the Dixie Band Ensemble at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg. Ironically, Ms. Laird chose me to speak at her retirement banquet from over 39 years in music education at Johns Creek High School in 2016. I went on to attend Redan High School and was surrounded by gifted classmates: Grammy Award Winning Producers Danger Mouse and Swizz Beatz, TV personality “La La” Anthony, Brian and Brian Casey of the R & B quartet Jagged Edge. Music continued to be a part of my life. Upon graduating from high school, I composed and performed the 1997 Redan High School Class Song “It’s Been A Long Time Coming.”
After high school, I was offered an academic and music scholarship from Morehouse College where I graduated with honors in 2001 with a double major in Finance and Marketing. Although I maintained my connection to music while in college, I focused more on my academics. Less than a month after graduation, my career looked promising and I was heading to Orlando to become a stockbroker. However, one morning I woke up in agony. 48 hours later, I discovered that my kidney wasn’t flowing, and neither was my life. I was diagnosed with renal failure. I needed a transplant but this was no easy fix. I had to wait nearly 2 years and go through procedures like laparoscopic nephrectomy that left me functioning with no kidneys. With not even one kidney to facilitate urination, I was unable urinate for nearly six months. At 21 years of age, I went from planning a promising life to feeling like my future was very bleak. Up until this point, my kidney challenges had always been controllable so I had no clue about what kidney disease was, let alone the new lifestyle I would have to lead. Following the laparoscopic nephrectomy surgery, my lifestyle included: a very restrictive diet, dialysis treatment three times a week for several hours, visits to the doctor several times a month, horrifying laboratory results from time to time, and the inability to travel out of town for any significant period.
As if this were not challenging enough, my search for full-time employment with benefits that would accommodate my medical needs was perhaps more mentally challenging than the physical challenges I faced. There were over 20 surgical procedures between the onset of the disease and the time I received my transplant. After nearly two years of kidney disease, I received a kidney at Piedmont Hospital from my only sister who miraculously had my same blood type. My sister Candace stepped in right on time and saved my life. She donated her kidney to me. Candace’s decision to donate her kidney changed the flow of her life and she went on to become a nurse.
My transplant also changed my flow. Not only my flow standing in men’s room but the flow of my life from stocks and bonds to people and music. I went back to school to become an educator to teach people with disabilities—something I didn’t understand before spending a year on dialysis. I attended graduate school at University of West Georgia, where I went on to become a certified teacher in 10 fields of education. After nearly ten years of being an educator to children with disabilities and working in early childhood development with the Fulton County School system, I resigned from burnout. I wanted to focus more on music but didn’t have a clear path. So I trusted in flow. I found land in a community that needed my music and I built a music school where I have touched thousands of people. Ironically, my school is right next door to the school I resigned from. Sometimes you don’t have to flow far. Matching my music with the needs of children has taught me about the healing power of Music through my school, which is named Music from the Heart (a fully licensed fine arts school).
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
No not at all, rewarding yes.
Around my adolescent years, my parents divorced and my mother moved to Nashville. My father, now a single parent, worked all day and provided for me as best he could. He fell on hard times during my last year of high school. In September of 1996, I returned to our house to find everything we owned on the street. In the blink of an eye, my dad and I went from living in the biggest house on our street to becoming homeless. My father and I stayed wherever we could from halfway houses to Senior Citizen High Rises. However, I had a very close high school classmate whose mother insisted that I stay with them. I stayed from place to place until my dad got back on his feet.
In May 2003, I received a kidney at Piedmont Hospital from my only sister who miraculously had my same blood type (A positive). My sister Candace stepped in right on time and saved my life. She donated her kidney to me. My transplant also changed my flow. Not only my flow standing in men’s room but the flow of my life from stocks and bonds to people and music. I went back to school to become a teacher to teach people with disabilities—something I didn’t understand before spending nearly 2 years on dialysis. I attended graduate school at University of West Georgia and took a full course load (18 credit hours per semester) while teaching children with Autism and Emotional Behavioral Disorders full-time everyday. Some days started at 5am in the morning and didn’t end literally until midnight. Dedicated to educating myself, I would work all day teaching children with disabilities and would rush off to a 2 hour class, which was over a 2 1/2 hour commute round trip on the dark roads of Highway 166. I went on to become a certified teacher in 10 fields of education through the Georgia Professional Standards Commission.
After nearly 10 years into teaching children with disabilities and early childhood with Fulton County School, I resigned from burnout. I wanted to focus more on music but didn’t have a clear path. So I trusted in flow. I found land in a community that needed my music and I built a music school where I have touched thousands of people. Ironically, my school is right next door to the school I resigned from! Sometimes you don’t have to flow far. Matching my music with the needs of children has taught me about the healing power of Music through my school, which is named Music from the Heart.
Our first music school location was an old dilapidated building constructed in the 1930’s in Fairburn. (“A diamond in the ruff”). The building, located on Rivertown Road, had to be completely renovated. There were many nights I slept in my vehicle because I was so exhausted from working on the building. I had a vision that no one could see immediately and the reconstruction of this building took much longer than expected. I initially did the construction work myself along with independent contractors. When I ran out of my personal resources, the community stepped in. There was a guy from my church that cut down trees that were on top of the buildings. One of my musician friend’s husband donated countless hours to complete the building far below cost and there was a company that used earthmoving construction equipment to clear our land for pennies on the dollar. People donated their time and their expertise. A band member’s son not only worked all day and night on sheetrock and floors but he even volunteered to create our logo. At times I didn’t know how I would sustain myself and finish the school, but I took my challenges in stride. With the support of people who believed in me, we completed the building. Equally important, the communities that I serve have supported me over the last five years and I am so grateful for that.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Music from the Heart – what should we know?
Music from the Heart located and founded at 7000 Rivertown Rd. Fairburn, GA is company founded on the backs of my ancestors. I come from a tremendous legacy which embodies “ Too whom much is given much is required!” I am the proud cousin of famed Singer Tina Turner (Anna Mae Bullock). My family’s heritage started in WEST TENNESSEE in a little town called Brownsville, TN. My great great grandfather and Tina Turner’s great grandfather George Flagg were brothers. On January 26, 1889, our Great Uncle Benjamin B. Flagg a freedman sold an acre of land to establish and maintain the historic Flagg Grove School for African American Children. My grandfather, Benjamin F. Flagg was named after his Uncle Benjamin (Founder of Flagg Grove School). Honoring my grandfather’s legacy, both my sons along with myself bear the middle name Benjamin.
Music from the Heart Fine Arts believes that music develops the essence of the human heart and creates an experience that surpasses natural understanding! We are a fully licensed fine arts school and performance company that specializes in educating future leaders of America through music. We began some of the very first Electronic Beats Classes in Georgia. Our beats program allows students to create music and become inspired through drum machines, keyboards, computer software, apps, and more. Our music classes have been the featured music program for several Fulton County Arts and Cultural Centers and several metro Atlanta Schools. In 2016, our music program was chosen by renowned classical pianist and composer Malek Jandeli to close out the Inaugural Ceremonies for Pianos for Peace at the World’s busiest airport. The painted piano that was displayed in Hartsfield- Jackson Airport’s Atrium (World’s Busiest Airport) was donated to our organization and Music facility through Pianos for Peace. Pianos for Peace is nationally recognized and is one of the largest public art display projects in Atlanta; Pianos for Peace, this year alone, featured 88 painted pianos and impacts an estimated half a million Atlantans. Music from the Heart is proud to be one of the locations for Pianos for Peace.
Along with this, Music from the Heart’s founder was chosen and is the Chief Pianist of the African American Philharmonic Orchestra (Atlanta’s first black orchestra) under the direction of the late John T. Peek. Our school has been recognized as a beacon of hope at many of the concerts. I must also mention that we were chosen, by the National Council for Behavioral Health, to perform and present Music from Heart’s story at the Seattle Washington Convention center for their NATCON conference ; as a result, we were proud to have worked one on one with Emmy award winner Gerry Sandusky (Sports director at WBAL-TV and CEO, Sandusky Group) — The National Council for Behavioral Health is the nation’s voice of mental health and addiction providers who care for 10 million adults and children. Also, since our inception Music from the Heart Fine Arts has worked with Emmy-nominated Stepp Stewart (Dance-Fitness Guru from The Dr. Oz Show) to adapt and score orchestral music for the hit play “Cindy”. We have organized and performed countless exclusive events, scored theatrical plays, and aided in retaining scholarships for students. In 2017, we expanded to Tyrone, GA where KIPP Collegiate Marching Band and Banneker High Marching Trojans were featured along with over 30 Local Performing Artists at our 2nd grand opening on MLK weekend.
Contact Info:
- Address: (2 Locations)
(Fairburn/Chattahoochee Hills Studio)
7000 Rivertown Road Fairburn, GA 30213
(Tyrone/ Peachtree City Studio)
100 Millbrook Village Drive Suite A Tyrone, GA 30290 - Website: www.musicfth.com
- Phone: 678-960-8911
- Email: claysmusicfth@gmail.com
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/claymusicfth
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/musicfth
Image Credit:
Music from the Heart
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