Today we’d like to introduce you to Ryan Kilgore.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I started playing the saxophone around the age of 10. After playing in church a few years as a drummer, I joined the band at school. From there I was quickly noticed for my musical ear. Introduce you playing the saxophone somehow Growing up in East Atlanta; I attended Chapel Hill Middle School under the direction of Mr. James Berry and Mrs. Natalie Brown, in which I learned to enter something sentimental here . I then went on to Southwest Dekalb High School where I was introduced to the marching band under the direction of some amazing group of band directors to include Don Roberts, Demetrius Hebert, James Hill, and Steven Key. My high school band played the opening ceremonies of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, GA, the 1997 Macy’s Parade in New York City, NY just to name a few. I joined my first band, Illusions, with whom I played my first professional performance with at age 14. I then was recruited to Clark Atlanta University under the direction of Cedric Young where we filmed 20th Century Fox’s, “Drumline,” starring Nick Cannon.
From there I joined a band called Sol Factor, and we were eventually picked up by Tyler Perry and toured with his play, The Marriage Counselor. After that tour, I became the touring saxophonist for Mr. Stevie Wonder for almost a decade. 2015 I started a music foundation called The Kilgore Music Foundation. The mission is to assist in showing a different side of music by introducing students to the behind the scenes world in music and entertainment through Mentoring, Teaching, & Inspiring. Striving every day to create more opportunities for youth to see and experience how they can make a living-learning the skills needed to work behind the scenes by providing them with WorkForce Develop programs, literacy programs, and much more. All done directly inside of a billion-dollar industry, right in our own backyard.
Please tell us about your art.
Wow, this is such a hard question on so many different levels, lol. I am a musician, saxophonist, creative director, instrument collector & donator, inspirer, and most of all a man trying to leave a legacy for the future with his gifts. I was blessed to find music and art at an early age; it’s what’s inspired me to want to be connected to the world through music and the arts. What also makes it hard to answer this question is that I’ve been transitioning musically from just being a musician that plays the saxophone to becoming or evolving into an Artist that is willing to use his platform to make way for others to see it the way I’ve been blessed to see it and experience it.
After traveling the world with Mr. Stevie Wonder, it was like getting a snapshot of all the many musical communities around the world being neglected or pushed to the side. When in fact the world needs music to survive because it’s one of the few things that has the power to connect us all in such a beautiful way. Stevie Wonder, the artist, has shown me this is possible, and those experiences inspired me to have thoughts on how I can leave a legacy of music and a legacy for giving back into the music community globally, one city at a time.
I started the Kilgore Music Foundation to do just that, Mentor to be life-long musicians, Teach about different career paths in music, & Inspire with community engagement. For example, one of our main initiatives is to collect instruments from those who have stored or left them in the attics, garages, basements, and even pawn shops. We see it as an opportunity to collect these instruments and find a way or make a way to get it to student musicians all around the world.
This year on April 26th, 2018, during Ryan Kilgore Day in Dekalb County, we started a partnership with the Dekalb County Libraries to become the official drop off stops for instruments to be picked up by KMF. Let’s use this opportunity to grow our music communities back up by collecting these instruments, but also providing after-school programming to help teach these new musicians the many different career paths in music through workforce development and career driven initiatives.
As an artist, how do you define success and what quality or characteristic do you feel is essential to success as an artist?
This is such a double-sided view in my opinion. On one side you can say that we’re doing great. We have social media, video content to last two lifetimes, and access to millions of people at a time. However, on the other side of that coin, there are music programs getting cut left and right with no true explanation as to why music and the arts are being excluded from human development.
The industry has most certainly changed in regard to how artist is revered and/or admired throughout society. There are a lot of people in the field doing the same thing over and over again expecting new and different results, which happens to be the very definition of insanity. One of the ways to help change the mentality within our own community is to teach and provide services through music & arts, workforce development, and community engagement.
I would like to see more skills being taught in different capacities so that artist, musicians, creatives, and lovers of music can learn about all the things surrounding them, so they can have a better time building on their artistry. Here in Atlanta, we have a billion-dollar industry right in our own backyard. It’s time to prepare our future generations to be aware of the opportunities and to prepare them to compete in the job market for music production, television & film, and community engagement through service.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
My initiatives will be shared via my foundation’s website: www.kilgoremusicfoundation.com.
You can find my music on all musical platforms: iTunes, Google Play, Pandora, Spotify.
Ryan Kilgore Albums:
Conversation with Love – Ryan Kilgore
The SaxTape – Mixtape – Ryan Kilgore
Just Walk – Kilgore
Ryan Kilgore Social Media handles:
IG: @KilgoreMusic @KilgoreMusicFoundation @TeamKilgore
Twitter: @KilgoreMusic
FB: @RKilgoreMusic
Contact Info:
- Website: www.KilgoreMusicFoundation.com
- Email: Kilgoreassistant@gmail.com
- Instagram: @KilgoreMusic
- Facebook: @RKilgoreMusic
- Twitter: @KilgoreMusic
- Other: www.kilgoremusicentertainment.com
Image Credit:
1. At a show in Italy taken by Sonia Ritondale
2. On stage with Dynamix at their first annual County wide Talent Showcase/Fundraiser held at Clarkston High School by Tiffany Mahaley
3. Receiving the proclamation for Ryan Kilgore Day April 26th 2015
4. Visiting Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta – picture taken by Music Therapist Beth Collier
5. April 26th 2018 on Ryan Kilgore Day in Dekalb County with my Middle School teacher Mrs Natalie Brown who just recently passed away! This picture was taken by Aric Thompson with Dream Multimedia Group
6. & 7. These pictures are inside my middle school Band Room’s Locker Room (Chapel Hill Middle School) shot by Dream Multimedia Group
8. With Dynamix at the City of Decatur library after our performance, shot by Dream Multimedia Group
9. Instruments that have been collected from our Summer Long Instrument drive Partnering with the DeKalb County Libraries
Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
