NO REVERSE
BY GABE HART
PHOTOS BY MADDIE STEELE
Featured in Vol 9, Issue 1: Community
Anytime I tell anyone that I’m from Jackson, I always follow it up with a postscript; an annoying little addendum that became an involuntary response at some point in the recent past.
Someone will ask me where I’m from, and I’ll start with Tennessee. They’ll inevitably comment on the mountains, and I’ll have to disappoint them by telling them that I’m on the other side of the state — the flat side. Then, I’ll tell them I’m from Jackson and they’ll wait for me to explain where that is. Thus my postscript was born: “...right in between Memphis and Nashville.”
Jacksonians know that this isn’t entirely true. We’re closer to Memphis in terms of mileage — about thirty miles closer to be exact. I think we’re probably closer to Memphis in terms of our vibe and our culture, too. But, what I’ve realized as I’ve pondered the necessity of explaining where Jackson is located on a map is that I’ve never given Jackson enough credit for being its own space with its own culture. Part of that reason, however, is that nothing has ever clearly defined that culture here.
Growing up, we were really excited that Wal-Mart would be a Supercenter. Then, The Columns developed with chain restaurants and box stores peppering the development. People migrated to the northwest part of the county, building cul-de-sac subdivisions of facsimile construction. Downtown was left empty; midtown was much the same. East Jackson was stagnant. The south side of town got a Long John Silvers and a Hardee’s, but for many, many years nothing of culture or originality seemed to be created.
Casey Jones and Carl Perkins were about the only things I’d ever associate with any sort of Jackson identity and even those tended to be caricatures of the people themselves. In my mind, Jackson was never able to stand on its own; it was always a space between Memphis and Nashville.
Over the last several years, however, there's been a buzz building around Jackson. We have a young mayor who is willing to look toward the future. We have entrepreneurs investing in Downtown Jackson. We have creatives who are taking risks to make Jackson a place that is vibrant and authentic. We’re no longer satisfied with being given restaurants and stores that are reproduced everywhere else; we want something that’s ours.
Music is something that has forever been woven into the culture of Jackson. While Carl Perkins and the Rockabilly sound are what most people think of first, that staccato rhythm and piano twang is only a part of what Jackson’s music scene was and is. The musical talent that Jackson has produced — from Full Devil Jacket to Erin Rae to LOLO — is as diverse as the community. The problem, though, is that Jackson never had an infrastructure to develop that talent. At least not until now.
Lauren Pritchard-Cobb, known everywhere else as LOLO, is more than just Jackson famous. She’s established herself globally as a powerful voice in the music industry after a stint on Broadway. She’s collaborated with major acts like Panic! at the Disco and written a critically acclaimed off-Broadway musical. Her prolific songwriting has netted her multiple albums, but her strength lies in her desire for autonomy and authenticity through her music. A few years ago, she left her label at Atlantic Records, moved back to Jackson, and immediately started to invest in her hometown.
Sitting in her kitchen in Jackson, she reflected on leaving her label and thus beginning the process of bringing a new kind of investment to Jackson — an idea so serendipitous that it was fifteen years in the making.
“A lot of record deals are very, very restrictive. I realized that I was not willing to concede certain things under a major label, “ she said. “When I decided to leave the label, it was a very frustrating process that took over a year to complete.”
Once she left the label, Lauren reached out to an old friend; someone she had known for over a decade.
Ashley Kate Adams’s energy is infectious. Her voice is powerful and vibrant; it’s exactly what you would expect from someone who has performed on Broadway for years. We met at the public library in Downtown Jackson, and I was worried that the tranquil setting wouldn’t be able to hold her vitality.
Ashley Kate grew up in Louisville and attended the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, a prestigious school for the performing and media arts. She moved to Manhattan at the age of 21, landed her first role on Broadway at age 23, and has been on multiple television and film productions. Not simply satisfied with being in front of the camera or the crowd, she began producing music with her former classmate from CCM, Mitchell Walker. After nearly a decade of helping artists produce albums, they decided to start their own label — No Reverse Records.
“Back in 2005, Mitchell and I first met in Cincinnati and we would drive around in my father’s car — a red Chrysler that would only move forward; it couldn’t back up. When we were looking for a name for our label, it hit us: No Reverse Records. It was something that honored our past as friends, honored my father who has since passed away, and honored music because my father taught me to love music in that car when I was a kid,” she explained.
No Reverse launched in 2021, right around the time Lauren was looking for a trusted ally to produce her next album(s). Drawing on their personal connection and friendship, No Reverse felt like the perfect place for Lauren to turn.
Ashley Kate recalled the phone call.
“Just after we started the label, Lauren calls me. Not only is she my friend, but I’m also a huge LOLO fan. So, she calls me and was wondering if we’d be interested in making a Rockabilly record and we were so excited about it.”
The beginnings of any venture, personal or business, is always laden with excitement. But, the genesis of anything can also be extremely frightening. Both were true with the start of the label. An underlying and stabilizing bedrock, however, was the friendship that had been forged over a decade between two southern women who found themselves in the epicenter of culture in New York City.
“Ashley and I have known each for a very long time. I knew they had started this label and I had been on my own since I left Atlantic Records,” Lauren explained. “I knew a lot about Ashley Kate and the work she and Mitchell had done, so I reached out to them because I knew I would continue to want to keep making records.”
When Ashley Kate got the call from Lauren about joining the label, Ashley Kate couldn’t hide her excitement, but she also immediately recognized how their personal relationship would be a huge asset for their professional relationship.
“Not long after my father passed, Lauren became a huge presence in my life — just showing up for me. Even though we’d known each other for a while, we started to realize we had so much in common: our individual values, our passions, our family values. We were personally getting close while also having so much in common professionally,” Ashley Kate said. “One of my favorite things about Lauren is how she deals with people, her sense of boundaries and interpersonal communication. We were similar in that way. And, not only does that make for a great friendship, it also lends itself to being successful business partners.”
Conversations for the recording process began in late 2020 and in 2021 Mitchell and Ashley Kate made their way to Jackson to start the recording process with Lauren at Jaxon Records.
“I had two albums I really wanted to make post-pandemic, so I reached out to Ashley Kate and explained the concepts of the albums and just told her what I wanted to do,” Lauren explained. “They were like ‘Hell yeah! Let’s do it.’ And then we were off.”
The recording process was so good that two other albums were recorded in 2021 by Lauren under the No Reverse label. Not only was the music production brimming with output, something else was happening with the label — a change that Ashley Kate felt the first time she was in Jackson.
“When we got to Jackson to record, it was like a lightning in the bottle moment. I took a moment to look around the studio at everyone recording their parts on the record, and I felt this eerie but peaceful presence of ‘you’re home’, and I allowed myself to think about how this would look if this was the rest of my life. It was such a peaceful feeling,” she recalled.
After the album was made, Ashley Kate and Mitchell headed back to New York City, but something about Jackson was sticking with Ashley Kate.
“After the recording, I went back to New York, but I couldn’t shake the feeling of Jackson and I knew I wanted to get back as quickly as I could,” she said. “We came back to Jackson a few months later and recorded another album with Lauren and released it with the Bicenntenial Celebration at the ballpark.”
Across the table, after she said those words, I tried to put myself in Ashley Kate’s shoes for a second and wonder what it would be like to have the feeling of Jackson ever present in my mind if I found myself living in a different town. The reverse has happened to me many times. I would feel the presence of a town in Texas where I would spend weekends with my daughter. I lived in Jackson, but I felt McKinney calling me. I had never considered Jackson someone’s McKinney. I’ve lived here my entire life, but Ahsley Kate was seeing and feeling parts of Jackson that I had taken for granted. When I asked her what tangible things she could match to that feeling of “peace” she had in the studio, her answer was swift and certain.
“The people in Jackson — Anthony and Lauren Kirk, The Pruetts, Lakyn Bowman — all of these young, warm, and welcoming creatives and entrepreneurs. I saw my home in the faces and energy of others in Jackson. There are so many people where I saw my future in Jackson,” she said.
When the decision was made to move No Reverse Records to Jackson, Ashley Kate knew she couldn’t stay in New York. It was a city she and her husband had fallen back in love with during the pandemic; it had been home for her for nearly 15 years, but she felt what was waiting in Jackson was something in which she needed and wanted to invest.
What makes No Reverse different as a record label is that they give their artists autonomy while supporting them at the same time. In essence, they put the artist ahead of themselves.
“One of the most important characteristics of No Reverse is that the artists own 100% of their music. We are working to support them in the making and marketing of the album. Basically, anything they need help with. We’re a full service label company that doesn’t make artists sell their soul to us,” Lauren explained. “We look for touring opportunities, sync licensing opportunities, marketing opportunities; we just want to be a constant support. We take a 20% service fee, but that’s it.”
Not only will No Reverse Records be an artist friendly label, the plan is to weave the label with the existing artistic community in Jackson and begin to establish an infrastructure for creatives — musical, visual, and any other type of art that someone may want to have in their daily lives. Not only will that infrastructure provide opportunity, local musicians will also have a chance to assist with the record making process.
“We want to partner with the community to create an actual music industry here in Jackson because we have enough talent in this town to be on par with what Detroit was with Hits USA —a fleet of talented musicians that people from all over the country would come to work with,” Lauren explained. “That industry used to exist here, but it never got the support it needed. What we’re trying to create is a world where we can not only support local artists here (writers, singers, musicians), but also provide support for artists all over who want talented studio musicians and would want to record here in Jackson at our label.”
Having a known record label want to invest and exist in Jackson is newsworthy enough, but No Reverse wants to immerse itself in the culture of Jackson and help create something of intrinsic value amongst all of the creatives in the city. That vision is quickly becoming a reality already.
On the first weekend in May, No Reverse Records is partnering with other artists in the city to host the Vintage Maker Music and Arts Festival. Artists from the label will be performing at the event alongside some of Jackson’s local talent.
“What we want to do at No Reverse is to partner with local creatives and collaborate with other artists, and we’re doing that right away with the Vintage Makers Fest in May. We didn’t necessarily plan on doing something like this so soon, but we’re excited to be part of it,” Ashley Kate said. “Some of the artists on our label will be performing that night. We just signed Music by Kota and they’ll be here playing the show along with Jackson artists LOLO and Hunter Cross.”
They won’t stop there.
As part of the immersion process, No Reverse plans to host a yet to be named music club as part of the label. Music club events could include paying to watch the recording process with all proceeds going to the artist for expenses. There could also be release parties with the artists playing acoustic versions of their music to small gatherings or intimate crowds.
No Reverse is also partnering with Hub City Brewing to create a special beer that will be released on the weekend of the Maker Fest. Not only will Hub City produce a beer for No Reverse, Hub City will also play an integral role in providing space for artists to showcase their talents. It’s already a hot spot for concert events in Jackson.
“Lauren wanted to create a live event where music lovers in Jackson could come in contact with their favorite artists. Instead of coming to see a live show, they attend a live session of recording. They would pay for an evening of entertainment, but the money would go to the artist to help pay for the record,” Ashley Kate said.
The Tennessee Legends of Music Museum at the Carnegie in Downtown Jackson hosts a display of all the musical history in Jackson — from the origins of the Hard Rock Cafe to Carl Perkins’ and his Blue Suede Shoes. Lauren Pritchard is part of that display, and she recognizes the importance of honoring that history in Jackson. She also knows how much further we can go when it comes to promoting the diverse musical talent Jackson has and has always had.
“This isn’t just about the musical history of Jackson. The history is important and we want to acknowledge it and celebrate it but we also want to broaden the exposure of the diversity of musical talent here. New Orleans has done a great job with this by honoring the past but also supporting the up and coming creatives in the music scene. That’s what we want to do here,” Lauren elaborated. “We want to partner with Hub City Brewing as a landing space for new artists. Jerry (Corley) gives so much to the community because he believes in the musical culture here.”
For most of my 30’s, I spent a lot of time at the Downtown Tavern. On Wednesday nights, Randolph Robinson hosted “Original Music Night.” It was my favorite night to go to the bar because there would be no cover bands or endless setlists of songs I’d heard over and over and over again. These were original artists who wrote their own music and own lyrics and performed them in front of a crowd mostly composed of strangers. There’s a vulnerability to that type of performance.
I can remember seeing Christian Lee Hutson perform there. He’s gone on to find major success with Phoebe Bridgers and Conor Oberst. I saw my friends, Joe Garner and Dylan Evans, play their own songs at separate album release parties. Molly Parden, The Bones of JR Jones, and Mechanical River are all artists who have graced the stage on random Wednesday nights in Downtown Jackson. Their talent was unmistakable, but the infrastructure for organization wasn’t here. And, that’s a word Ashley Kate repeated several times in our conversation — infrastructure.
“Every time I'm in Jackson, I feel like I’m in a Hallmark musical movie. Everyone already works together so well; everybody’s leaning on each other for support. I feel so lucky that we get to be part of building the infrastructure of music in Jackson.”
Jackson is growing; that is something that is undeniable. The direction and emphasis, however, is still up for grabs. Much like the feelings Ashley Kate experienced after she left Jackson the first time, the impact of music and art on a local culture can be ambiguous. But it’s also drastically important. No Reverse wants to be a cornerstone of creativity not just for professional artists but for the community as a whole.
“We want to be more than just a record label; we want to nurture people who can artistically express themselves for a lifetime. They don’t have to be a professional musician or artist; they can simply be people who want to experience art in their everyday lives,” Ashley Kate explained. “What I saw in Jackson was that the magic was all here — the stuff you can’t manufacture was already set up. We just want to be an entity that grows the community and culture and galvanizes the groups of creatives within the community.”
Jackson will always find itself situated along Interstate 40 sandwiched between the sleekness of Nashville and the toughness of Memphis. But we don’t have to borrow our identity anymore; No Reverse is helping us add to it and re-create it — honoring the past and changing the artistic future.
Learn more about No Reverse Records at www.noreverserecords.com.
GABE HART is the Chief Communications Officer for Haywood County Schools. A lifelong Jacksonian, Gabe is a product of the Jackson-Madison County School System and taught English in JMCSS for fourteen years. Along with contributing to Our Jackson Home, Gabe also writes monthly columns for Tennessee Lookout and The Jackson Sun and has been published in The Tennessean. He lives in Midtown Jackson with his daughter who attends high school at Madison Academic. When he's not in Jackson, he's most likely traveling with his partner, Laura, or spending time with her in her hometown of Philadelphia.
MADDIE STEELE is a writer and photographer who recently graduated from Union with a degree in Journalism. She loves telling real and authentic stories from behind the camera or on the page. In her spare time, she loves hosting people, traveling, and baking cakes.
