“I honestly can’t think of anything else I’d want to be doing during my college career… I don’t think there’s anything more rewarding than stepping back on the day of a show after long months of preparation and seeing the happiness it brings to those around you,” said Bailey Berry, Music Maker Productions’ artist relations chair. 

Music Maker Productions, or simply Music Makers, was established over 50 years ago. Music Markers is a non-profit, student-run organization at Mississippi State University which books, promotes and produces concerts, whether it be for small or big artists, in the MSU and Starkville area. The organization is well-respected in the music business. Its main goal is to add to the music scene of these areas on top of providing them with quality entertainment.

“I love the fact that we provide the Starkville area with a very diverse music scene,” Tristan Peavy, a member of Music Makers Productions, said.

Music Makers invites plenty of smaller artists to Starkville, helping them to further their musical reach; however, the organization does not limit itself to new-and-upcoming artists. They have put on plenty of shows played by more popular artists, such as Grace Potter and The Nocturnals, Bob Dylan, Jack White, Rae Sremmurd, Alabama Shakes and A$AP Ferg. The combination of different shows they put on crosses genres of music and generations of listeners.

Music Makers do not put on shows just for the sake of fun. They are focused on growing the musical community and culture of Starkville.

Noah Slack, the organization’s student director, is empowered by this goal.

“I think that everyone should always be striving to improve the environment they are in, no matter how that may be done. A lot of the reward that I get from MMP and the main thing that keeps me motivated is the idea that live music has the power to make a community stronger,” Slack said.

Though Music Makers has definite goals in the present, many members are excited by the potential the organization has for the future. Members such as Slack believe there is a deeper meaning behind what they do as a non-profit organization. 

“My hope for the future is that the campus and community will embrace new, unique music and that Starkville becomes a hub for small-town concert-goers. I believe Music Makers is a service organization, and I hope to see growth in the influence and effect that MMP has on everyone’s daily life in Starkville,” Slack said.

Bailey Berry shares Slack’s vision of music as a pathway to growing the Starkville community.

“I hope that future members will maintain the bigger picture for our purpose, which is essentially to evolve Starkville’s music scene. Music has the ability to bring people together, and I think that’s something that is always necessary in a community. I just hope that we can continue to make those connections with both students and the city of Starkville,” Berry said. 

Some of Music Makers Productions’ upcoming shows include Mississippi’s own Kingfish with special guest Jimmy “Duck” Holmes March 19 in Lee Hall, as well as 38 Special with special guest The Molly Ringwalds on April 22 at the Mississippi State University Amphitheater. Additionally, their annual Old Main Festival is on April 3, but the lineup is still to be determined.

Music Maker Productions is a non-profit organization, and all their shows are free to the public. They love being able to provide this kind of service to the community they are apart of. Whether it be putting on shows for existing fans of an artist or introducing new music to future fans, Music Maker Productions is striving to add to the music culture of Mississippi State University and Starkville as a whole.

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