Alacia Reynolds
Alacia Reynolds is a singer songwriter who cut her teeth on gospel music. These days, she is finding her lane as a powerhouse vocalist in r&b and hip hop with new releases on the horizon. This is her HOME story . . .
I had the goal
of re-branding my YouTube channel to post live recordings of cover songs. However, before discovering HOME, I didn’t have a consistent space to practice and record. At that time, I was gigging a lot on top of being a ‘non-traditional’ Belmont grad student. Even though I was connecting with musicians at Belmont, they lacked the experience I sought.
The first night I saw the HOME space, I signed up for my membership. HOME provided both the professional community and the proper production space to record the YouTube videos that I needed. Today, most of the videos I have on my YouTube channel were recorded in HOME Studio B. The HOME community was also able to link me up with some professional tech people, engineers, and other amazing artists. It has been an extreme blessing.
When I started re-doing my YouTube videos, I had planned how many videos I was going to do, when I was going to do them, and so on and so forth. With maybe four videos recorded, I was just getting ready to do some more...but then the tornado hit East Nashville. Unfortunately, HOME was damaged and needed to close for a minute. And right after the tornado, the COVID shutdowns happened and gigs stopped.
As a gospel musician,
60% of my pre-pandemic income was playing church gigs. During the lockdowns, a church out in Memphis hired me to do videos for them. BUT because I had no money coming in, I could not afford to continue recording videos at HOME and pay my membership. However, I needed to do these videos in order to earn income. It was a catch-22.
Fortunately, HOME decided they weren’t going to charge anybody for coming in to use the space. I don’t know how many months during the pandemic they did that, but we had no membership fees while still being able to come in and record.
That is what kept me afloat during the first five or six months of the pandemic...because if they had asked me to pay...I was already struggling as a musician, but I couldn’t afford to not take that church gig.
At that moment I realized, “Ok! These people actually care about us.”
They knew that it would be not only a waste of my money but also a waste of their investment in me if I didn’t continue to build my career as a musician and continue to get stuff done. That still is one of the most valuable things that has happened to me my whole time in Nashville, period.
Another super cool moment that happened through HOME was with a YouTube video I recorded in HOME’s Studio B.
I recorded a cover of a song by Monica—who is one of my inspirations as an artist—when she and Brandy competed on Verzuz. At the time, since Verzuz was really hot, I thought it would be a good idea to ride the wave of social media buzz around one of the episodes. I recorded and released the video September 2020. Then maybe around June 2021, someone from Glamour magazine reached out to me via email and said “Hey, we saw your video of Monica on YouTube.”
I’m thinking it’s just some random person that wanted to put me on their YouTube channel. But she asked for an interview as well, which I agreed to do. During the video call, she asks if she can start recording and send a video link for me to open. I told her I was ok with that. She sends me a link while we’re on Zoom and says, “click on this.” When I click the link, I see Monica watching the video of me singing her song, reacting to it, and giving me pointers and compliments on my version of her song. I was like, “Wow! Ok!”
When Glamour posted the video of Monica reacting to my cover of her song, I felt really validated, especially since I thought nobody was watching those videos. But that instance made me realize that it’s not about how many people are watching them, it’s about who is watching them.
My YouTube channel has grown by over 100 people since then. Legitimate followers, too—not people who came to watch the video and then left, but people who comment and say, “I’m so glad I found you! When are you going to put some new stuff up?”
That experience meant a lot to me. I recorded those videos because I felt the need to keep putting content out due to people at HOME encouraging me and telling me, “We’re ready for you to record something!”
I actually just finished laying down some more tracks. I’m working with https://homeformusic.org/jarrel-piersonJarrel Pierson—he’s one of the producers at HOME. He’s going to help me record some of my original stuff so that we can stockpile content and start releasing my music as singles.
Because of the relationships I have built through HOME, I know that if I need music recorded efficiently, professionally, and to sound bomb, I have at least three people right now who will answer the phone every time.
No other community I’ve been part of before feels like HOME. When I have worked with others in the past, there’s been a hostile competition where people think, “I’m going to help you only to the point where you won’t outshine me.” It never feels competitive like that at HOME because everybody I’ve talked to there has a billion things going on. If anything, we push each other to take on more projects.
I joined HOME when I was in school and had a lot going on.
Even so, I knew that if I could make myself go up there, I could accomplish something amazing for my music career. And any time I’m at my house and think to myself “I need to record a video now” or “I need to go practice real quick” I just go up there!
Sometimes I just need to go into a space that is not my house to focus, concentrate, and get some work done. When I go to HOME instead of a coffee shop, I know that I’m not going to worry “how long have I been here?” or “when are they closing?” I know that HOME is always open—24/7.
From the leaders at HOME to the other members—everybody is actually trying to help you. Not only are they trying to help you, but they also make sure that you’re held accountable to the goals you set for yourself.
They don’t simply take your money and let you rest on your laurels. With all the content they’re constantly putting out, all the events they have, and all the opportunities to learn...when you go there, you realize, “These people want to see me creating and want to see me successful, both as a business person and as an artist.”