Today we’d like to introduce you to College Grove Strings.
Hi College Grove Strings, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
We are four sisters— Charis, Cana, Christa and Carmel— that make up a string quartet!
We are four of six children that grew up in the Nashville area, in a musical family. Our mom, Jan, was (and still is!) a church organist and pianist and our dad, Fred, a songwriter. Once we were able to read, we were taught piano by our mom, and once proficient, were given the choice to choose a different instrument to learn. Charis, the oldest chose to learn violin, and the rest of us were not original, and all followed suit. We started playing at church for special music opportunities, which then turned into family and friends asking us to play for their weddings and events. We quickly realized that a group of four violins is not ideal (hardly any arrangements available, etc., and most of all, no low end!), so Cana switched to the viola and Carmel switched to cello, making up a string quartet. What began as a favor to friends and family, quickly turned into a wedding and event business.
After going by “The MacKrell Sisters” for years, we are still known by that name to some, but we branded ourselves “College Grove Strings,” paying homage to the city we grew up in, College Grove, TN.
Classically trained, the “MacKrell” name was at the top of Mid-State and All-State competitions, concerto competitions and orchestra rosters for years, and professionally, we have appeared in multiple music videos, played some of Nashville’s biggest stages and even appeared on the reality TV show, “Chrisley Knows Best,” as a string quartet!
These days, we play for dozens of weddings and events per year, regularly play at area churches, both together and solo, and play with local symphonies and augment area ensembles.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Mostly! We have certainly learned some lessons along the way, though, as we did not set out solely business focused:
-We learned early on that everybody gets a contract! Even friends! This protects us, but also protects our clients. Some things we have learned to include in said contract:
– We learned to have a “rain clause” in our contract. Though we want to please everybody, our instruments cannot be subjected to precipitation. We will still happily be a part of a rainy wedding, but we just have to be covered!
– We learned to have a “temperature clause” in our contract as well. We don’t want to take the fun out of anything, but if it is 25 degrees without a heater in sight, it is downright impossible to play our very best!
– We even learned to specify needing four, “armless” chairs— we have shown up before being expected to play from bar stools, piano benches, church pews, and even grandma’s antique rocker!
We love what we do and we truly want everyone be thrilled with the music we provide— these are just some of the ways we have learned we can ensure we play our very best!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We provide live string music for any event, specializing in weddings and providing background music for events and parties!
We are all classically trained, but can play any genre well, from classical/traditional music (Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, etc., including sacred), to contemporary genres like modern pop (our Taylor Swift repertoire seems to be ever-increasing!), classic pop/rock, Broadway/movie themes, even country and bluegrass.
Because we have played music together since we were young, we feel like and have been told that we play extraordinarily well together! With this, we have found it to be very important to us to deliver the same high quality music, no matter when or where we play. Because of this, we are not a contracting company; meaning that, the same core group of musicians shows up each time. If one of the sisters is not available for one reason or another, we have a small, select group of musicians that we play with regularly that sit in as needed. This means that when we are booked, we’re booked, but we are proud to offer and deliver a consistent quality that we believe sets us apart!
Having been in the wedding business for many years, we have several wedding coordinators that we work with regularly and have made us their “first call,” have played at most greater Nashville venues, and are a preferred vendor for some! Having played for hundreds of weddings and events, nothing phases us!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Collegegrovestrings.com
- Instagram: https://Instagram.com/collegegrovestrings
- Facebook: https://Facebook.com/collegegrovestrings
- Youtube: https://YouTube.com/@collegegrovestrings7982
