Parker Feagins is going to cap off the holiday season with an exclamation point.
The 14-year-old L&N STEM Academy freshman has started a business – YP Entertainment, LLC – to promote young musicians in the Knoxville area. His first show will be Saturday, Jan. 5, from 6 to 11 p.m. at The Central Collective, 923 N. Central St.
He’s calling it JAMuary the 5th.
The bands he has lined up to play include Garret Smith, Nightfly, Astro Biz, Denzel Hendricks, Indigo Age and Vagabon Brew. Admission is $10 at the door and $7 here.
“This is the first show I’ve done so far,” said Parker, who lives in Halls with his parents, Jenifer Feagins Fraker and Jason Fraker, and four siblings. “I really like organizing shows and creating community around them.”
Parker will donate the profits for the show (once the bands are paid) to the Coalition for Hemophilia B, an illness both he and his little brother Ben have.
“Ben and I both have the mildest form of it, so we’re lucky, but it’s really disabling for some people. And because I know by what they have done for me, with my mild hemophilia, I can imagine what they could do for someone with more severe hemophilia – they built a pool for a kid one time. Kim (Phelan, the director) has helped me through a lot.”
Parker, who is interested in engineering and math, plays bass clarinet at school but got hooked on the business side of music when he was marketing his robotics team and learned about things like SoundCloud.com.
“I’ve met great people through this work. It’s interesting and very quirky, and I’ve learned that I don’t have to be the public face of the music,” he said.
When asked if he’d like to be the next Ashley Capps – the founder of AC Entertainment who has become famous for events like Bonnaroo and Big Ears – he laughed and said that’s his goal.
“I’m thinking about applying for an internship there.”