For Garrett McDill the road from Sebastopol and home to Los Angeles, California, ran through the Mississippi Delta. He was carried by the vehicle of his love of music.
His choice to major in music took him from East Central Community College to Delta State University’s Delta Music Institute (DMI). It was this DMI connection that ultimately led him to Los Angeles as the audio engineer for the 2019 Mississippi Night at the Grammy Museum. He said his whole story hinges on “someone that knew someone” to connect him with the right people at the right times.
Tall and broad shouldered, he is built more for the football field which he enjoyed while at Sebastopol High School, but his ready smile widens and his face lights up as he talks about his music career.
Garrett said like most musicians, especially the southern ones, his music career began in church where he often sang, played guitar and eventually ran the sound board. As a child he was in Sulfur Springs Baptist Church and as a teen in Sebastopol Baptist Church where most of his experience running sound occurred.
The son of Amy and Larry McDill of Sebastopol, he said his family is not particularly musical although he attributes his preferences in music to his father’s “good choice of music.” His guitar playing ascribes to his maternal grandmother, Betty Wall. She and his grandfather, Bob Wall, “grew up around Bluegrass and Southern Gospel” and were both musicians, he playing the fiddle and her guitar.
Garrett grew up learning to play the guitar and sharpening his skills as an amateur who just loved to play. He enrolled in ECCC in the music program where Chas Evans, the guitar instructor, introduced him to classical guitar and helped him “hunker down” to fine tune his skills.
Natalie Emmons, his piano instructor who taught McDill just the required basics, was someone he already knew from church. She was also the accompanist for the ECCC choir he was in. McDill speaks highly of Emmons as “a really great person and a God-fearing woman” who is a personal friend, much more than just a teacher.
Vickie Blaylock, who retired shortly after McDill left ECCC, was the director of the college music department and played an instrumental role in connecting him with the first “someone” who would introduce McDill to the next step in his musical journey.
That someone was Trisha Walker, the director of the DSU Delta Music Institute. Often Walker made a presentation to recruit new students from ECCC for her music program, and McDill immediately wanted to be part of the DMI.
Knowing he did not want to teach music; he was interested in the DMI group when he learned that audio engineering was a part of the program. While McDill enjoyed working sound at church, he had never considered that as a profession. A new door opened that intrigued McDill. Between his becoming interested in the DMI program and enrolling in it. McDill worked for Stage Lite Sound of Pelahatchie providing professional audio for most of Central Mississippi concerts. He found his place in audio engineering before ever actually entering the DMI program. How he connected with Stage Lite Sound is another instance of “someone knew someone” that has been a vital part of his journey.
McDill says as a Christian he has prayed for God’s guidance in his life and sees these instances of “someone knew someone” as God’s work. McDill continued his work with Stage Lite Sound throughout his time at DSU and began working with the company full-time after his graduation from DSU in May 2019 until he moved to Nashville for a new position in November.
McDill sings the praises of DMI and his two and a years in the program. In addition to providing contacts with a lot of artists and networking. In January 2019, the DMI program set up auditions for their contribution to the Mississippi Night at the Grammy Museum. McDill said that Mississippi has produced more Grammy winners than any other state. The night before the February Grammy Awards is Mississippi Night at the museum. A tradition that draws a lot of important people from the state. McDill won the audition for audio engineer and worked the event not knowing how many Mississippi celebrities were there. He did know that Walker from DMI and other DSU faculty, Charlie Abraham and Barry Bays and DSU President William Forge were in attendance.
Getting ready for the big night took McDill and all the musician winners working together five nights a week for a month. When he arrived in Los Angeles for the show, McDill worked as audio engineer for the entire Mississippi Night rather than just for the DMI segment.
Mississippi Artists, songwriters and anyone important in the music recording industry were invited to the show, as well as the governor and other Mississippi celebrities. McDill said he was so busy working that evening that he did not even have time to look around to see who came. But he did enjoy some tourist attractions before the group returned home.
In May when McDill graduated from DSU he became the first college graduate in his immediate family. His mother works for Forest School District and his father drives a truck. Justin, his elder brother by 11 years, is an officer with the Sebastopol Police Department and a deputy with the Scott County Sheriff’s Department.
McDill and his wife Justice moved to Sebastopol after his graduation in May before moving on to Nashville. Meeting his wife was another “someone that knew someone” blessings in his life. Danny Smith, a drummer and musician friend from Carthage, introduce him to his future wife Justice. For McDill it was another prayer answered from above and the couple was married in June 2019.
The couple is now settled in in Nashville where Justice works with Elite Sports Medicine and McDill works as the sound engineer for up-and-coming country music artist Frank Foster. The new position with Music City Audio and Visual is another direct result of knowing the right person at the right time.
McDill sees God’s hand in every part of his life to this point. He believes that every instance of “someone that knew someone” was his prayers being answered. He believes there are only more blessing ahead and is excited about the future.
