Star Maker Independent Artists Association, a local organization based out of Shreveport, Louisiana, dedicates its efforts to helping independent, local musicians gain exposure and further cultivate their careers in music.
The Star Makers Independent Artists Association offers its programs and services to artists and potential artists in Minden and surrounding areas. The organization began a year and a half ago when founder and president, Melvin Ashley, wanted to help local musicians reach their goals of getting their music out and into the public sphere. Melvin Ashley, whose stage name is “The Captain,” helps with the artists’ sound and stage productions while also overseeing the organization’s programs.
“We have new recording artists that we’re trying to get out and people to hear and get to know. We’ve been going for about a year and a half; we’re basically a brand new organization, and we’re really trying to get out there and do stuff in the community,” said Ashley.
Along with helping local artists, the organization also works to aid in crime prevention by offering an outlet to the community’s youth to participate in musical activities. This anti-crime program runs under the motto, “Put down the gun, and pick up the fun.”
“Our organization also works with crime prevention, we use our artists to try to convince the youth that ‘hey there’s a better option.’ We do tutoring where they come in and we teach them stage art, sound production and that kind of stuff,” said Ashley.
The organization is also partnered with a local record label by the name of NC Records. This label is currently run by Cesan Calloway, who offers record deals under his label to the members of the Star Maker Independent Artists Association. By being partnered with this record label, musicians can release their music under a professional label.
There are currently three artists under the organization who actively perform live and release music. “We have three performing artists right now who are Cesan Calloway, RT Muleman Taylor, and DJ Wildman Tim. They’ve all got stuff coming out and stuff they’re working on” said Ashley.
Cesan Calloway is a Minden local and has been actively releasing music since the 2000s. “I’ve been singing all my life, and I’ve got an album out right now and a lot of EPs and some new projects coming out soon,” said Calloway.
Calloway has been a part of the Star Makers for about seven months and offers record label opportunities to the organization’s members. “I’m with NC Record Label so the organization brings all the artists and all the producers to the record label under one umbrella. Right now under the label it’s myself and three other artists that I’m focusing on,” said Calloway.
“You know we are all different artists and, as an organization, I feel like we’re going to do a lot of different things. I mean Muleman is traveling all over, and we all come together with different music and also other ideas and we bring it all together as one thing,” said Calloway.
Rodney “Muleman” Taylor and DJ Wildman Tim are both musicians who got their start in music early in their childhoods. Both artists belong to the soul genre of music, and Tim is also a DJ.
“I’ve been singing since I was seven in the church choir, and I started DJing when I was 14,” said Tim.
“I started singing at the age of 11. I’ve been doing it all my life. The organization group is just getting started, but singing soul, I’ve been doing that for about five years,” said Taylor.
Although their journey isn’t over yet, these three musicians plan to keep on striving to meet their goals and broaden their audiences.