When Matthew Mulnix and Karen Boyer wanted to build a music enterprise, they turned to Main Street, hoping to provide a service to bring out the best musical talents in local children.
Now over the past year, FreeState Music Academy at 715 Main St. has provided a wide range of one-on-one music lessons whether it be acoustic guitar, piano, songwriting, the banjo, ukulele, voice, songwriting, music theory or performance.
Students can start taking lessons as early as elementary school and then as late as high school.
Mulnix, one of three co-founders along with Boyer and Diane Spoonemore, wondered why there was no place like FreeState Music Academy already in town when he decided to start the business himself.
“We wanted to be the option in Eudora,” Mulnix said. “They shouldn’t have to come to Lawrence or Kansas City to take music lessons.”
In addition to being a founder of FreeState Music Academy, Mulnix is an alternative pop/rock musician who has created several albums, including Truth Exposed in 2013, Relative North in 2017 and Sugar Coated Sadness in 2021.
He is also founder of the Lawrence Songwriter Showcase and has taught lessons at the Lawrence Arts Center and Americana Music Academy in Lawrence.
Throughout his early life, he always did music by ear, which eventually led to him doing music lessons at an early age.
Since that point, he offered music lessons in his house before eventually finding Eudora and now doing music lessons there, too.
He plays all of the instruments they teach at his home studio while also focusing his time on pop songwriting.
“I have wanted them to learn songs from the Beatles and Billie Eilish,” Mulnix said. “Then they’ll have a good foundation and then in six months they’ll write their own songs.”
Boyer and Mulnix felt this past year was a success in bringing in new clients to FreeState Music Academy, trying to get the word out any way they could.
Lessons typically cost $100 per month, and that includes four 30-minute lessons. The academy tries to give grants to students who may need help financially.
“The people that I’ve talked to are really excited,” Boyer said. “People have said, “Oh my gosh. There’s a music store!’ For both of us, building relationships has been important.”
FreeState Music Academy has big plans heading into 2023. They hope to have concerts showcasing their students’ work and to add more instructors who specialize in other instruments.
“I want to share my passion with others, and I want to see more teachers in there and there being more capabilities,” Spoonemore said. “I like the small town feel, and I just thought it was a great place to make our mark.”
Spoonemore, who helps out mostly on the creative side by creating music videos and logos, continues to be impressed with the passion the two of them have for local residents interested in music, understanding this business is a lot more than learning how to play an instrument.
“We wanted to create a place that we can demonstrate our passions because a lot of people have the same passions,” Spoonemore said. “The biggest thing that I see is they have a passion to help children. They open people’s eyes to what is out there.”
People can sign up for lessons by emailing [email protected].
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Reach reporter Gus Baylow at [email protected].
