Fort Knox Studios Plans Nashville Facility, Names Ray Amico As GM

Fort Knox Studios—including rehearsal space, production stages, co-working and business office space, and climate-controlled storage areas—has named Ray Amico as General Manager to run its new Nashville facility, overseeing day-to-day operations. Amico has relocated from Palm Springs, California, to Nashville.

The nearly 190,000 sq. ft. operation is still being constructed at 640 Massman Drive and aims to open fully later this year.

The facility offers both monthly and hourly rates for rehearsal rooms. There are 90 rehearsal spaces of various sizes available, with 24/7 access, for monthly rates beginning at $500/month. Many of the monthly rehearsal spaces are large enough for two bands to share.

Additionally, 20 rehearsal rooms are available for an hourly rate of $8 per hour, per person. The hourly rooms are approximately 300 square feet. Each hourly rehearsal space comes equipped with backline, as well as powered floor monitors and board, and mics. The rooms are acoustically tuned.

Office/business space is also available only to music, film, and creative technology-aligned businesses. The office and business spaces will include 24×7 access, furniture, interior design, event space and conference/breakout rooms, coffee and tea service, as well as wifi/internet access.

Ray Amico

During his more than 30 years in the music industry, Amico has served as Toni Braxton’s production manager, and Nashville native Kesha’s tour manager, in addition to work with Jane’s Addiction, Fiona Apple, Sinéad O’Connor, and comedians including “Weird Al” Yankovic and George Lopez.

Amico began working in the industry as a musician with bands in his native New York City, before working as a studio engineer for several years, and later running sound and organizing tour logistics for numerous bands. He added roles as FOH engineer, tour accountant before moving into production management and tour management.

Amico first interacted with as a customer with Fort Knox Studios Chicago, where the operation launched in 2009.

“My first experience with Fort Knox in Chicago, I was blown away by their diversity and what they were providing for the industry, by having a facility to provide hourly rentals for young, small bands who needed a place to work out of for hours at a time,” Amico tells MusicRow. “Then you had month-to-month rental space where engineers, songwriters, producers could bring in their own equipment, work in a 24/7 environment of their own choosing and it didn’t have to be in their garage or their basement, where their neighbors would complain. It blew my mind to be able to have all of that in one space, along with all the other amenities.”

He hopes to provide a unique combination of services to the Nashville music market.

“One thing I noticed in Chicago, that I hadn’t seen done anywhere else, was being able to physically place the industry directly next to the artists in one place. There are offices and interactions between management companies and artist relations and vendors, working physically in the same facility where the artists themselves are storing their gear and rehearsing out of and operating their tours out of. I think that is unique, having the ability to provide all of those different types of accesses and customizable studio spaces and office space in one place.”

For more, visit fortknoxstudiosnashville.com.