LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Neil Armstrong was the first person to walk on the moon, but Jarius Wilcox aspires to be the first person to rock out in space.

What You Need To Know

  • AMPED Music Academy serves youth between the ages of 6 to 18 

  • AMPED provides free music production, singing and instrument lessons

  • The academy is located in west Louisville

  • Its program director hopes to see similar programs in the community 

“I’m just making beats up. Like this beat, that’s a whole made up beat I made,” said Wilcox. He is a member of the AMPED Music Academy, where youth ages six to 18 are empowered to express their creativity through free music lessons and programming. 

“I learned piano, drums, guitar, singing, kind of everything,” Wilcox said. 

Program Director Dave Christopher picked up his first instrument as a young boy. The music producer and rapper says music is a transformative tool at AMPED (Academy of Music Production Education and Development). 

“We’ve changed a lot of lives and just in terms of building confidence, building equity,” said Christopher. “I think that we just create opportunities for people to be themselves. It creates chances for a different perspective on life. It opens up a world that says, ‘Oh, I can do anything that I want to do.’”

Local musicians serve as instructors and mentors that guide kids to be healthy, productive members of the community. 

“A Grammy, a music career is awesome, but what I want to know is: are you okay with who you are as a person? Did you leave AMPED with a better scope of who you are as a person and what you want out of life?” Christopher explained.

AMPED has served as a safe place for hundreds if not thousands of kids in west Louisville. Christopher is proud of the impact the academy is making and he hopes to see more programs like AMPED in the community for kids who sing different tunes. 

“For kids that are not into music or maybe into the arts, where do they go, just to have a space to talk to somebody, because that’s truly what a lot of them need. They need somewhere to go, and we cannot be the only space,” Christopher said. He believes other kids like Wilcox deserve to discover the things that make them over the moon happy. 

AMPED also provides services for adults, including its technology workforce training and Russell Technology Business Incubator. 

For more information about these resources, check out their website.

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