To hear his old friends tell it, Hollis Headrick is a cool cat -- into rock 'n' roll and soul music -- and a great musician.

Headrick helped drive the rhythm section behind the skins for the high school rock band The Sounds of Luv, complete with Beatles-inspired mop tops and suits -- in the 1960s.

He also founded a rock and soul group that often played before Central High School band concerts. In true rock 'n' roll fashion, they made the youths in the audience go crazy and lose interest in the school band's repertoire.

The 1960s-era Sounds of Luv high school band of Hollis Headrick. Pictured, from left were Ron Meystedt, Mike Kohlfeld, Dave Headrick (deceased), Hollis Headrick and Brad Graham. (Submitted photo)

"Technically he was just outstanding, he just really had a gift," said bandmate Mike Kohlfeld, owner of local beer distributorship Kohlfeld Distributing and a member of Sounds of Luv. "At least around here, at the time he played, he was just unbelievable. People would just drop their jaws because he would do things that nobody else was doing. He was a real prodigy."

That prodigy's musical talents have taken him far from Cape Girardeau, earning him a job in one of the most esteemed music halls in the United States -- Carnegie Hall. This December marks the beginning of Headrick's third year as director of Carnegie's Hall Weill Music Institute.

Headrick was the first to hold the position with the institute, which was created to expand Carnegie's educational mission. He was also put in charge of the 600-seat Zankel Hall, founded to bring jazz, world music and other offerings to Carnegie.

"That was one of the things that intrigued me, being able to use Zankel Hall to introduce other kinds of music," Headrick said. "Carnegie Hall is no longer solely a temple of classical music."

After graduating from Central High School in 1968, Headrick moved to Columbia, Mo., to pursue a degree in anthropology and to continue his music studies. Those studies took him through two prestigious music schools, the Berklee School of Music and the New England Conservatory of Music.

"I was never that involved with classical music," said Headrick. "I played some pieces in high school and college, but my interest was always in pop music and later in jazz and contemporary music."

He taught music in academies in Boston and New York, always with the goal to "bring people together around music" and use music to "break down barriers."

Headrick has tried to accomplish that mission by bringing singer/songwriters, African gospel groups, Portuguese singers, jazz musicians and others to Zankel Hall. But possibly more important to that mission is the work he's done with the Weill institute, starting programs to train young musicians and adults in classical and contemporary music forms.

As part of the mission, the institute puts on 90 to 100 free concerts yearly all over New York City and provides over 350 events nationwide.

Given his goals, living in the country's cultural mecca is also a perfect fit for Headrick. He's been living in New York for 25 years and says there's no place he'd rather be.

Headrick was in Manhattan on Sept. 11, 2001, and gave a videotaped perspective on the events to Central High School this year. He was joined by fellow Cape Girardeau native and New York City resident Barbara Nunnelly Adler.

"I think New York as a whole has certainly gotten back on its feet, and tourism is thriving, but lower Manhattan, particularly at Ground Zero, is still struggling," said Headrick.

Delays in the construction of the Freedom Tower and arts institution that were to fill the devastated areas have been delayed, Headrick said, disappointing residents.

But Headrick still loves New York and feels natural there despite coming from a small Midwestern town.

He still performs, but the massive competition in New York drove him to enter arts administration. Back at home, though, his performances decades ago will probably be what he remains most known for.

"He was always a real technician," said Brad Graham, a marketing manager at Rapco in Jackson and the bass complement to Headrick's drums in the Sounds of Luv rhythm section. "He was really musically inspired, and he inspired other people."

msanders@semissourian.com

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