By UL Lafayette Office of Communications and Marketing
Scott Durbin’s selection as a Grammy U mentor rests on expertise that ranges from leading the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s music business program to founding the Emmy Award-winning children’s band Imagination Movers.
The Grammy U mentorship program for aspiring musicians is coordinated by the Recording Academy of the United States. The academy is best known for bestowing Grammy Awards, which are widely considered the music industry’s most prestigious honors.
Durbin has been a member of the recording academy for more than two decades, so “I felt it was kind of long overdue to give back. And what I’m learning as a Grammy U mentor will give me an opportunity to further evolve our programs,” he said.
Durbin became a Grammy U mentor late last year, a role he will hold until May 2. The Grammy U mentorship program gives young musicians across the country access to music industry professionals who provide guidance in a range of areas.
“Grammy U provides aspiring musicians between the ages of 18 and 29 with tools and opportunities needed to launch their careers, whether it be as artists or as members of an artist’s team,” Durbin explained. “The events and programs cover all aspects of the industry, from business and networking to technology and the creative process.”
Durbin, who joined UL Lafayette in 2015, is an assistant professor in UL Lafayette’s School of Music & Performing Arts and leads the school’s music business program. The program provides students instrument training; it also teaches them artist management, entrepreneurship, promotion, merchandising and sales.
Some students enroll in the program to prepare for a business-related career in the music industry. Aspiring musicians enroll to have a back-up plan if they don’t end up making a living as entertainers.
Durbin has a keen understanding of both sides of the industry.
He founded Imagination Movers, a four-member children’s band that became a TV show of the same name. The half-hour show debuted in 2008 and aired in 55 countries on the Disney Channel and the Disney Junior Channel, earning an Emmy Award along the way.
The Imagination Movers’ three-season, 76-episode run on the small screen is long over, but the band lives on. That includes via reruns that air on the Disney Plus channel, the recording and release of albums, and touring internationally when work and family schedules permit.
Durbin’s duties in the band aren’t confined to singing, songwriting or playing instruments, however. He handles the bulk of the band’s business and marketing responsibilities, too.
“The wonderful position that I’m in with still being an active member of the music industry is that it’s always evolving, and that means I can bring my experiences to students in our music business and recording arts programs,” he said.
