Cities shape the music that is made in them.
Think of the music that has emerged from Memphis, Nashville and Chattanooga across genres and generations.
How can - and should - music help drive what cities are and what they can be?
Shain Shapiro tackles that question in his book “This Must Be the Place: How Music Can Make Your City Better,” recently published by Repeater Books and Penguin Random House.
From Canada and now based in London, Shain is the founder and chairman of Sound Diplomacy, a consultancy firm that works with cities on cultural policy - and he heads the Center for Music Ecosystems, a nonprofit which researches how music can help communities around the world to solve problems.
Last month, Shain visited Chattanooga during his book tour - appearing at Yellow Racket Records.
I spoke with him before his talk and a panel discussion that he moderated, presented by SoundCorps.