KANSAS CITY, Mo. — While most people in Kansas City are not happy about what happened in New Orleans last week, a local business in the historic jazz district has reason to celebrate.
Kansas City-based BAC Music customized and handcrafted the instrument Trombone Shorty played during the Super Bowl pregame. The artist performed “America The Beautiful” with Lauren Daigle.
Mike Corrigan, owner of BAC Music, brings history to life by making instruments the way they were crafted 100 years ago. But he's also making history himself, one tune at a time.
“It was pretty cool,” Corrigan said. “One of the greatest and most well-known musicians in the world amplified the spirit of Kansas City through that trombone for 130 million people.”
The trombone’s name is Paseo — named after the well-known street in Kansas City.
“This is a really cool, historic street right behind our factory,” Corrigan said.
He feels he struck the right note with the shop's location.
“We arrived here serendipitously, but I feel like there was a greater energy pulling us to this neighborhood and to this building, specifically," he explained.
Corrigan said BAC remains true to the history of the building itself.
“This was a factory where they made plumbing, valves and fittings,” Corrigan said. “We're still doing plumbing — just musical plumbing.”
In KC's 18th and Vine District, BAC handcrafts fewer than 200 instruments every year. The Paseo took 40 hours to complete — 12 hours were spent just engraving a piece like Shorty’s.
According to Corrigan, Shorty’s featured 12 flowers to honor his dad and brother.
“If you're one of the greatest trombone players in the world or a trumpet player, you're definitely familiar with BAC’s instruments,” Corrigan said. “But it seems like there are a lot of people surprised to learn that one of the foremost manufacturers of brass instruments is here in Kansas City.”
However, the shop is changing the tune and molding the pieces so the "well-kept secret" can be discovered.
“There's a loop on the back of the horn that's actually a counterweight, but it's also a visually distinctive signature that lets you know that horn was made in Kansas City," Corrigan said.
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