Billy Cuthrell founded Progressive Percussion Drum Studios in Greenville, NC in October 1992 with only seventy eight cents to his name and a handmade flyer. Going house to house teaching out of the back of his Isuzu Trooper, Billy grew his student base enough to rent a small broom closet at a local music store where he began turning Progressive Percussion into what would eventually become Progressive Music Center.
Founder
PROGRESSIVE MUSIC CENTER
Originally started as a center for percussive study, Progressive Percussion Drum Studios evolved into a full-scale music education facility known today as Progressive Music Center. With locations in North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland, all Progressive locations offer guitar, bass guitar, piano, voice and drum/percussion lessons tailored to meet the demands and needs of every individual in their pursuit of musical excellence.
In June 1994 our Rock School concept was introduced as a summer camp option for both students and non Progressive students. Considered a "never before heard of concept" at the time, our Rock Schools placed our drum and percussion students with guitar, bass and piano students from other teachers not affiliated with Progressive. The students rehearsed with the teachers for a week ending with a grand finale concert showcasing their talents. The Rock Schools were well received and now 14 years later we are still innovating the Rock School format with our weekly Summer Rock School Camps from June through late August.
Outside of the private lessons Progressive offers group classes in beginning guitar and piano and our retail shops offer quality instruments for the beginner through advanced player and student.
Our teaching facilities are a full service music school with emphasis on the core instruments found in today’s performing bands. Progressive Music Center teachers and staff believe in the quality instruction and principles that were fundamental in our goals when we first started out in 1992.
Progressive's professional instructors work with students to enhance his/her present abilities while developing personal areas of study that will further each student's growth into a well-rounded musician. With our private lesson program students are encouraged to participate in our Student Band Jam program, where they are placed into groups that actually rehearse at our facilities and then go out and perform.
Our endorsements and long-standing partnerships with the music industry's top manufacturers have enabled Progressive Music Center to operate fully equipped state-of-the-art facilities. We have complete drum sets, percussion instruments, guitars, amps, basses, and a plethora of musical equipment for our students use. Our studios enhance every student's learning experience with complete audio/video capabilities, as well. The video aspect allows our students to take each lesson home and review every part of the lesson as the need arises.
Progressive teachers currently instruct all levels of students from ages 3 to 87 year's young. Hereto, some of our students have been enrolled with us for more than four years and some drive over two hours to attend lessons in our studios. Our instructors are professional musicians and teachers with years of knowledge in their field. Moreover, we understand that it is our job to make the most of the learning experience for each student and to help him or her have fun while learning an instrument. Please feel free to contact us to schedule an appointment to see our studios first hand, or speak with a Progressive Music Center instructor.
Timeline
- Progressive Percussion Drum Studios founded in Greenville, NC in 1992 with seventy eight cents and a hand made flyer
- Started Rock Schools in June 1994
- Billy Cuthrell's articles featured in Modern Drummer Magazine January/February 1997
- Opened a Wilmington, NC location in 1998
- Opened a Raleigh, NC location in June 2001
- Relocated Raleigh into larger facility in January 2004
- Opened 1,200 Sq. Ft. Wake Forest, NC location August 2005
- Expanded Wake Forest location to 4,800 in November 2006
- Progressive featured in Entrepreneur magazine article September 2006
- Progressive Founder, Billy Cuthrell featured on cover of Music, Inc. magazine September 2007
- Progressive expands into Virginia/Maryland market February 2008
