Ferris Bueller Brooks?!
Kix Brooks Receives Distinguished Alumni Honor from Sewanee Secondary School


Sewanee, TN: At a gala dinner under a tent on the St Andrews-Sewanee Academy's 550-acre campus, Kix Brooks returned to the site of his secondary education -- and there was no detention involved! Instead the high-rolling songwriter/singer/guitar-slinger was returning to the place where as a young man, he came of age and formed much of the intellectual curiosity that would inform his quest through the world to receive the school's first Distinguished Alumni Award.

"This Mountain (as the area around the school is known) is where I learned to think. I remember going out in the woods, just sitting there, putting all the pieces together. Teachers like Phil White 'Whiteman' exposed me to ideas

that I'm still using today in my songwriting," explained the 3rd generation Sewanee Academy grad, who reflected on the teachers, moments and lessons learned-- and the school's impact on his life.

"I left the Academy and went off to four years of college. I had a lot of fun, but it didn't have the same effect on me. This is a very special place. You can't fully appreciate it when you're here -- what this school, these teachers, this Mountain is going to mean to you. You'll be calling on this place and these experiences for the rest of your life."

Brooks entered the Sewanee Military Academy in 1969, but during his four years there, the school was de-militarized and renamed Sewanee Academy. In 1981, SA merged with St Andrews, making Brooks the inaugural distinguished alum for both schools.

Earlier this spring, the current Country Music Association Chairman of the Board was deemed "A Legend of Louisiana" in Baton Rouge -- where the award was presented to the multiple Entertainer of the Year in the Manship Theater.
In an interesting case of life overlapping honors, Brooks' Distinguished Alumni Award was presented to the man who's sold close to 30 million records by Richaard Manship, the President of SAS's Board of Trustees, who's also the President and CEO of the Louisiana Television Broadcasting, LLC.

After regaling the attendees with memories of teachers, insights gleaned, moments that mattered, teenage high escapades and truths that he's taken with him, Brooks offered a tribute to both the school's legacy in his life -- and it's ability to show him that evolution is part of the process of life and growth.

"My years at the Academy spanned the end of the military and the change to Sewanne Academy, so I'm used to the idea that a school can change and still keep what's important. That, to me, is what it's all about."

Look for "Play Something Country" to continue its assault on the Country Singles charts -- as the hard-charging thrust of honky tonk continues bolting out of car radios everywhere.