Yeah, I know I’ve been gone too long but I’m back and feeling really good about the NEW direction of H1GHER LEARNING. And to get things started I’ve decided to interview friend and fellow Southern street culture aficionado, Ivan Andrews from Music City USA aka the Home of  The Hermitage aka Cashville aka Nashville, Tennessee. The brand that he co-founded with his friend–over a plate of sushi, natch–is called Sneakers X Speakers and it is FAST becoming one of middle Tennessee’s premier events for sneaker and hip-hop enthusiast. From their first event held in June of 2011, which had almost 500 people in attendence, to their third event which is scheduled to entertain over 2500 patrons this September, it seems as if the sky is the limit for what SXS can become. In this interview we discuss the concept behind the event, how SXS has grown from an attendee stand point, what makes their event different from other sneaker conventions, as well as the IMPORTANT–and very cost effective–ways he and his team have gone about spreading the gospel of SXS.  Ivan also discusses some of his plans for future world Tennessee domination! Press play on the widget below to listen to BUILDING THE BRAND: An Interview [...]