If Emily Kleinschmidt won the lottery, the Williamson County Community Band would certainly be a beneficiary. She’d like to see the 75-member outfit get timpani drums to start.
She was a band booster mom for Franklin High School, and before that, she was a member of the Franklin High School band herself. In 2001, 33 years after setting her clarinet down, she decided to pick it back up. Kleinschmidt was among the first to join the Williamson County Community band, which just celebrated 25 years.
“I just got vaccinated with a phonograph needle or something,” she says. “I just can't quit playing.”
When the community band plays a pop music concert at 6:30 p.m. in Bicentennial Park on Aug. 27, it’ll include music that Kleinschmidt donated to the group.
The Williamson County Community Band practices during a rehearsal at the Williamson County Enrichment Center, Aug. 20, 2026.
She’s purchased a new set of sheet music each year for her birthday, reaching at least 10 additions favoring the “peppy.” Tunes from The Eagles and Ray Charles, a Michael Jackson medley and a Tijuana Brass number are all gifts from Kleinschmidt, who also serves as secretary for the band. It’s therapy, she says.
“We've got some really awesome musicians in there,” she says. “I'm not one of them, you know. I'm just a clarinet hack, but I have fun. I have arthritis in my hands, really bad. I play what I can, but those 16th notes, forget it, ain't happening.”
The band ranges from a 15-year-old private school student to a 93-year-old baritone saxophone soloist. Some are former band kids, some are session musicians, some play for their churches and at least one is still on call for the U.S. military band. Some travel from as far as Ashland City, Columbia and Centerville to be part of the band.
It’s all for a chance to be a part of something larger.
“If I could only play and it had to be by myself, that would not interest me nearly as much as being part of a group,” says Karen Ranney, a French horn player who was named conductor of the band earlier this year.
Joining the band doesn’t require an audition but a consultation with Ranney. It costs $30 per year, mainly for a polo shirt.
“If you have a band that has 15 trumpet players in it and you only have 60 people, all you're going to hear is trumpet,” she says. “I do have to hold the reins back a little bit, but it hurts.”
Ranney, a former middle school band director, hates to tell people no, because she wants everyone who wants to play to get the chance. She also takes requests for music from audience members and band members. Like Kleinschmidt’s choices, if you buy it, they will play it, Ranney says.
Williamson County Community Band Conductor Karen Ranney is seen through the slide of a trombone during a rehearsal at the Williamson County Enrichment Center, Aug. 20, 2026.
“There's nothing like having a group where you have the same goal,” she says. “We love music, we love playing music, and we all want to do our best to make sure that it is as good as it can be. It's just fun being a part of a team.”
Randy Frame, who led the band from 2016 to 2025, says the balance is perhaps the most important and most challenging part.
“If you get music that's too easy, the advanced players get bored, and they quit,” he says. “Don't want that. If you get music that's too difficult, then the not-so-strong players get bored, and they quit. It's a real challenge to get music that all that we have the instrumentation to play, and all these guys can do it. And then, more importantly, that we're going to hit most of the audience.”
A former high school band director and professional trumpet player, Frame says the competition and pressure of being a professional musician in Nashville is fierce at his level, but the chance to play with others is rewarding in any fashion.
“It's been a gas for me, and I'm especially happy to work with Karen,” he says. “I'm 76 years old, but when she's on the podium, I don't go down the hall for a break. I stick around. I watch what she does. I listen to what she says. I'm still learning.”
Ranney also instituted a new rule, with an emphasis on the “community” part of the community band. Talk to someone who doesn’t sit next to you.
The Williamson County Community Band practices during a rehearsal at the Williamson County Enrichment Center, Aug. 20, 2026.
“Go find somebody, introduce yourself,” she coaches. “If you forget their name, next week, ask them again. I want you to get to know each other.”
The Williamson County Community Band performs from February through early December each year, including Memorial Day and Fourth of July performances, a summer showcase, as well as an October concert at Franklin First United Methodist Church. This year, for the first time, it collaborated with the Nashville Community Band, and Thursday’s concert will be its first in Franklin’s Bicentennial Park.
Ranney says she hopes the public concert will inspire more kids to join their school band and, with it, the pipeline to a community band one day.