MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Renicea Michelle picked up a violin when she was 8-year-old.
“Being able to use this as an outlet to play anything and not just classical music but everything was beautiful to me,” Michelle said.
From the moment she started playing she knew it was something she wanted to do forever.
“It’s like my second language. It’s how I communicate, it’s how I feel, it’s like music is love,” Michelle said.
After playing off and on for years, she says built a love for music so much she decided to teach it to students at Westside elementary. However, after being hit head on by another car speeding through her apartment complex in April, she was forced to sit and re-evaluate the things that truly mattered in her life.
“I did want to give back to my community, so I said why not teach in my own community and the same school system I graduated from,” Michelle said. “When I got to the doctor, they said I had a tibia plateau fracture which meant my leg was cracked and hanging on from the inside.”
In many ways Michelle says her accident served as an undercover blessing. While in rehabilitation she made the decision to follow her dream of being a full-time musician.
“I was thinking about how I was teaching my children at Westside, I would tell them everyday to follow and chase their dreams, but It wasn’t until the accident that I realized I wasn’t pursuing my own,” Michelle said.
Though she couldn’t walk for months, she never let her hands stop playing. Now she’s booked and busy playing many different concerts, events, weddings, and even divorce parties.
Her music has taken her to just about every part of Memphis, and now she has her sites set on playing across the country and eventually the world.
“Don’t allow anyone to make you think your dreams are crazy. If anything, go out and make them feel like they’re crazy for not trying it,” Michelle.
Michelle can be found on all social media platforms under @ReniceaMichelle or email at reniceabell@yahoo.com.