Roots in Music

When your roots are from Northern Mississippi, you are nourished by music. It’s in the water, the air, and the soil.  “It’s part of our family’s DNA,” said Byron Earnheart, CBU Adjunct Professor and Barret School of Banking Programming Director. Byron is a man of many passions, and music was his first.

Earnheart grew up in Memphis and Brownsville, Tenn., but his father was born and raised in Northern Mississippi—fertile ground for musical talents like B.B. King, Elvis Presley, Blind Mississippi Morris, Sam Cooke, and many, many more. 

After high school, Earnheart enrolled in the University of Tennessee-Knoxville for his bachelor’s degree, moved back to Memphis, married in Nashville, and moved to Tunica, Miss., where he worked for a bank for 10-plus years. 

“I have always lived in about a 45-mile radius,” said Earnheart, a fourth-generation musician who plays guitar, bass, and sings in a family band with his father and brothers. 

Launched by the elder Earnhearts in the 1960s (before Byron was born), Delta Heart has been coined “the house band of the Mississippi Delta.” Its focus is on Memphis-style R&B, blues, classic/Southern rock, and a touch of country.

“I got into guitar in the seventh grade,” said Earnheart. “I got good enough at it that I played in a band in college. Like most things, when you start to acquire guitars, it sort of becomes a hobby.”

He now has eight or nine guitars, and many of them are displayed on guitar hangers, which makes for “a really cool Zoom background” and a conversation starter during virtual learning and staff meetings. 

While music has a special place in his heart, banking is an equal passion. After undergrad, Earnheart went back to school at CBU where he earned his MBA alongside Chris Kelley, who later would become Barret School of Banking’s Executive Director. 

Barret School of Banking

Barret School of Banking, a 501(c)(3) independent school that leases office space from CBU, is a unique fixture on campus and a rarity in the United States.

“There are six graduate schools of banking [including Barret School of Banking] that exist separately from academia,” said Earnheart. “The schools serve bankers already in the field who want to step up their game. Very few universities have majors in banking, and even fewer opportunities are available at the graduate level. Barret, which was started in Memphis by several banks 50-plus years ago, provides that educational opportunity.”

Many of the classes are virtual, so small-town, small-bank bankers can also take advantage of the school’s graduate-level training.

For CBU students, Earnheart teaches Finance 411 Commercial Banking, Economics 303 Money and Banking, and Finance 246 Financial Management. 

He is particularly interested in community banking.

“I start laying the foundation that financial intermediation—people partnering with banks to borrow and save money—drives economic development,” said Earnheart. “That’s how hospitals and roads get built. We look past the numbers and look at the history of the world. We learn from the good, bad, and the ugly.” 

Nurturing his students and helping them grasp these concepts brings Earnheart joy as a banker and a teacher. 

“It’s not just balancing checkbooks, saving money, and investing,” he said. “I talk to my students about what their direction is in life. Money is just an amoral thing, but it fuels whatever you want to do with your life. One of the most enlightening things is seeing the light bulbs go off. They think, ‘I can go achieve this cool idea because now I’ve got the tools.’ They slow down and think about how to put a life plan in action. That’s an awesome thing.”

Playing music with his “person” (his father) and brothers, raising two children with his wife, working at Barret with his friend, and teaching at his alma mater has made for a rich life.

Working at CBU

“I went to work for Barret, and the side perk is that I get to work with staff at CBU and craft the curriculum design for a banking minor,” he said. “I get to teach banking to college juniors and seniors the way I want to. I’m passionate about ‘Enter to learn. Leave to serve.’ I get to do that.”

“I stay in touch with my students as best as I can,” he added. “They have my info. I’m here for a job reference or a business idea.. Want to shoot me an email and bounce an idea off? One former student was investing in real estate and asked my opinion on the deal. That fired me up. It’s one thing to be a finance teacher. I want to be the teacher you learn the most from.”

Earnheart’s office is in the Barret School of Banking in Buckman 348.