ASCAP Promotes Sue Drew To Sr. VP, Creative Services, Membership
Sue Drew
Sue Drew has been promoted to the position of Sr. VP, Creative Services, Membership at ASCAP. Drew will be responsible for overseeing the Membership Creative Services staff in all musical genres and will also oversee the operations of the Los Angeles, New York and Nashville membership offices.
“It’s a privilege to be able to work on behalf of ASCAP’s members,” says Drew. “Every day, I have the opportunity to discover new songwriters as well as to serve the most talented creators in the industry. I look forward to expanding our work across all genres, and to helping our members to take advantage of all the many services and programs ASCAP offers.”
Drew has been with ASCAP since 2009 as Vice President of Membership – Pop/Rock, where she is responsible for signing Paul Epworth, Savan Kotecha and Priscilla Renea to ASCAP and inaugurating several innovative career development programs for ASCAP writers, including an annual songwriting camp for top writers. Prior to joining the staff of ASCAP, Drew worked in the field of A&R for over 20 years.
She signed such artists as Phish, They Might Be Giants and Michelle Shocked, and A&R’d records for Barenaked Ladies, Bette Midler, Shelby Lynne, Dave Koz and Taylor Dayne, among others. She held executive A&R positions at Elektra, Chrysalis/EMI and Reprise, and worked as an independent A&R consultant for various labels and artists.
Sony/ATV Music Publishing is moving its administrative operations to downtown Nashville to a new space that will serve as the company’s global administration hub. The creative team will remain on Music Row.
Sally Williams, General Manager of Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, has been promoted to VP, Business and Partnership Development for the Opry Entertainment Group. Williams, who originally joined the company in 1999, spent seven years coordinating concerts and other events for the Opry Entertainment Complex. Having managed the Ryman Auditorium since 2008, she will continue to serve as Ryman Auditorium General Manager.
The Country Music Association has named the final nominees for the CMA 2013 SRO Awards. The final ballot will be e-mailed to voters on Friday, May 24. This year a new category has been added for Talent Buyer/Promoter.
Carrie Underwood, Darius Rucker, Florida Georgia Line, George Strait, Jason Aldean, Keith Urban and Lady Antebellum have been added as performers during the upcoming 2013 CMT Music Awards. The event will air live from Nashville on Wednesday, June 5 at 8 p.m. ET on CMT and on CMT.com.
TobyMac will appear on ABC’s The View on Friday (May 24) at 10 a.m. CT. He will perform his single “Me Without You,” from his Billboard Top 200 chart-topping album, Eye On It.
The Hard Rock Cafe in New York will hold a birthday event that features four generations of the Nelson Family sharing the same stage for the first time ever. Guests include The Family Nelson & Willie, including Willie Nelson, Paula Nelson Band (Willie’s daughter), Raelyn Nelson Band (Willie’s granddaughter), Lukas Nelson (Willie’s son) and the Promise of the Real, Insects Vs Robots (Micah Nelson, Willie’s son), Folk Uke (Amy Nelson, Willie’s daughter), Lechuza (Martha Jewell Fowler, Willie’s granddaughter) plus Toad The Wet Sprocket, Robert Randolph and Buddy Valastro (The Cake Boss).
TKO Artist Management has promoted Michelle Garramone to the role of Brand Coordinator. Garramone graduated from Belmont University in May 2012. She worked at TKO Artist Management as a part-time receptionist and was promoted to full-time brand assistant upon graduation. She can be reached at 
IMMERSE, the Gospel Music Association’s Music Training Experience, has announced two scholarship opportunities, including the “Music Makes” scholarship to attend the upcoming IMMERSE event, as well as three $5,000 scholarships to “reVIEWyou” winners in the songwriting, singer/songwriter-female and singer/songwriter-male categories. Hosted by Plumb, the Tuesday Night Songwriter Showcase (May 28) will feature artists Matt Hammitt, Jon Steingard, Seth Mosely, Kevin Max, David Zach, Meredith Andrews, Karen Peck and others.
SOLID‘s annual yard sale will take place Saturday, June 8 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. It is an opportunity to fans from across the country to connect with their favorite stars and for industry personnel to clear out their promo closets. Donations are needed for the event. Desired items include press items from awards shows, unused promo from album releases and tours, posters, press kits, ANYTHING signed (clothing, albums, posters), T-shirts, jackets, meet & greet opportunties and much more.
Randy Owen will headline the Pickin’ for Prevention songwriters show on June 4 at the Wildhorse Saloon. Proceeds will benefit the Middle TN Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.