Bobby Karl Works The Rounder Records Nashville Open House

BOBBY KARL WORKS THE ROOM
Chapter 455
The entire music community rejoiced on Wednesday (May 14). Any event celebrating the christening of a new record-label office—rather than a closing or a consolidation—is cause for celebration. So the open-house party for the new Rounder Records headquarters was packed with people from throughout Music Row.
From the publishing world came Ree Guyer-Buchanan, Woody Bomar, Walter Campbell, Leslie DiPiero, Dale Bobo, Judy Harris, Daniel Hill and John Ozier.
Management folks in attendance included Ken Levitan, Don Light, Tamara Saviano, Al Bunetta, Kathi Whitley and John Ingrassia. Producers Steve Fishell, Ben Fowler and Gary Paczosa were there, too.
Artists and songwriters adding spice to the party recipe included Carlene Carter, Paul Burch, J.D. Crowe, Tammy Rogers of The SteelDrivers, Carl Jackson, Larry Nager, Mandy Barnett, Jett Williams, Tommy Sims, Jerry Salley and Jon Randall Stewart, plus Kenny Sears and Ranger Doug Green of The Time Jumpers.
Hacks and flacks working the room included Jon Freeman, Steve Betts, Chuck Aly, John Weisberger, Jules Wortman and Jeff Walker.
You kinda have to be looking for it to find the new Rounder office. You know that little parking lot behind Two Old Hippies and across the street from the Turnip Truck in the Gulch? Well, if you park there and walk a little eastward, you get to a nifty, semi-hidden office building (called, I think, “Pine Street Flats”).

The Rounder door there opens into a very nice suite of about 10 offices plus a small conference room. Everyone has already decorated their spaces with posters, photos, awards and memorabilia. Rounder dug into its archives to mount photos of artists and events illustrating the label’s nearly 45-year history. These hang in the complex’s public spaces.
A&R VP Tracy Gershon has spruced up her space with photos of herself with Miranda Lambert, Van Zant, Carlene and others, plus the cool, moderne, deluxe rust-gold colored chairs she bought from the prop guy of Nashville Star for 50 bucks apiece.
Among the A-listers touring and talking were Nashville Mayor Karl Dean, self-proclaimed Music Row “mayor” Charlie Monk, Pete Fisher, Terry Hemming, Lori Badgett and Hank Adam Locklin.
It really was a fabulous party. So much so, that it was a crowded, tough room to work. And since it was raining outside, many didn’t want to leave.
Not only that, the food was fantastic. The buffet included lobster mac & cheese bites, hummus, spinach con queso, flatbreads, pita crisps, cheeses, seasonal fruits and over-the-top delicious bahn mi sliders (carmelized beef pate, Vietnamese dikon and carrot slaw on a mini-bun).
Schmoozers and chompers included Leslie Fram, John Beiter, Jim Zumwalt, Tracy Thomas, Paul Lohr, Katharine Richardson, Bobby Rymer, Lynn Morrrow, Sherrill Blackman, Preston Sullivan, George Marinelli, the IBMA’s Nancy Cardwell, NARAS’s Susan Stewart, IEBA’s Pam Matthews and the AMA’s Jed Hilly. Rounder VP Scott Billington says he will be commuting back and forth between home with his new bride in New Orleans and his office in Music City.

Rounder founders Bill Nowlin, Marian Levy and Ken Irwin were all there. They continue to contribute as consultants. The catalog they have built is awesome. Rounder’s vaults contain records by Willie Nelson, The Del McCoury Band, Riders in the Sky, Maura O’Connell, David Olney, Marshall Chapman, Deanna Carter, Jo-El Sonnier, New Grass Revival, Joe Diffie, Aaron Neville, John Hartford, Joe Ely, George Thorogood, Los Straightjackets, Rhonda Vincent, Tim O’Brien and The Nashville Bluegrass Band.
The current roster includes Alison Krauss, Dailey & Vincent, Bela Fleck, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Nanci Griffith, Gregg Allman, Alecia Nugent, The Time Jumpers, The SteelDrivers, NewFound Road, Tony Trischka, Della Mae and Son Volt.
The party favors were Rounder tote bags containing the new Carlene Carter CD, a Rounder T-shirt, the Steve Martin/Steep Canyon Rangers DVD, a Rounder drink coaster, a card offering free Rounder music downloads and the Gregg Allman all-star tribute concert DVD with its commemorative button.
The label’s parent company is the L.A.-based Concord Music Group. All of its music is distributed by UMG. Its other imprints are home to Nashville’s Steve Cropper and Felix Cavaliere, not to mention Paul McCartney, James Taylor, Carole King, Kenny G, George Benson, and Esperanza Spalding. Those other imprints include Fantasy, Stax, Specialty, Milestone/Prestige/Riverside, Hear Music, Telarc and Concord Jazz, as well as Rounder’s subsidiaries Philo and Zoe.
The Concord Music Group is said to be the fifth largest record-label group in the world, with annual sales of $90 million and annual publishing income of $3 million.
So-o-o-o…..Party On!