Industry Ink: SunTrust, Little Extra Music, MTSU Songwriters Series

SunTrust Music Bankers swore off shaving in November and presented a check for $10,000 to Harry Chapman of Belmont University on Friday, Nov. 21. These funds are significant because they will endow The Brian Williams Scholarship, allowing it to support a Belmont Music Business student for the first time since the Scholarship was created.

The industry lost Brian Williams tragically in 2006. This month on Nov. 14, the SunTrust team opened a Crowdrise campaign for the Belmont Scholarship in his name. SunTrust Music Managing Director, Andrew Kintz, said, “We have been overwhelmed by the generosity on Music Row and beyond for this cause. Even teammates in North Carolina and Georgia who Brian hired stopped shaving! So many artists and people in our industry love Brian and want to honor his legacy. This is truly a gift from the entire music industry to Belmont, just as Brian is still such a gift to us – for the Division and culture he created, and the countless people he has helped.”
The campaign continues to accept donations here.

The Florida panhandle native has played nearly 150 shows a year along the Gulf Coast, and in 2011, she was named Northwest Florida’s Regional X-Factor winner. She won Best Original Song for her composition “Poison,” and took home Best Female Vocalist at the Beachcomber Music Awards. She later moved to Nashville to pursue as career as a singer/songwriter.

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Eric Paslay and songwriter Dylan Altman are among the performers taking part in the upcoming Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) Songwriters Series. The event will take place Sunday, Dec. 7 at The Listening Room in Nashville. The show begins at 6:30 p.m., and tickets are $10 online (available at listeningroomcafe.com) or $15 at the door.
Opening the show are MTSU Songwriting majors Kyle Crownover, Nick Carpenter, Collin Baxter, and others.