‘Pop Goes Nashville’ Events Aim To Connect Nashville’s Writer Community

As Nashville’s music scene continues to diversify, three Nashville-based publishers have joined forces to create opportunities for the burgeoning pop music community to come together. Billed as Pop Goes Nashville (PGN), the showcase series celebrated it’s fourth installment on Aug. 3, allowing artists a stage for their talents.

The series was inspired by conversations between independent songwriter and pop artist Kirsten Arian; Suzanne Strickland, Scot Sherrod and Carly Strickland of RareSpark Media Group; Brad Kennard and Jen Duke of Razor & Tie Music Publishing; and Katie Jelen of Secret Road.

During the fourth event, Sponsored by SoundExchange and Razor & Tie, a round was performed by independent singer/songwriter Carlos Guevara, Tyler Johnson (Pulse/Creative Nation), Daniella Mason (Lovefuel Publishing/AYA Records), Erin McCarley (Kobalt Music Publishing) and Amy Stroup (Secret Road).

“Nashville’s music community has always been unique because of how interconnected everyone is and the world-class level of talent that is available here, from artists and writers to musicians, engineers and producers,” says Suzanne Strickland, CEO of RareSpark Media Group. “Even though Nashville has historically been most associated with country music, we’re seeing more and more creatives of every musical background move here because there are so many opportunities here that aren’t available elsewhere and they want to be a part of our community, so as publishers, we want to support that growth and show them what Music City is really all about.”

“The whole goal with PGN is to shine a spotlight on the intensely prolific, non-country scene in town,” echoes Brad Kennard, vice president, creative at Razor & Tie Music Publishing. “We’re thrilled to be part of a movement that continues to reshape expectations on music being made in Nashville. The energy surrounding that growth is electric!”

Adds Secret Road artist relations and music publishing executive Katie Jelen, who herself moved from Los Angeles to Nashville two years ago, “One of the first things that I noticed when I moved here was that there were amazing pockets of pop talent who didn’t know each other. While little camps of writers, artists and producers were collaborating, there was a strong desire to branch out and meet other potential collaborators, but no centralized place for the pop community to do that. Watching Pop Goes Nashville grow into just that has been a dream come true, and I can’t wait to see and hear what happens next.”

“Pop Goes Nashville is a bold acknowledgement that Music City is expanding musically and creatively,” SoundExchange President and CEO Michael Huppe says. “There is no doubt the program will succeed, and SoundExchange was proud to provide our sponsorship.”

To date, Pop Goes Nashville has also featured performances by Arian, Paige Blue, James Droll, Fancy Hagood, Jamie Kenney, Lo, R.LUM.R., Sainte, Stephen Schmuldt, Sinclair, Shane Stevens, Louisa Wendorff, Josh Bruce Williams and Kipp Williams.