Spirit Music Nashville Appoints Derek Wells To A&R Role, Establishes Joint Venture
Derek Wells
Spirit Music Group has appointed Derek Wells to Senior Director A&R/Production, Spirit Music Nashville. Wells will report to Spirit Music Group Nashville CEO Frank Rogers. Additionally, Spirit Music Group has established a joint venture with Derek Wells for his 2 Mix Music company.
“Derek Wells is one of the most talented people in music – period. His resume as a musician and producer speaks for itself, but that is just scratching the surface,” Rogers said. “He is a magnet for great people and great music. I speak for the entire Spirit Music Nashville family in saying we are thrilled to partner with Derek in this next phase of his career. Here we go…”
“I’m thrilled to join the Spirit Music Nashville team in this new A&R role and also as a partner in 2 Mix Music,” Wells said. “Jon, Joe, Rak and everyone at Spirit Music have built an amazing company offering boutique service with global reach. Naming Frank Rogers CEO of Spirit Music Nashville — someone who I have a long history with and tremendous respect for — shows their commitment to strengthening the Nashville headquarters and building upon an already impressive list of writers and catalogs. I’m excited to be a part of this next chapter!”
As a prominent Nashville session musician Wells, who in 2018 took home his first MusicRow All-Star Musician Award in the guitar category, has performed on several No. 1 hits for Kid Rock, Dolly Parton, Kenny Chesney, Shakira, Midland, Kane Brown, Blake Shelton, Florida Georgia Line, Corey Hart, Ian Gillian of Deep Purple, Thomas Rhett and Carrie Underwood. His work on the Maren Morris album, HERO earned him a Grammy nomination.
In 2016, Wells was the youngest person in history to win The Academy of Country Music’s Guitar Player of the Year award and also the youngest person to ever be nominated for the CMA Musician of the Year Award. In 2019, he was awarded his second ACM award, again for Guitar Player of the Year.
As a producer Wells has worked on albums for Maddie & Tae, Granger Smith, and Scotty McCreery (including McCreery’s No. 1, platinum-certified single “This Is It”). Wells currently serves on the Country Music Association’s Board of Directors as well as on committees for the Academy Of Country Music and The Grammys.
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