Chris King

The “My Music Row Story” weekly column features notable members of the Nashville music industry selected by the MusicRow editorial team. These individuals serve in key roles that help advance and promote the success of our industry. This column spotlights the invaluable people that keep the wheels rolling and the music playing.

Chris King is the Founder and Partner of King Business Financial Management (KBFM), a business management firm in Nashville. With over 10 years as a business and financial manager, King founded the firm in 2019 and has grown it to be the home to over 40 clients spanning genres across the music industry.

King was born in raised in Memphis, Tennessee, which informed his love for all different genres of music from a young age. During his college years at the University of Tennessee at Martin, he quickly realized that he had an affinity for numbers, but more importantly, he had a passion for interacting with people. He earned his Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting and shortly after graduating, King moved to Nashville.

His dedication and motivation helped him quickly rise through the ranks at the business management firm FBMM, where he worked for six years. After leaving FBMM, King became a Partner at Blue Sky Group Business Management where he spent four years as the head of their entertainment business management division before departing in 2019 to launch KBFM.

MusicRow: Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Memphis, Tennessee. I went to the University of Tennessee at Martin for college.

Lucy Hughes Mckelvey, Marcus King, Chris King

Were you into music growing up?

Definitely. My mom was an R&B fan and my dad was into Earth, Wind & Fire. I really got introduced to country music by riding in the car with my sister my freshman year. Jason Adlean‘s first album was really the first album that introduced me to country music.

What did you study in college?

I studied accounting. I didn’t know anything about the music industry and I certainly didn’t know that you could be an accountant within the music industry. I had taken an accounting class in high school and that’s what made me fall in love with it.

I didn’t want to do taxes all day, so I was trying to find some sort of accounting work that didn’t mean being a CPA and dealing with tax returns on a consistent basis.

How did you figure out how to make that happen?

I just moved to Nashville. I was engaged at the ripe age of 20. I met my wife at UT Martin and she is is originally from Nashville. She moved back so I moved here and [started looking for a job]. I got married on a Saturday and on that Monday, I went in for an interview at FBMM.

I was simply searching for a job in some type of money management. A lot of the stuff I had studied in college was about helping small businesses with their accounting needs, so I was trying to find something where I could help somebody, whether that was with a business or personal finances. I lucked out getting a job at FBMM, where I was able to be in the best of both worlds, dealing with personal stuff and with business things.

Drew Parker, Chris King, Ray Fulcher

What was your first impression of the music business?

It was crazy. At the interview, they asked me if I knew what a royalty was. I have no idea. The first day I walked in, they said, “You’re going to work on [a big band’s] touring and their personal stuff.” For a year and a half, I got to see all of that.

It got me a ton of experience that I just couldn’t have learned anywhere else. I got to work on a few baby bands as well during that time. After that, I got to work on [one of the world’s biggest pop stars] for a year and a half.

How long were you at FBMM?

I was there for seven years. The last four years I was there, I got to work all over the place. That’s where I really fell in love with what I was doing even more. I got to work on a rock band from Athens, Alabama and a rapper from Pittsburgh. Forming personal relationships with them was what made me want to go out on my own.

KBFM staffers

Stephanie Mundy Self was my boss on some clients, so I was learning from her for a year and a half. She is such a hard worker—she eats, sleeps and breathes what she does. She really made me understand kind of that type of work ethic. Duane Clark was great—he always had an open door policy. I worked with Jen Conger for the last four years I was there. They were always open to talk with people and help people learn.

What was the next step for you?

I partnered with Harlan Hallett for a new company called Blue Sky Group. I was there for about four years. John Strohm connected us when I left FBMM. For somebody that had as big a clients and experiences as John did, to take a chance on a 28 year old kid starting his own thing, was so cool.

My years at Blue Sky were great. I learned a ton. Harlan’s background was more on the royalty side, so being there, I really got to learn a ton about catalog sales. Whenever I started at Blue Sky, it was me, Harlan and one other. We built it up and when I left, we had maybe seven or eight people in the office.

I left in February of 2019. Two employees came with me that I hired right out of college, Lucy Hughes Mckelvey and Erin Barry. We started building our team. I started looking around for other people, somebody I could bring in that could bring in to grow our network. I met Mallory Mason Pascal through Mandy Morrison over at City National Bank. We met in November of 2019 and started talking a lot. I basically felt like I was trying to court someone to date them. [Laughs] I was just trying to tell her why she should trust me. Then COVID hit and we cut the brakes for a while.

Chris King, Jordan Walker, Luke Combs, Ray Fulcher, Lucy Hughes Mckelvey

By the end of November of 2020, I was able to persuade her to come over. She was number five in the office including me, and now we’re up to 16 people on a day-to-day basis. We’ve also really grown our client roster. During COVID, I think a lot of artists realized they may be a company with a huge name, but not necessarily getting the service they thought they were and the one-on-one attention. We’ve got clients from The Basement to Bridgestone, so even though we’re smaller, we have all the knowledge and we can also give you more of that one-on-one feel.

That’s awesome. What are your goals for KBFM?

Just to keep growing. As long as we can offer the same service that we are now, I would love to get as big as we can possibly get knowing that we’re giving the same service out to everybody.

What would you tell young accountants wanting to do what you do?

Always be willing to learn. Try to research it yourself. With my kids and with my employees, I always encourage them to research [the answers they are looking for] and figure out the why behind it.

I would also say money is not everything. No one got in the music industry for money, at least not on the business side of things. It’s going to come with time. Find something that you’re passionate about and do it—the money will come if it’s supposed to come. If not, you’re still going to live a happy life to where it doesn’t matter.

KBFM Parnters Mallory Mason Pascal (second to left) and Chris King (far right) with their spouses

What is something people may not know about you?

I’m a big Justin Bieber and Michael Jackson fan. Lucy likes to ask people what concert they would want to go to, dead of alive. Mine is definitely Michael Jackson.

I got to take my eight-year-old to the Justin Bieber concert here in Nashville last year. That was a pretty special moment. I basically forced him into becoming a huge Justin Bieber fan like me, so he was standing up singing the whole time. That was a really cool experience.

What is a moment that you’ve had that your little kid self would be impressed with?

I got to go to Madison Square Garden two years ago to see [my client] Marcus King play a show at Madison Square Garden. There’s a lot of moments like that. When I was in college, my mom passed away from cancer. There are so many moments like that where I wish I could call her and tell her about.

I grew up in Memphis and got an accounting degree—I just hoped to work at some accounting firm. Now I’m working with Grammy winners and CMA winners. I have to pinch myself a lot. I hope the butterflies never go away.

Phil Guerini

The “My Music Row Story” weekly column features notable members of the Nashville music industry selected by the MusicRow editorial team. These individuals serve in key roles that help advance and promote the success of our industry. This column spotlights the invaluable people that keep the wheels rolling and the music playing.

Phil Guerini is CEO of Jonas Group Entertainment. Having amassed over 25 years of experience, across three divisions and 5 businesses at the Walt Disney Company, multiple big market radio stations and major record labels, Guerini has been named a Billboard Power Player multiple times.

While at Disney, he was responsible for overseeing the music strategy of Disney Channels Worldwide networks and all aspects of programming, strategic direction, talent, label relationships, branding as General Manager for Radio Disney and Radio Disney Country businesses.

In 2013, Guerini created and launched the Radio Disney Music Awards – Music’s Biggest Event for Families and reimagined Radio Disney’s highly acclaimed NBT artist development program while supporting the career launches of Selena Gomez, Justin Bieber, Camila Cabello, Jonas Brothers, Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus, Shawn Mendes, Gabby Barrett, Demi Lovato, Tori Kelly, BTS, Zendaya, Becky G and Kelsea Ballerini, among many others.

MusicRow: Where did you grow up?

I was born in San Diego and grew up in south Florida in small town within Fort Lauderdale.

Were you into music?

I’ve been into music as long as I can remember. My father was the lead singer in the Air Force Band. We had music in our house growing up. I grew up on everything from Al Jolson to Frank Sinatra to Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass and Sergio Mendes to whatever was [on the radio]. My mother had really diverse taste, so it was really well-rounded.

Did you want to pursue music or was it just a passion at that point?

I didn’t know what it meant to pursue it per se, but like many young people, I certainly grew up with aspirations of potentially being a rockstar. By default, I fell into the path of chorus and shows. I not only loved the music and the performance of it, but I loved the community. It was like what has been showcased on shows like Glee. I was an athlete as well for a brief period, but it was a community within a larger community of similar interests and aspirations. At that point in my journey, I definitely aspired to be an artist.

What did you do after high school?

I went to college, but through a series of events, I realized that being a performing artist was not necessarily in the cards for me [even though] I had such a deep love for music. I stumbled my way into radio. That’s where it began for me—on the air. I did everything you could do at a radio station at various radio stations. From answering the phones to being on the air to programming, I did everything with the exception of sales. They wore ties and that was just so not cool. [Laughs] That set the path for me. I was close enough to what I loved. I was getting to engage with artists. I found myself in the recording studio with some of the biggest artists in south Florida at the time, who became global superstars. I was just constantly surrounded by it and loved music.

What stations were you at early in your career?

I spent a year at the University of South Georgia in a small town in Georgia, which is where I got my start in radio. Later that summer, I went back to south Florida and having no context of market size or anything about the business, I went to the radio station that I grew up on. It was the preeminent pop radio station in south Florida at the time. I just continued to pursue it until I was finally given an opportunity. The Program Director took favor on me at the time and [gave me a job] on the phones during the overnight shift. I worked my way through and connected with people and the rest is history. I did radio in south Florida and south Georgia for a period of time, and ended up working in radio in Atlanta.

What happened in Atlanta?

Being in Atlanta and having had the background that I did led to my transition into the record business. I began that path at MCA Records. At the time, we were home to Bobby Brown and we had just returned Elton John to MCA. I was part of a marketing team who developed the first ever mall tour with an artist by the name Tiffany. We toured Tiffany through malls and it blew up.

While I was at MCA, I got my first opportunity to come to Nashville. I was given an opportunity to shadow the local promotion person in an effort to move my career forward. This would’ve been in late ’80s, and at that time, MCA Records was the heart of Nashville. It was Reba McEntire, George Stait and Lyle Lovett. I wasn’t on the country side of the business—I was a pop guy in Nashville trying to get Bobby Brown, New Edition and Tiffany records played, so I didn’t have as much fun necessarily. [Laughs] I was housed off of Music Row in Tony Brown‘s office. It was an extremely memorable 12 or 16 months that I was here.

Photo: Courtesy of Phil Guerini

What led to your next career move?

I spent a number of years in the record business, bouncing around to various labels as as many do. Because I was based in Atlanta, oftentimes my region would include Florida. As part of a radio promo person’s responsibility, bringing my artists through marketplaces would often include Orlando. At that time, Disney’s new Mickey Mouse Club show was being taped there, so we would bring our younger developing acts through Disney for things like that. I established a number of relationships through that, and when I was between labels, I was chatting with some friends who suggested [trying to work at Disney]. At that point, I probably had been in the business 10 years. I was under contract with Atlantic Records and my family still lived in south Florida, so I decided to go for a job at Disney.

At Disney, I was put into some various capacities that were both challenging and exciting, as well as being given opportunities that really aligned with my past experience in booking artists and doing music things. Lo and behold, what I thought was going to be a just a temporary diversion ended up being where I called home for 28 plus years.

Photo: Courtesy of Phil Guerini

That’s awesome! Tell me about your path at Disney.

I started in the theme parks in Orlando, which I’m forever grateful for because that really is the heart of all things Disney. I had so many opportunities there that inevitably led to me being a talent executive, overseeing bookings and strategies on bringing talent to the theme parks for grand openings for special events. I booked the Super Bowl halftime show that was presented by Disney in 2000. I realized during that time that if I really wanted to continue to grow and have opportunities, I needed to be where the company was based and where the greater amount of opportunities were, so I moved to Burbank in 2003.

Then I started at Walt Disney Records, which is the branded label division of the Walt Disney Company. I was Head of Broadcast Marketing Synergy and held a number of different capacities while there. I was blessed and fortunate to be there during a special period of time and to have been part of projects like High School Musical. I brought the Jonas Brothers to the Walt Disney Company and helped launch them, as well as [shows like] Hannah Montana, Lizzie McGuire, Camp Rock and more.

What was next?

While I thoroughly loved that chapter and all of those opportunities, I aspired to have greater influence in the broader marketplace. I was given two opportunities: one was to go work within the Walt Disney Company for the Jonas Brothers and one was to go to Radio Disney. I had been part of Radio Disney’s launch back at the parks as it was coming into fruition, and [as I had learned in my early career], I felt this connection with radio and felt that I could really create something special there.

I entered Radio Disney as the Head of Marketing under one General Manager but within about six to nine months, I became the General Manager. I set a course from there to grow the business exponentially and expand into the country space with Radio Disney Country. To this day, that is probably one of my fondest achievements.

Photo: Courtesy of Phil Guerini

Is that what brought you back to Nashville?

Someone whom I worked with at Walt Disney Records and a dear friend of mine who now runs the ACM, Damon Whiteside, had come to Nashville to work for the CMAs.

At the same time, I had just gone through one probably one of the most difficult periods in my professional career, which was assessing the Radio Disney business, how would it continue to grow and how would it move forward. That was cumbersome, emotional and difficult, and we had to make the difficult decision to divest the majority of our stations. Immediately we became profitable, as we had anticipated, but we had to say goodbye to a lot of friends and great people. The next question was what were we going to do next to grow the business.

It took a bit of selling [to create Radio Disney Country] because of the perception that country music is about heartbreak and drinking, which wouldn’t work with Disney, but at its core, the country music community is family. That aligned with the Walt Disney Company 100%. So armed with that and some very valuable insights that Damon and the CMA were able to provide to us, we made ultimately the decision to pursue Radio Disney Country. We were focused on supporting younger artists, similar to that of Radio Disney, as well tremendously underserved acts, such as female artists.

Photo: Courtesy of Phil Guerini

What led to you joining Jonas Group Entertainment (JGE)?

We had had the most amazing, albeit brief, run at Radio Disney Country. We launched a few careers or certainly were instrumental in supporting some artists. Through that period, I was re-ensconced in Nashville, the community, the connection and the specialness of what this community is. Fast forward, [we decided] to sunset that business. We were heading into the pandemic and I was contemplating what that would look like.

I was living in Los Angeles still at the time, but I decided to come and spend a little time in Nashville while contemplating what was going to be next. I was fortunate to be presented with a number of great opportunities. I reconnected with Kevin Jonas Sr., who is the Founder of JGE. He was kind enough at that pivotal moment to call. He said, “I’m really just calling to say thank you for your support of the guys for all the years. You were instrumental at so many points. What are you doing now?”

We had some conversations that continued to evolve. I left the Disney company on April 30th and joined the Jonas Group on May 19th. It’s been an incredible transition that’s still a work in progress but we’re so tremendously excited about what’s ahead.

What are your goals now as CEO of Jonas Group Entertainment?

We’re still in a transition stage. I obviously inherited an infrastructure that has been in place for a while. I was fortunate to be given the opportunity to partner with Kevin in this next chapter. We are evaluating the business that we were doing and what might be ahead of us. We’ve been in the process of really transforming and evolving the artist management side of the business. We are also in the TV and film business, as well as the consumer products business. We recently renewed out commitment to our publishing business, bringing in Leslie DiPiero. There are more exciting announcements that are still in the planning stages.

I hope that, when all is said and done, we can create and foster a community of creatives that can come together, irrespective of what publishing company or label they may work with. That really is a result of my time at Disney and recognizing that the sum of the parts is always greater when working together.

Photo: Courtesy of Phil Guerini

Who have been some of your mentors?

I’ve been so blessed throughout my career to have so many mentors, but I may look at mentors different than many. I look at people in general as mentors. They’re not necessarily seniors to me. The mentors in my personal and professional life are those that set the example, those who inspire me, those who are optimistic and those who approach life and work with a sense of “We’re going to get through this together as a team.”

What is some of the best advice you’ve ever gotten?

The best advice I’ve gotten was from my father, who I unfortunately lost when I was 13. During the short years we had together, he both embodied and communicated the message that if you can pursue the things that you love, you never feel like you work a day in life. I am living proof that this is indeed the case. People often will consider my life unbalanced and wonder where the sleep comes in. My only response is that. I love every minute of it.

When you look back on your career, how do you feel?

The only word to describe my life is blessed. I’ve had blessing upon blessing that is far greater than I ever deserved. I’m blessed to be surrounded by, supported by and given opportunities by amazing people.

Sarah Trahern. Photo: Donn Jones

The “My Music Row Story” weekly column features notable members of the Nashville music industry selected by the MusicRow editorial team. These individuals serve in key roles that help advance and promote the success of our industry. This column spotlights the invaluable people that keep the wheels rolling and the music playing.

Sarah Trahern was named CEO of the Country Music Association (CMA) in 2014. With foresight and determination, she has crafted a brand identity for country music and has been at the forefront of some of the industry’s most intentional and strategic initiatives. With a new, robust CMA membership structure in place beginning March 2023, Trahern oversees CMA’s efforts to act as a critical resource for information, a pipeline for individuals across every aspect of the music business and a community partner committed to fostering collaboration and conversation. She also helms the organization’s three acclaimed network television properties, one of the biggest music festivals in the world and serves as President of the CMA Foundation.

Trahern has been instrumental in maintaining and fostering CMA’s relationship with its broadcast partner, ABC, the network home of the CMA Awards, CMA Country Christmas and CMA Fest. Trahern is consistently included on various Billboard lists and has been honored by the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Nashville Business Journal, CRB and NMPA.

MusicRow: Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Champaign, Illinois until I was 13. Then we moved to Knoxville. My dad was a university professor, so I grew up around college campuses since I was a little kid.

Sarah Trahern. Photo: Courtesy of Trahern

Were you into music?

Oh yes. My mom was a classical viola player. She played in Champaign and ended up playing with UT’s Opera Program when we moved to Knoxville. My dad grew up listening to the Grand Ole Opry under the covers, so I grew up with these very divergent [types of music] but just the love of music throughout.

I actually grew up as part of a public school music education program, playing violin from kindergarten through eighth grade. I learned piano and guitar too. One of the things that was so amazing for me once I came to this job in 2014 is that everything we do with the CMA Foundation for music education is a big part of our job. Having been the beneficiary of a public school music education program myself, it felt like my life had really come full circle to something I believed in as a child and now I get to do as my job.

How did you start your career?

I went to college at Georgetown University and studied American political history. I went to college thinking I would be a lawyer or a journalist, and I followed that path into journalism in D.C. I stayed in D.C. covering Congress and campaigns for C-SPAN until 1995. When I was in high school, I picked up the banjo, so while I was going to college in D.C., I would go to a lot of live music shows, particularly at the Birchmere. My first apartment after college was a mile from the Birchmere, so journalism [was] my career and music was my passion.

Sarah Trahern. Photo: Courtesy of Trahern

How did you get to Nashville?

I was looking for a new job. I had interviewed and was one of three finalists to produce Nightline, but I didn’t get the job. I said to myself, “What do I want my life to look like? Do I wanna stay in D.C.? Do I want to go to New York?” I decided I wanted to be in Nashville, and if it took me three months or three years, that’s what I was going to do. About three months later, in 1995, I ended up getting a job at TNN to oversee music specials.

I had a great life in D.C., but I was going to need to move to grow, and getting to do TV specials about my passion was so unbelievable. I shared this story with Wynonna Judd when we announced her as an inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame last year, but the day I moved, I got in my car and I played a cassette of Wynonna’s with this song, “Is It Over Yet.” I must have worn the tape out by playing that song over and over. I was crying and thinking, “Is it over yet? Am I leaving my D.C. life and making a huge mistake by moving to Nashville?” By the time I got an hour away from D.C., I had cried it all out.

Tell me about your time at TNN.

At TNN, I oversaw all the music specials. I had the TNN Music City News Awards, that later became the CMT Awards. During my time working on that show, we actually moved the awards show from the Opry House to Bridgestone Arena. So when Bridgestone was built, I was the first network executive to do an awards show from there. Many fortuitous opportunities happened during that time. I had a show called Monday Night Concerts—hosted by Ricky Skaggs—that was a precursor to what CMT did with Crossroads, where we might have Wynonna perform with Michael McDonald or Brian Setzer with Marty Stuart. We did that for three seasons over three years.

My very first show at TNN was The Marty Party hosted by Marty Stuart. [On one of the episodes,] the three guests were Alan Jackson, Junior Brown and Johnny Cash. I remember being in the control room at TNN and Johnny came up to the microphone and did his, “Hello, I’m Johnny Cash.” I remember sitting in the control room and going “Oh my gosh, this is my job! This is what I get paid to do for a living.” What is so great is that, to this day, there’s still moments when we get to experience that.

Pictured (L-R): Robert Deaton, Sarah Trahern and Thomas Rhett at rehearsals for the CMA Summer Jam 2021 at Ascend Amphitheater. Photo: John Shearer

What was your next move?

I [was with] TNN until 2001. They closed the network here and moved to New York, but I made the decision not to go with them to New York and to stay here. I went to get my MBA at Vanderbilt during that time and I had my own production company, so I did some work for Scripps Networks in Knoxville and the First Amendment Center. I did the First Amendment Center’s entertainment talk show for PBS as well as a lot of projects for CMT during that time. I did my own thing for two years, which was fine. It was successful and great, but I’m not a sole practitioner. I’m an organizational person. I missed working with people in a collaborative environment.

I went to work for Scripps in 2003, right after I finished my MBA. Scripps had bought a TV shopping network here called the Shop at Home Network. The network’s goal was to take shows that are on the Food Network and [send viewers to] Shop at Home to buy the pots and pans [that were used in the Food Network show]. I learned very quickly that TV shopping was not my passion.

I was about to leave without a job at the end of 2004. Then Scripps bought Great American Country (GAC). The timing was fortuitous that I happened to be at Scripps, even though I was unhappy, when they bought the country network. That’s where my experience and passion was. So at the beginning of 2005, I moved over to GAC. I was at GAC until I was offered this job at the end of 2013.

Sarah Trahern at the Chevy Riverfront Stage during the 2019 CMA Music Festival. Photo: John Russell

What are some of your proudest accomplishments from your time at GAC?

One of the first things that comes to mind is doing the telethon after the Nashville flood in 2010. We were able to work with all of the networks to basically roadblock across the HGTV, Travel and Food networks and bring in talent from all of those networks. We were able to do the program from the Ryman and we raised somewhere between $2 and $2.5 million for the community foundation to help Nashville rebuild.

We also did a show called Country Music at the White House in 2011. Michelle Obama was doing a series of concerts in Washington with different genres of music and they were going to do country. The guests were going to be Charley Pride, Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss. Michelle Obama was going to bring music students from around the country to D.C., including kids from W.O. Smith Music School here in Nashville. They were going to get to go to the White House, perform and meet the First Lady and then do something with the artists. My boss at the time, Ed Hardy, and I were in a conference room trying to figure out how we could help the W.O. Smith Music School kids get to Washington for this really cool experience. My assistant got me out of the conference room and said, “You’ve got a call from the White House Social Secretary.” They were calling to see if we wanted to send a TV crew for the show. I just riffed and said, “Yeah, we could do that, but is anybody televising the whole thing? We could provide the cameras for everybody, but we could do it live.” They said, “That sounds really good. We should do that.” I walked back to the conference room and I said to Ed, “Forget just getting the kids to Washington. I think I just committed us to a network special.” [Laughs]

Sarah Trahern and Lainey Wilson during rehearsals for the CMA Summer Jam 2021 at Ascend Amphitheater. Photo: John Shearer

Tell me about joining the CMA.

It was around 2011 or 2012 and I was working with an executive coach. She had this exercise with cards that each had skill sets. With the cards, we created a mission statement. I looked at that and said, “I think I should run the CMA or the Country Music Hall of Fame.” At the time, the CMA job was open. I reached out to somebody here, but it just didn’t really feel like the right time for me, so I didn’t go for it, but always had that in my heart.

Ed retired and I ended up running the GAC network for two years, which was a great experience for me from a business standpoint. I really loved that chapter. Then the CMA job became [available] again. It was perfect—it still had a television component, it had a great organizational mission, message and a really good staff. All of those things aligned. I went to the interview. Thankfully they called me and now I’m in my ninth year and [about to take on] my 10th CMA Fest.

How do you explain what you do?

I sit at this point of a spear between a 75-person Board of Directors—folks that are so engaged in the business—and a 61-person staff. [Industry members] don’t get paid to be [on the] Board of Directors and [it takes up] a lot of time. My job is to activate the staff on behalf of the vision of the board, all driven towards our mission. We all are driven by making country music stronger.

Who have been some of your mentors along the way?

My very first boss Brian Lamb, the former CEO & Founder of C-SPAN, was a great leader. He really brought out the best of everybody on his team. I had a great mentor in a woman named Judy Girard, who was actually my boss at Shop at Home. She was one of the first women to run a TV network and worked at Lifetime, Food Network and HGTV. She is a real straight shooter and is still a really good friend of mine.

I had a boss named Jim Clayton, who gave me the best piece of advice I’ve ever gotten. When you brought him a business problem, he’d [ask a series of questions.] Question one is: “Were any small children affected?” Right now, if I’m faced with a business problem, it’s usually about politics or money. Right at this very moment, someone’s kid is having serious medical issues just a mile away at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital, so that puts things in perspective. His second question is: “What’s the problem?” Question three is: “What is the solution?” Nine times out of 10, you know what that solution is. Question four is the key one: “Why aren’t you doing what you know is right?” What impediments are you trying to overcome? Is it politics or money? Is it what people are going to think about you? What you’re really solving is not necessarily the problem, but what’s keeping you from doing what you know is right. I think about that a lot.

Luke Combs and Sarah Trahern during sound check for CMA Summer Jam. Photo: Josh Brasted

Next week, CMA Fest will mark its 50th anniversary. What are some of your favorite CMA Fest memories?

There’s so many of them. CMA Fest is so fun because it’s all about music discovery. There are different experiences at different stages.

During my very first Fest in 2014, I was staying at the Hilton downtown. I write letters to all the artists who do the stadium, because they’re giving up a big day to come do our show for free. We also have notes and pictures from the kids that the CMA Foundation benefits and we put those in with my letter to all the stadium headliners. I had these spread out on the table in the hotel room. The hotel had sent up some fruit and wine and the guy delivering it asked where he should put it. I told him to put it on the table.

He looked at some of the letters and said, “What do you know about this Disney Musicals in Schools at TPAC?” I said, “I’m with the CMA and we support Disney Musicals in Schools through our CMA Foundation. Half of the proceeds from this festival we’re having right now go to benefit music education. [How] do you know about it?” He said, “My son played Simba in the eighth grade last year and it changed his life.”

I will always think about that down to the very last CMA Fest I do. This city comes together, the industry and the artists show up and our staff works their tails off for months on end to get there. Then there’s all these downstream beneficiaries that are not just the fans. The fans are certainly a big part of why we do what we do, but [it’s also about the kids] who have guitars, trombones and vocal classes that may never end up in our business, but they have the gift of self-expression through music.

What are you excited about for this year’s CMA Fest?

One of the surprises is we’ve been working on a documentary about the 50th anniversary of CMA Fest that will air on Hulu in July. Anybody who has come to Nashville and been a part of Fest has their own stories about it. People on our staff were there when Garth Brooks did his 23-hour autograph signing. I did my TNN job interview during Fan Fair, [which is what CMA Fest used to be called], in 1995. People have their moments at CMA Fest and it becomes their history. There’s 50,000 people at the stadium, so they have 50,000 different experiences every single year. We have roughly 60 people on our staff and we have 3,000 people working on our behalf to pull off the festival. Everyone has their own experiences at CMA Fest. I’m proud that we get to be a part of everybody’s experience.

Beth Laird

The “My Music Row Story” weekly column features notable members of the Nashville music industry selected by the MusicRow editorial team. These individuals serve in key roles that help advance and promote the success of our industry. This column spotlights the invaluable people that keep the wheels rolling and the music playing.

In 2011, Beth Laird co-founded Creative Nation, an independent music publishing, management and record company in Nashville with her husband, two-time Grammy winning songwriter and producer, Luke Laird. Today, the company boasts a roster that includes Barry Dean, Lori McKenna, Steve Moakler, Kassi Ashton, Travis Wood, Jonathan Hutcherson, Derek Bahr, Mia Mantia and Oscar Charles. Creative Nation has celebrated more than 70 Billboard Country Radio singles, over 20 of which have hit No. 1.

Beth started her music business career at BMG Nashville and spent time at Windswept Music Publishing and BMI before forming Creative Nation.

MusicRow: Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Winchester, Tennessee. It is an hour and a half from here but a world away.

Were you into music as a kid?

I was really into music. I came to Nashville to go to Starwood, Dancin’ In The District and things like that, but I didn’t know that there was a music business. I certainly didn’t know that if you weren’t musical, you could work on the business side with music people. I also did not know that there were actual music business degrees at MTSU and Belmont.

Pictured (L-R): Little Big Town’s Phillip Sweet, Kimberly Schlapman, Jimi Westbrook and Karen Fairchild; Natalie Hemby; Luke Laird; Barry Dean; Beth Laird

How did you discover the music business?

I went to the University of Alabama. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I knew I loved working with people, so communication seemed like the best major for me. The summer after my freshman year, my old babysitter Regina Stuve ran into my mom in the grocery store in Winchester when she came home for a weekend. She asked what I was doing and my mom said I was coming home for the summer to get a job. Regina said, “Why don’t you move her to Nashville and have her intern for me?” So my mom told me, “You’re going to go to Nashville and intern with your old babysitter, Regina, for free for the summer.”

She negotiated a deal at the extended stay hotel so that I could stay three nights in Nashville and then go home on the weekends. I walked into Capitol Records and Regina was the head publicist there. That is the day that I found out about the music business.

That is awesome. What did you do there?

Regina and I became the best of friends. It was the best summer and honestly, that is when I fell in love with the music business. I also realized I did not want to be a publicist, but I saw business people working behind the scenes helping creative people and it really opened my eyes to using what your skillset is to help people who are creative fulfill their dreams. That changed my whole world.

I asked Regina if she would let me move back the summer after my junior year of college to intern again. The summer after my junior year, I actually shared a bedroom with my best friend here in town who was also doing an internship here. We were living with one of my high school friends who was going to Vanderbilt. I would just do anything to get to come back. That summer I realized that this is a lot about relationships, so I really tried to get to know everyone at Capitol. I made some great relationships and then really tried to stay in touch when I went back to Alabama.

Pictured (L-R): Beth Laird, Luke Laird, Kacey Musgraves, Natalie Hemby, Shane McAnally, Brett Eldredge, Barry Dean

What happened after graduation?

I graduated and I moved here. I couldn’t get a job in the music business because, as you know, they don’t post jobs online. A couple of my sorority sisters worked at Nashville Bun Company and Bun Lady Transport, which is a manufacturing bakery that makes English muffins for McDonald’s and Pepperidge Farm. Ironically, they were looking for a front desk logistics manager on the shipping side and they asked if I wanted to interview. I interviewed and I got that job. I was so excited just to have a job so I could be in Nashville. I was booking back hauls with the refrigerated truck drivers, running all the logistics, answering the phone and being an assistant.

I always kept in touch with Regina and I told her to let me know if there was anything that I could do to help. After I had been here for about a year, Regina’s husband Ron Stuve took over the old BMG Music Publishing and the receptionist left. So I applied for that job and I’m so grateful I got it, because the day I went to work I realized that there were people graduating from Belmont and MTSU with degrees. That really set me on fire to learn a lot in a really short amount of time because I didn’t have those relationships they were coming in with, as well as all those internships and a degree in music business.

Pictured (L-R): Beth Laird, Luke Laird, Eric Church, Kelsey Granda

Tell me about that time at BMG.

I was so grateful because I realized that that was my chance and that I really needed to learn quickly. I tried to go out every night and meet people. I assisted everyone in the office to learn from them what all the different jobs were. That job is the reason that I know all the different jobs at a publishing company, and I feel like it really helped me when we started Creative Nation.

That’s also where I met [my future husband] Luke. He was a new songwriter that hadn’t had any cuts yet. I was the receptionist. We all had a crew that ran around together and that was really fun.

What was next for you?

I was approached by Steve Markland, who was running Windswept Music Publishing at the time. He needed a song-plugger, so he hired me. That was so fun. That whole crew was amazing and I learned so much. Steve and Cliff [Audretch III] did a great job of bringing me along and helping to teach me what an independent music publisher is.

I had a lot of friends at the time who were older than me and were friends with Jody Williams. I heard about him all the time. They said, “You really should meet Jody. You’d really like him.” I probably had more guts then, but I just randomly reached out to Jody and said, “We have a lot of mutual friends and I would love to meet you.” He was nice enough to meet me. He says now that I asked him to be my mentor during that first meeting, but I don’t remember that. If I did, I’m really proud of myself—it turned out really well so I’m glad I did that. [Laughs]

Pictured (L-R): Mike O’Neill, Beth Laird, Luke Laird, Scott Cutler, Jody Williams

Then you started working for Jody at BMI.

He told me that BMI was looking for a female writer rep. I knew I was under-qualified and I didn’t know what that job was. I just knew I liked songwriters and publishing. We kept meeting and he had offered the job to someone who had more experience and she turned it down because she had another job she loved. He came back to me and asked me if I would like to hear more about the job and I said, “I love publishing, I don’t think I want to leave.” He said, “Do you know what this job is?” and I said, “No.” [Laughs] He told me what the job was and I was like, “Wow, this is actually my next step. I would really love this because I would get to work with all the songwriters and all the publishers.”

I’m grateful Jody gave me a shot. I was the youngest and the only female rep on the team, so again, I went in feeling under-qualified and I had a lot to learn. I worked for Jody for five years and it was an incredible experience. He is still my mentor today. He’s just one of a kind and he taught me so much about music, life and business. He really helped me understand the ins and outs of the business side, but was always encouraging me to keep my passion for music and my passion for people.

What led up to starting Creative Nation?

I loved my job at BMI. That’s where I made tons of connections with everyone in town—particularly with publishers and writers—but I also made a lot of connections out of town because I was able to work in a lot of other genres as well. At the same time, I took on more than I had energy and time to do, so I was very overwhelmed by the end of it. I’m not someone who’s good at letting people down and I always wanted to help and do as much as I could, realizing that I really was taking care of all genres and so many writers. I just wasn’t capable, so that was really getting to me.

Luke was in a publishing deal at Universal because BMG had folded into Universal. He was coming to the end of his deal. He had his admin rights back, he was recouped and had songs on the chart, which usually just does not happen in that way. I’m really grateful to Derek Crownover because he really helped, and Luke was really smart about the deals he did instead of just taking more money.

Pictured: Creative Nation wins their first BMI Award

So me, Luke and Kella Farris all met. She said to Luke, “Your deal is coming up and you could sell your catalog. You could sell your copyrights and get some money for them.” If you’re lucky enough to be able to do that, that money is basically songwriter retirement a lot of times.  We were shocked. She looked at Luke and said, “What do you want to do next?” Luke said, “I want Beth to be my creative person, but she won’t leave Jody at BMI.”

Kella said, “Beth, what are you going to do next at BMI?” In that moment, I realized my title would change, but my job never would, and I was really tired. So I immediately thought I have to leave my job and it’s time for something else.

What was starting a company on your own like for you and Luke?

We decided we would do a five year business plan. We would sell Luke’s catalog and put money in the bank for five years. We wanted to do it ourselves and set up the company the way we really wanted a publishing company to be. We decided at the end of those five years, we could make a call [on what to do next.]

Pictured (L-R): Scott Cutler, Tyler Johnson, Beth Laird

There were independent publishers out of town that had reached out to us about us being their Nashville office. We talked it through, but we just felt like we would still be using their name, their culture and their deals. Luke said, “If all these people who don’t really know us are willing to fund our company to own 50% of it, we should double down bet on ourselves.” Another thing he said was, “Worst case scenario, we’re going to be trying to get these same jobs back.”

We knew that this was a moment in time opportunity that might not ever come around again. It just felt like the right time. Most people I talked to about it were supportive, but a lot of people gave me the advice of, “Don’t start a company with your husband and don’t use your own money in the music business.” I understand both, but for us, it has been so great. I think we’re an exception to the rule in that because we both do two completely different jobs. We’re really different in what we do every single day and it compliments each other.

We also felt like if we used our own money to create the culture we wanted and the company we wanted, then by the time we got to five years, if we needed to, we could take other people’s money, but it would already be established what we were about. We really pulled on our experience from the previous years and tried to build the company we wanted to work for. We grew small. We started November of 2011 at the kitchen table.

Now you have 10 writers, a well-rounded team and two buildings on Music Row. What was an affirming moment from the beginning?

Two things come to mind. I was having some imposter syndrome and I told Luke maybe I should just call Jody and ask him if he’ll hire me back. I was just going through a real season of doubt. I went to my first plugger group pitch meeting with Todd Ramey. The first song I played was “Pontoon.” When Little Big Town loved that song, recorded it and it took on a complete life of its own, that moment reaffirmed to me that I should quit worrying about if I was capable, what people would think and if I could handle it, and just focus on what I knew. [It told me I should] put my head down and focus on booking great co-writes, pitching songs and taking care of these writers strategically.

Another huge moment we had is when we had a No. 1 song and I got to go on stage as a BMI publisher at the BMI Awards and Jody handed me an award as a publisher. I had been the one at BMI who handed up all the awards to Jody for him to give out. That was such a moment.

Pictured (L-R): Hailey Whitters, Emily Furman, Lori McKenna, Beth Laird

That’s amazing. What is the most fulfilling part of your job?

The most fulfilling part of my job is that I get to help songwriters dreams come true. Truly the thing I love the most is when a songwriter tells me a dream they have or something they want to accomplish and we start working on it.

What’s a great piece of advice you’ve received?

One piece of advice that I wish I would’ve known earlier was to pay attention to things that give you energy that you do really well and quickly—that’s your skillset and that’s what you’re good at. Pay attention to things that drain you and make you feel very tired—those are things that are not your skillset. You can do them and you always have to do a little of both, but if you can try to get to a place where you are eventually are in a 75-25 or an 80-20 split, you’ll enjoy what you do and you set yourself up for success.

Another piece of advice was something Jody told me. I used to be one that would work myself to death and then crash. I would get sick and have to take time off. I wasn’t good at balance and I was not good at taking care of myself. Jody was the first one to say, “You’re good at this job. I want you to be able to do it for a long time, so you can’t keep working like this. You’re going to need to learn how to take breaks or you’re going to get completely worn out and want to leave the business.” That changed the way I thought about doing a good job and longevity in this business.