My Music Row Story: Truth Management’s Missi Gallimore

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Missi Gallimore

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.

Nashville music executive Missi Gallimore is a triple threat in the country music scene. Over the past 20 years, she has built a reputation as a highly-respected publisher and A&R executive responsible for pairing Tim McGraw with over 29 No. 1 hits, including “I Like It, I Love It” and “Live Like You Were Dying.” She was behind Faith Hill recording “This Kiss” and “Breathe,” and she introduced Keith Urban to the 5x Platinum-selling “Blue Ain’t Your Color.”

Now, her newly-launched Truth Management is shepherding the careers of hot newcomers Sam Williams, grandson of Hank Williams Sr. and son of Hank Jr., in addition to Shy Carter, noted singer-songwriter Abbey Cone, and sibling trio Track45. Gallimore is the sole owner of two publishing companies, Amped Entertainment and Truth or Dare, both of which are joint ventures with Kobalt Music Publishing and Warner Chappell, respectively.

MusicRow: Where did you grow up?

I actually grew up in Nashville. I moved here when I was 10 years old, so Nashville is home for me.

Charley Pride, Missi Gallimore

Did you always want to work in the music business? How did you get into it?

Heavens no. When I started the business, I knew nothing about country music. Never even listened to country music. I had just graduated college at MTSU and was looking for a job, still living with my parents. I had applied for a receptionist position at a law firm. I didn’t get the job, but they liked me enough to pass on my resume to a record producer in town at the time by the name of Billy Sherrill. I had no idea who Billy Sherrill was, but I got a call from his assistant one day and they wanted me to come interview with him.

I go to the interview around six o’clock at night on 16th Avenue in an old house. I walk in and I’m thinking, “Oh my God, what have I gotten myself into?” I walk up the steps of this old house where Billy’s studio was and he offers me champagne. He plays me a song that he had just cut—I think it might have been David Allan Coe—and he’s like, “What do you think about this song?” I say, “Well, I don’t really like it. I’ve never really listened to country music, so I can’t relate to it.” He was like, “You’re hired!” (Laughs) I guess he liked that I was honest and truthful.

I [ended up being] his face at CBS Records at the time, because he never came in but he wanted somebody there to take calls and represent Billy at the label. So I was at the label representing him for a couple of years, and then he left CBS and went and did his own thing. Then he retired and completely quit doing records. I learned so much from Billy.

What was next for you?

I left there and started working for Charley Pride, just as a catchall for anything at his publishing company. I started out doing administrative type stuff and then worked my way up to pitching songs. That’s where I met my husband, Byron Gallimore, who was producing but didn’t have any big acts at the time. He started producing Tim McGraw and then he got very, very busy. One day Byron was like, “I’m too busy to go look for songs. Can you start looking for songs for Tim?” That was my intro into the A&R world.

Missi Gallimore (second from right) backstage at the CMA Awards

You found some really big songs for Tim McGraw, as well as other artists. Tell me about finding some of those songs.

For “Live Like You Were Dying,” Tim was pretty much done with his album. I can remember exactly where I was when I got the call from Chris Oglesby from BMG. He said, “Hey, I just heard this song at the studio. Craig Wiseman is at the studio now they just recorded it. You really need to get over here and listen to this song. It’s a great song.” I was getting on the interstate at Demonbreun, and Craig Wiseman was recording at County Q—a studio in Berry Hill. I turned my car around and got my booty over to County Q. I walked in, heard the song, and put it on hold for Tim immediately. Back in the day, it was very competitive for whoever got the first hold on the song. It was always a battle. I left the studio with the song, sent the song to Tim, he called me immediately and said “I’m cutting this.” We go in, we cut it, and there it is… A big, huge song.

I’ve worked with Keith Urban on his last three or four albums. I came in late in the process [when he was working on his Ripcord album]. He had pretty much already finished the album. He brought me on and I’m thinking, “Oh goodness, how am I going to find songs for him now? He’s pretty much done.” It was a snow day and Nate Lowery from Brett James‘ company, Cornman Music, pitched me a link. “Blue Ain’t Your Color” was on the link. I remember sitting at my computer on this snow day, kids running around everywhere, listening to the link of songs and that one just stuck out. I put it on hold, pitched to Keith and it did what it did.

Byron Gallimore, Missi Gallimore, Keith Urban

What got you into management?

I’ve been doing A&R for so long. It’s still a passion for me—I still get excited when I hear a great song. I still wanted to do that, but I just felt like I needed to do something different. I has been working with Shy Carter for a long time. Shy had been coming to town and pitching me songs. I knew he was an artist and I knew he was somebody that I really, really believed in as an artist. I loved his songs, I had gotten so many of his songs cut. So I went to Shy one day and said, “Hey, you need to move to Nashville. You need to plant roots here. You’re having all your success in the country market as a songwriter. You’re an artist. Let’s focus on you writing for you as an artist. Let me manage you.” That’s how all that started

Now I have four acts that all got record deals at the same time, during COVID. Sam Williams came to me four years ago. He was writing poems but he wanted to be a songwriter. There was something in those poems that was so raw and so real, and I loved his voice. There’s something that I really love about taking an artist like Sam, Shy, Track45 or Abbey Cone and developing them and seeing it through all the way to them getting a record deal.

You also operate two publishing companies.

I have Truth or Dare Publishing, which is co-venture with Warner Chappell. Sam Williams signed to that, as well as Ben Roberts of Carolina Story and Mary Gauthier. I have another company called Amped Entertainment with writers Tommy Cecil and KK Johnson, the lead singer of Track45.

Who have been some of your mentors?

Charley Pride. I will get teary-eyed talking about him. He and Rozene were the most humble and encouraging people. They let you be you as far as work and freedom. They taught me the publishing ropes; they were very influential in my coming up in the music industry. They were just amazing people.

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

Stay passionate with what you do. Never lose that spark. Never lose that passion. It’s hard to sometimes because you work in the industry for so long that you get jaded, but never lose your passion.

My Music Row Story: Keller Turner Andrews & Ghanem’s Jason Turner

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Jason Turner. Photo: Justin Fricke

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.

Jason Turner is Partner at the boutique entertainment and sports law firm, Keller Turner Andrews & Ghanem, PLLC. Turner has more nearly 25 years of music industry experience, and represents many of Nashville’s top songwriters, executives, managers, and independent publishing companies, as well as the three-time Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning, among others. He has been named to Billboard‘s Power Players and Attorneys of Note, as well as Super Lawyers for the past decade. He focuses a significant portion of his practice negotiating the sale of catalogs on behalf of songwriters and publishers.

Pictured: Jason Turner as a child with Charly McClain

MusicRow: Where did you grow up? Were you musical as a child?

I grew up in a very small town in northwest Illinois. It was about a hundred miles west of Chicago, a town of about 2,000 people.

At some point, for some reason, my parents bought a piano. It was in the same room as the stereo that we used to have back in the day. I would listen to music and I would sit at the piano. My feet couldn’t even touch the pedals, and I would start playing by ear. Pretty quickly thereafter, my parents hooked me up with the music teacher in our school system. It was the same person for elementary, middle and high school since it was such a small town. I took piano lessons and ended up being the pianist for the middle school and high school choirs in town.

What was the plan for after high school?

Going into my senior year of high school, I was actually already signed up to go to Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University out in Arizona to be a pilot. I wanted to be a commercial pilot. I’ve always been fascinated with airplanes. The night before I left Illinois to go to Arizona for a preview week at the school, a music group that was signed to Polydor Records at the time here in Nashville played our small town summer festival. They were managed by Starstruck, they were on a major label, and they had already had their first hit. I wanted to meet them, so I connected with the lady in town who was in charge of the festival to figure out how can I finagle my way in. The group was called 4 Runner. It was a quartet produced by Buddy Cannon and managed by Narvel Blackstock. That night I ended up selling their merch. I ended up going out with them several more dates later that summer because they were so kind to me. They connected me up with people in the industry. That was truly the moment that I found out that there was this thing called “the music business.”

The next day, I fly out to this flight camp for a week and every night as I’m calling back home to talk to my parents, I wasn’t talking about the flight camp. I was talking about my experience with 4 Runner and how excited I was about that. I ended up talking with people that they worked with, found out about Belmont, and did a complete 180 out of going to flight school and ended up going to Belmont for the music business program.

Pictured: Jason Turner (right) plays piano with friend and client Nick Carter (left)

What did you get into at Belmont?

I immediately jumped in. I was still playing piano and, with Belmont being Belmont, I started playing in various bands. By my sophomore year of college, I was working at Warner Brothers.

Royce Risser was the first label person that I ever met even before I moved here. He was super kind to meet with me and my parents before I even committed to Belmont. So [while at Belmont], I went to Royce and talked to him about an internship. At the same time I went to Warner Brothers and talked to them about an internship. Warner Brothers was very open with me and basically said, “We’re going to turn you loose. If there’s something you see that you have a passion for, we’re going to let you do it.” As fate would have it, they didn’t have anybody at that time handling secondary radio promotions within their promotion department. So within a week or two, I was starting to call radio programmers and working the records for the Warner Brothers roster. I was shifting around my school schedule to accommodate the call times of all of the programmers for all of these radio stations. I did that for a little over two years and loved it. That was the first Tim McGraw and Faith Hill tour, and when Travis Tritt came back after taking a break. I got to work a George Jones record, which was just crazy to me.

Pictured (L-R): Faith Hill, Jason Turner

How did you change lanes to being an entertainment attorney?

During that time—again, I’m still at Belmont—Time Warner merged with AOL. So at the age of 19 or 20, I got my first inside look at corporate mergers and what that means. (Laughs) To speak generically, it set off a light bulb in my head. I love the music industry. I love the creative side. I don’t love that somebody 2,000 miles away has the power to decide whether or not I have a job tomorrow. The other thing that kept ringing in my head was virtually anytime I would spend with artists, I almost felt like a therapist because they would start opening up about issues they were having. “I’m stuck in a management deal and I can’t stand my manager,” or “I’ve been signed to the label for eight years and still don’t have an album out,” and so on. I couldn’t help, but think, “Gosh, every single one of these scenarios seems somewhat predictable and more importantly, preventable. Why wasn’t this dealt with in your agreements? Why aren’t you protected in these various ways that seem predictable and protectable?” I was driving back to my apartment at Belmont one day and a light bulb went off in my head. I thought, “I want to be the guy who can help people like this when they’re doing their contracts.” As soon as Belmont was done, I went down to law school in Florida.

I stayed in contact with everybody that I worked with [while in law school]. In typical music industry fashion, they all spread out to different places. When I came back in 2006, I immediately hit the ground running to meet with all of those people and say, “Hey, I’m back. This is what I’m doing. I would love it if you would keep me in mind, if you need anything.” It’s so humbling to me that I’m sitting here in 2022 and some of my clients are the same guys who either hired me or were mentoring me 25 years ago.

Pictured (L-R): Jason Turner, Shane McAnally

Now you’re a partner at the law firm you started with Jordan Keller in 2011. When do you feel most fulfilled in what you do?

I get the most joy seeing my clients succeed. I know that sounds cliche, but just last week I had four clients experience their very first No. 1 song. Technically it was three clients [who got their first No. 1], for the fourth client, it was his second No. 1 as a writer. It was for the Cody Johnson song “‘Til You Can’t.” I represent both of the writers. For Ben Stennis, it’s his very first No. 1 and that guy has been busting his tail for over a decade in this town. It’s the very first No. 1 for the publisher, Young Guns, as well as Trent Willmon, the producer of the song. Matt Rogers was the other writer, and it was his second No. 1. To get to see all of those individuals experience that, let alone on the same song in the same week, it truly was a reminder to me how lucky I am to get to do what I do with who I get to do it with. That’s why I do it every day.

Pictured (L-R): Jon Loba, Jason Turner

Who have been some of your mentors along the way?

I hate to confess it was this long ago, but 24 years ago, a very young Jon Loba [was a mentor of mine]. Jon was very young, he was a promo coordinator at the time, but he really empowered me. So did Bill Mayne, who was GM of Reprise at the time, and Bob Saporiti, who was GM of Warner Brothers at the time. Those guys truly empowered me to take the whole secondary radio thing and run with it. Ken Tucker is another guy. He was the national director of promotion at the time and he would spend time teaching me what the charts meant and what the different strategies were.

Jerry Duncan was Warner’s outside indie promoter for the secondary market stations when I was there, so he and I worked records together. He was one of the kindest people to me back in the day when it came to showing me the ropes of working with programmers and music directors. We had a ton of fun, and success, working records together on people like Faith Hill, Chad Brock, George Jones, and more.

What makes a successful person in business or in life?

I’m going to sound like a cheesy Hallmark movie, but I firmly believe what I’m about to say: work hard, do better than you think your best is, and treat others with kindness and humility. We all make mistakes. I’m speaking specifically as a lawyer right now—if somebody on the other side of you made a mistake, guess what? That may be you tomorrow. Remember that. We’re all just trying to do the best we can.

There’s always something to learn. I always tell my clients, whether they’re an artist, a songwriter or a business owner, continue to surround yourself with people who are better at your craft than you are. That’s what’s going to make you better at what you’re doing.

My Music Row Story: Big Loud’s Seth England

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Seth England

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.

 

This edition of “My Music Row Story” is sponsored by Worldwide Stages.

 

As Partner and CEO, Seth England leads Big Loud as one of the most unique and fastest-rising businesses in Nashville; a trailblazing conglomerate that combines music publishing, management, label services, and capital investment and has changed the industry in the process. The label’s roster includes country hitmakers Morgan Wallen, Jake Owen, Chris Lane, and Hardy, as well as rising stars Hailey Whitters, Ernest, Lily Rose, MacKenzie Porter, and more.

Since joining Big Loud Publishing in 2008, England has proven his knack for landing massive song placements, signing cutting-edge, genre altering acts, and finding unique partnerships that further the label’s innovative goals, as he did when co-founding female-driven label Songs and Daughters with ACM-winning songwriter Nicolle Galyon. Big Loud Records has earned multiple Gold and Platinum RIAA certifications, 12 No. 1 U.S. airplay hits, and more than 5.5 billion global streams in 2021 alone. England has been named to multiple Billboard power player lists, including 2021 Indie Power Players and Country Power Players.

MusicRow: Where did you grow up?

I was born in Terre Haute, Indiana. I grew up in Illinois right across the state line in a small town called Marshall, Illinois.

How did you get into the music business?

The pathway to it started for me when I was a junior in high school. It was by way of sports. I was a football player and I was going go play football in college. I was taking all sorts of recruiting visits and one of the problems of finding a place that I wanted to go to was the academic options [the schools’ offered]. I knew I wanted to do something unique and different. I was chasing that “never have to work a day in your life” thought, chasing something I was passionate about. At that time, I was thinking I would probably end up in sports. I ended up going to college at Greenville University and double majored in music business and marketing.

While I was in school, one choice just led to the next opportunity and then to the next one. I just kept trusting myself and those around me to keep walking through certain doors. I was promoting shows while I was in college during the off season, primarily. I was able to make a little money, not too much. Little did I know that later on when I would get to Nashville and meet Craig [Wiseman], the thing he loved most about me was that I had been a show promoter and I knew the live touring aspect.

Pictured (L-R): Big Loud’s Craig Wiseman, Joey Moi, Seth England. Photo: Courtesy of Big Loud

When did you start coming to Nashville?

I started going after my sophomore year of college. I knew that I wanted to get my foot in the door. My first summer in Nashville, I interned in the mornings for Harlan Howard Songs. I kept promoting shows [throughout college] so I was able to make a little money, save up, and when I came to Nashville in the summers, I could spend 40 hours a week doing my internships because I didn’t have the opportunity to come down in the fall or spring. I came down knowing I really wanted to get into publishing or A&R and I did an internship with Sara Knabe. She was the creative director at Harlan Howard Songs and she had just gotten out of Belmont a few years before that. In the afternoon I’d go to Vector Management. I did that my whole first summer.

You joined Big Loud in 2008. What was your vision for the company in the early years?

It starts with Craig. I met Craig in 2006. At that time, he was trying to do a lot of things. He had shown aspirations even before his partnership with Joey [Moi] and I that he wanted to do more than just traditional publishing. At the time he had Big Loud Shirt publishing, he had a joint venture with Extreme Writers Group in Nashville, he had an office in London, and he probably had 10 to 15 writers. It was a very A&R-centric company, but most of the cuts revolved around Craig. That was something he desired to evolve. He wanted to make sure the company was known as a successful publishing company for songwriters. I could tell quickly where his energy was at, his priorities, and the way that he saw the business. I had a feeling he was going to get into much more. I couldn’t have told you then where we were going to go, but I could just feel some energy between the two of us. The first couple years we started to talk about all the great things we had, but also the things we didn’t have. Joey joined us a few years later.

Photo: Courtesy of Big Loud

With the three of you leading the charge, Big Loud has become one of the most competitive indies in the Nashville music business. How do you feel that the company is different than other labels?

All three of us—Craig, Joey, and I—would be lying if we didn’t say that over the years while developing into this plan, we weren’t watching other record labels in town. We worked with Florida Georgia Line for years and worked within the Big Machine halls. We learned a lot from Scott [Borchetta] and Jimmy [Harnen] and some of their great executives there. Along the way, you pick up things you want to do like [other companies] and then how you want to do a few things different.

I think [the way we approach] artist development is different in a lot of ways. If you want to approach artist development as just one song or even three to five songs, it’s just not enough. No matter how good you are it just won’t be enough. The same is true if your first song to five songs doesn’t work. It wasn’t going to be enough anyway, so let’s keep going. Don’t get discouraged. Keep swinging. I feel like if the artist is good enough to come to our record label, we need to set up an ecosystem around them where they get an unlimited amount of swings at the ball. We preach that because we do believe and we’ve seen many examples of success by letting artists continue to try and swing. They build.

When do you feel most fulfilled in your role now?

When people acknowledge our process—not for any ego reason—we’re just so proud of our process. We’re so proud of the belief systems shared between Craig, Joey and I. It’s not just about music and business, it’s really about people, culture and camaraderie. We’ve worked very hard for that and we sometimes may be the ones to see the benefits. It takes a lot of additional man hours to care about culture. I get compliments every so often about that, people are really starting to notice. With the more forward-facing success some of our clients have, people may be looking into what’s going on behind the scenes.

Photo: Courtesy of Big Loud

Who have been some of your mentors along the way?

Certainly Craig and Joey. They have become brothers to me. Monte and Avery Lipman are big mentors in the record label space. Clarence Spalding in the Nashville artist management space. He ushered Big Loud into the Maverick partnership. That was such a special time with him. Brian O’Connell in concert promotion has always been a good friend and never makes us feel stupid for something we don’t know. Certain acts of ours have gotten bigger than we ever imagined. He was right there with us, teaching.

What’s some of the best advice you’ve ever received?

There’s a reason the word “music” comes before “business.” I think about it all the time. In a modern music era, we’ve never had more information ever. While analytics and data are guiding lights for the business part of it, I still remind myself that music comes before business. When we’re talking to our artists, we certainly need them to know that our agenda as a record label is to still encourage our artists to make music with their ears and gut inspiration. We are not making music for TikTok. We’re not making music for anyone other than yourself and the fans that you’re building. After you release it, then we can look at things pragmatically and make sure we give you great recommendations and best practices on how to elevate your career with your music.

If someone were to ask you what the secret to your success was, what would you say?

I would say two things. The first is each other. Be sentimental about it. There’s so much trust [you have to] put in other people, whether it’s myself with artists, Joey with artists, the songwriters with artists, or executives to each other. If we didn’t do so much over-communicating and making the artists feel in complete control of their career, especially with our business model, I don’t think it would’ve worked this well.

The other thing is we put songs over anything else. A hit record can launch a small name or an unheard of name. A bad record can slow down a huge name. It’s such a simple statement, but sometimes we find that too many people are worried about the “how,” the “when,” and the “if” that they may breeze right past the “what.” Maybe it’s just the way I started in the music business, but nothing comes before a song.

My Music Row Story: Make Wake Artists’ Chris Kappy

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Chris Kappy

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.

 

This edition of “My Music Row Story” is sponsored by Worldwide Stages.

 

Chris Kappy is the founder and owner of management company Make Wake Artists, and is in his sixth year as manager for superstar Luke Combs. During that time, he has grown the Make Wake roster by adding the talents of Niko Moon, Hailey Whitters, Drew Parker, Flatland Cavalry, Jackie Lee, Tyler Dial, Red Shahan, The Panhandlers and Keller Cox.

MusicRow: Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Stone Mountain, Georgia. I was born in Texas and lived there for two years. We moved to St. Louis and lived there for two years. My dad worked for the airlines. We moved to Georgia when I was five so I grew up in Stone Mountain.

I ended up going to Georgia State University. It was a commuter school then, now it’s a traditional campus. That’s where my love for music started. I grew up in a household of music. My mom was a big believer in The Temptations, the Four Tops, Otis Redding, and Gladys Knight. My dad listened to big band music. As I was coming up, I was listening to pop radio. Z-93 and 96 Rock out of Atlanta were the stations I was listening to.

Pictured (L-R): Kappy, Luke Combs, Niko Moon

What got you interested in country music?

I met a girl in college that introduced me to the band BlackHawk, and I was like, “What is this magic?” The harmonies were insane. “Goodbye Says It All” was the first song of their’s I ever heard. Then I started digging into country music and I really fell in love with bands like Shenandoah, Diamond Rio, and Little Texas. That’s the world I got into as I was listening to everything from Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Hootie and The Blowfish, and Sister Hazel. I fell in love with country.

How did you get into the music business?

In 2000 I was working in IT selling web hosting and stuff like that. I was killing it, I was doing very well for myself for my late twenties. A good friend of mine, Andy Levine, said, “You should come work for me. We’re gonna do this thing called The Rock Boat where we put bands on a cruise ship and go out to sea with their fans. I’ll pay you a third of what you’re making now, but you’ll be in the music business.” I was like, “Man, that’s a great idea. I should do this.” And I did. I quit my job and I went to go work for Andy. That started a 15-year relationship with bands and their fans on a cruise ship in the ocean.

Sister Hazel was the catalyst. They were my college band that I fell in love with. I would travel to go see them play anywhere and everywhere. To this day, I still am very close with all the guys in the band. We’re all very good friends and I still love their music. I learned from them how important it was to have the relationship with the fan. Their big hit was “All For You.” They had all these unbelievable songs, but they had a relationship with their fans that was beautiful. They cared so much about them and then they created The Rock Boat. From that event, it spawned off to Kiss, John Mayer, Florida Georgia Line, Paramore and 311. So for 15 years, I traveled with rabid fan bases, took 2,500 of their biggest fans on vacation, and essentially gave them a backstage pass for four days in the Caribbean. I thought I had the greatest job in the world.

Pictured (L-R): Kappy, Drew Parker

How did you end up in management?

I was living in Huntington Beach, California when I got a phone call from a buddy of mine named Bradley Jordan. Bradley calls me and says, “You’ve always wanted be a manager your whole life. That’s all you’ve ever talked about and you’re not doing it. You’re in your early forties. If you don’t do this, you’re going to regret it.” I was like, “Man, you’re right.” You have to have a friend like that to be able to tell you that. I packed everything up, broke my lease and moved to Athens, Georgia in November of 2014.

Bradley was [promoting] a Sam Hunt show at the Georgia Theater. This is when Sam was just blowing up. He put the show up for sale on Oct. 31 and it sold out in four minutes. He had me that day as the runner for that show, so I’m driving Brad and Sam all over town. I saw the kind of relationship they had and I was like, “I can do this.” I didn’t know what a point was on an album, I had no idea what a publishing deal was, but I remembered [a conversation I had] on a cruise with Brandi Carlile. Brandi and I had become very good friends and I remember talking to her asking, “Do you think I could do this?” She goes, “Kappy, I don’t even know what points are. I don’t care. You can do this.” That’s what I needed to hear.

[A little while later], I get a phone call and it’s Bradley. He said, “I found your guy. His name is Luke Combs.”

What was your first meeting with Luke like?

[We organized a show for Luke.] He shows up with the band in the van. They unload and start loading in and I meet Luke. He’s a nice guy. They’re starting to soundcheck and I’m like, “This guy can flat out sing!” I got to experience that moment that you have when you see Luke for the first time. The charisma and the passion that he had was there without even being in show mode. The show was awesome. I was like, “This is the guy. I want to manage this guy. I’ve got to get him another show to show him that I have some yank.”

[After another show,] I told him, “I’d like to manage you.” He goes, “What do you know about management?” I said, “Not a lot, but I got you this show. I’ve been around a lot of managers. I know that I can work just as hard as they can. I can be just as passionate as they can. Nobody will out-care me or out-appreciate what you bring to the table and we’ll do this together.”

He said, “Let me go talk to three managers in Nashville.” So he came to talk to three managers here in Nashville and all of them said he was a songwriter. He calls me up and says, “Hey, I met with all three managers.” I said, “What’d they say?” He goes, “You tell me what you want then I’ll tell you what they want.” I was like, “I want you to stand on stage every night and sing your songs, just like you do, and connect with the crowd. I’ll handle everything else.” He goes, “You’re my manager.”

I moved here Sept. 6 of 2016 and we got started.

Pictured: Kappy and Luke Combs embrace after Combs wins the CMA Entertainer of the Year

What was it like when you guys got to Nashville?

Early on I asked Luke what one of his goals were. He’s like, “Man, I drive this piece of crap Dodge Neon. I need a safe car. I don’t know if the brakes are going to work, it doesn’t have AC, and I have to drive this to writes and I hate it because people see me in this and this isn’t indicative of who I am.” I was like, “Alright, I won’t take any commission from you until we can buy you a new car—however long that takes.” I wasn’t rich. I had a small amount in savings and thought things would get going pretty quickly.

So we started and we had no money coming in. We had just enough money to pay the bills and if we didn’t have enough, I would pull money out of my savings to put gas in the van and stuff like that. Soon I am destitute. I have less than $50 to my name. Every night I’m taking the merch bin to the green room and taking all the food and water and stuff that’s left behind and putting it in there so I have something to eat. No one ever knew. Every penny that came in that was left over went into a Maxwell House coffee can that sat on top of Luke’s refrigerator. We would just stack cash in there. We were doing that and I was bleeding my account dry trying to figure it out. I sold stuff and did whatever I could to just make it work. I was driving our Sprinter van everywhere because I [had to sell] my car. I was going to meetings in this giant Sprinter and people were just laughing at me, but I couldn’t let Luke know that.

We saved enough money. We had $15,000 and we bought a 2013 Ford Fusion for him. That next weekend we did a show. We had $500 left over and Luke goes, “I got my car now. Take commission.” It was $75 bucks and I felt like I was Mark Cuban. The very next day we got a phone call that somebody had pulled out of an ATV park show and they were desperate to get somebody, so we got a $10,000 offer. Three days later we got an offer to play a private for a guy whose daughter was graduating high school. He offered us an obscene amount of money. Instantly we made all this money and I was like, “We’re gonna make it.”

Pictured (L-R): Hailey Whitters, Kappy

Now Luke is one of the biggest stars in our format, and you’ve added more artists and team members to your management company. Did you ever see yourself building out Make Wake to what it is now?

Absolutely not. I had no idea that it was going to turn into this. As I sit around my office and see the Niko Moon plaques, and I see the shows for Hailey Whitters, Flatland Cavalry and Drew Parker… I never thought I’d come to town and create a management company that would have 10 artists on the roster and 17 full-time employees. That was never a part of the plan. I have the weight of the careers of our artists on my shoulders and the weight of the employees that I have to take care of for them and their families. I never thought that I would ever have to worry about that stuff.

It doesn’t scare me, it’s just a lot to deal with. I’m lucky I have fantastic people out there that I can call on. I’m the first person to say if I don’t know something. I have great people that I can pick up the phone and call. I talk to either Kerri Edwards, John Peets, Clarence Spalding, or Marion Kraft once a week.

What’s something people might not know about you?

I lost 200 pounds. That’s something people might not know about. I ended up having gastric bypass surgery. I didn’t have good control of my weight, it was an unhealthy relationship. I knew that I needed to get control of it.

I remember being in the hospital after getting it done and being so depressed. I was thinking, “I can’t believe I just had to do this. You were such a loser. You couldn’t get this done.” Then I thought, “No, this is not how you need to be thinking. You just didn’t have a handle on it. You didn’t have control. You needed to get control and you got control.” I’ll see people now who haven’t seen me in forever and they’ll be like, “Woah, I didn’t even recognize you.” I talk about it because I want people to know that there shouldn’t be a stigma around it.

If someone was to ask you what your definition of success was, what would you say?

Being able to shop at Whole Foods without looking at prices. (Laughs)

When you sit with an artist and you’re like, “What are your dreams? What are your passions? What are your goals?,” and you can accomplish those. Some of them are extremely realistic, some of them are over the moon, but if you’re able to do that, that’s success. Seeing an artist on stage, seeing their fans sing their songs back to them—they’re so elated and they come off the stage and they’re like, “They were singing my songs!” That’s it, man. There’s nothing better than that.

My Music Row Story: COR Entertainment/Verge Records’ Mickey Jack Cones

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Mickey Jack Cones

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.

Mickey Jack Cones has produced, engineered and/or published 37 No. 1 records. His award-winning productions and recordings have garnered over 200 billion streams, 75 million units sold, and include No. 1s by Dustin Lynch, Joe Nichols, and most recently Jameson Rodgers’ “Some Girls.”

In 2019, Cones launched Verge Records which has signed Trace Adkins, Jay Allen, Scott Stevens, Chuck Wicks and Kid Politics. As a recording engineer, Cones has earned multiple awards and two Grammy nominations for his work with Jason Aldean. Through his company, COR Entertainment, Cones is a publisher of Luke Combs‘ No. 1 “When It Rains It Pours,” and manages Allen and Johnny McGuire.

MusicRow: Where did you grow up?

I grew up in San Antonio, Texas. I come from a pretty musical family on my mom’s side. My grandmother grew up singing her whole life. She sang with the Glen Gray Orchestra and then actually had a record deal offered to her out of New York when she was in her late teens or early twenties. She ended up getting married to my grandfather instead of taking the record deal. Thank goodness she did because they had three daughters, one of which was my mother. [My mom and her sisters] grew up singing as well. They sang three part harmony on big band stuff. I started taking guitar lessons when I was eight and then I started playing guitar for my mom and her sisters when I was 10.

Barry Beckett was a staff producer for RCA at the time, and he tracked down my mom and her sisters somehow. We did a show at SeaWorld in Texas and he actually flew down, saw my mom and her sisters, and signed them to a production deal with RCA. He cut four to six sides on them and that ended up getting them a record deal opportunity. I was only about 14 years old then, but the relationship with Barry Beckett and my mom and her sisters was what introduced me to that Nashville mindset.

Mickey Jack Cones, Joe Nichols

When did you start producing?

I had my own band when I was 15. I was the lead singer and lead guitar player, and we toured around Texas. The local bars were promoting the shows with radio, so they asked us if we had any music that they could play on the radio to promote our band’s shows. At that time, I hadn’t gone into the studio or cut anything, but I had grown up with my mom, who was a multi-instrumentalist [in addition to] my great grandfather, my grandfather and grandmother, so I played a lot of instruments. My grandmother bought me my first four-track recorder.

I figured out I could sing into one ear of headphones if I used the other quarter inch input and inserted it into the mic input. I used it backwards–I used the headphones as a microphone. That’s when I started diving into recording myself playing and singing out my bedroom. [That homemade recording] is actually what I gave to the bar for them to play on the radio and we started getting all kinds of recognition. They were like, “Man, your band is good.” Well, I was the only one playing and singing on that stuff. (Laughs)

Mickey Jack Cones, Carrie Underwood, Jason Aldean

How did you get to Nashville?

I moved to Nashville in December of ’96 to finish school at Belmont, following Barry Beckett’s suggestion. Ironically, my first semester at Belmont, I actually interned for Barry. He was the only person that I knew in town. When I graduated, I started engineering for David Malloy and J. Gary Smith. They had a publishing company and a studio on 17th. Straight out of college, I started engineering for them. That’s where I started meeting all the top session players, getting the opportunities, running with the right crowds and meeting the right songwriters.

When did you start feeling like you were going to “make it” in this business?

I was writing songs at EMI, I was producing songs, and engineering for a lot of people back then, so it’s hard to know what that moment is. I’ve been all over the map with my career and it has stayed that way. Co-producing the Jeff Bates project was a big turning point for me. That was the first country major label project that I was a part of on RCA. To be able to co-produce that project for Kenny Beard was a big moment.

Dustin Lynch, Mickey Jack Cones

Tell me about scoring your first hit.

They say its a 10 year town, but I had little milestones [along the way] like meeting David Malloy, meeting Kenny Beard, working with Jeff Bates, working with Trace Adkins, and more. We had Gold records along the way, but the first No. 1 song that was solely produced by me was Dustin Lynch‘s “Where It’s At.” At the time, I had been recording all of Jason Aldean‘s vocals for a couple of records. Of course, Michael Knox produces that project and always has, but Michael and Jason asked me to come in and start recording his vocals. That’s how I met Benny Brown [who was at Broken Bow at the time]. Benny said, “Hey, I love what you’re doing over here with Jason. Dustin needs some energy,” and brought me on.

That was 2012. So after moving in town in ’96, graduating in ’98, doing the publishing deal, going out on the road as a band leader, engineering like crazy, and then starting to co-produce, it felt like a long run to get to that point of my first No. 1 production credit, but it was so worth the wait.

I produced the next three songs to follow that, so I produced Dustin’s first four No. 1s. That was huge. Now I’ve engineered Jason’s vocals on around 24 No. 1s at this point. During that time period we had “Don’t You Wanna Stay” with Kelly Clarkson, which was one of the biggest songs that I had been a part of at that point.

Mickey Jack Cones, Hardy, Jameson Rodgers

You now wear a lot of hats. You’re a producer, an engineer, a publisher, an artist manager, a songwriter, a label owner at Verge Records, and more. Where does that come from?

I’ve been referred to as Mickey Jack of all trades. (Laughs) But I want to be the master of some, too! When I moved to town, I felt like I had more to offer than just one aspect of the business. I wanted to be known for being versatile. As a band leader, as a front man, as someone who was on stage and someone who was a road manager, I know how all the ins and outs work in the industry. I worked with all the majors on the management side, on the publishing side, on the musician side, and on the songwriter side–I just had a lot to offer.

So as I was [getting started] in town, a lot of artists that I was working with had so many questions. When you’re the studio, it’s kind of like a counseling session. It’s therapy. They’re like, “Dang dude, you’ve done a lot in the business,” and they start picking my brain. That’s what led me to open up COR Entertainment where we offer publishing, production and management branches. I had had success in all of them and I felt like I could help artists’ careers, especially artists that were coming to town that needed the guidance.

When have you felt most fulfilled in your career or life?

My wife Shannon saying “yes” to my proposal and giving birth to our three miraculous children–Jackson, Kylie, and McKenzie–are definitely my most fulfilled moments in life. But second to that, musically, is Dustin Lynch’s “Where It’s At” hitting No. 1 on the Billboard Country Airplay Chart and being certified Gold in 2014 [and then Platinum in 2015]. Not only was it my first No. 1 as a producer, but it was Dustin’s first as an artist, Zach Crowell and Matt Jenkins’ firsts as writers, and Ashley Gorley’s first as a publisher! It was Cary Barlowe’s second as a writer. Such a special song and moment for everyone involved. I thank the good Lord daily for that fulfilling moment.

How do you want to be remembered on Music Row?

I am a proud father of three, a constantly improving husband to the strongest and most beautiful wife in the entire world–who also happens to be my best friend–and have survived the music business for the past 25 years with a few accolades to show for it along the way.

Blessed is an understatement. I suppose I would want people to remember that I am thankful, humble, appreciative of the journey, and that my family and music are my life. I hope in some way to impact the world positively with both.

 

My Music Row Story: CAA’s Marc Dennis

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Marc Dennis

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.

 

This edition of “My Music Row Story” is sponsored by Worldwide Stages.

 

Marc Dennis is a Music Agent at leading entertainment and sports agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA), and Co-Head of CAA Music’s Nashville office. Alongside the other Nashville Co-Heads, Dennis is responsible for managing the agency’s business in Music City.

Dennis provides strategic counsel on concert tours and event bookings worldwide to artists Shania Twain, Alison Krauss, Willie Nelson, Brett Eldredge, Billy Currington, Kellie Pickler, Kelsea Ballerini, Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real, Maddie & Tae, Kip Moore, Carly Pearce, Mason Ramsey, Madison Kozak, Cale Dodds, Seth Ennis, Nate Smith, After Midtown, and Little Big Town, among many others. He also works across the agency to create opportunities for clients in film, television, books, theatre, and endorsements.

MusicRow: Where did you grow up? How did you get into the music business?

My family is originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma. We moved around a good bit. My mom and dad got divorced. My mom met my stepdad, Ron Baird, who was an agent at a company called The Jim Halsey company, which was located in Tulsa back in the day. The Halsey Company was definitely the biggest country music agency at the time. I not only fell in love with [my stepdad], but fell in love with the music business through him at a really early age. When I was just a little kid, I was lucky to have access to lot of really cool people and agents that are actually still doing it today.

Pictured (L-R): Marc Dennis, Kip Moore

Did you study music business in college or jump right in to work?

I graduated high school in Oklahoma and I was looking at [colleges in] Texas, Oklahoma and some of the schools in the southwest. I came out to Nashville to visit my stepdad who had relocated here from Tulsa up when Jim Halsey moved to Nashville. I came out here, looked at Belmont and didn’t love it, drove up the road to Knoxville and loved the University of Tennessee, so that’s where I went.

I studied business there and I was elected to run the campus entertainment board when I was just a freshman. It was a student activities committee that was charged with producing special activities for the student body, such as concerts and comedy. I had three or four different venues on campus that I could use, so that was my first job, booking concerts for the college. In that capacity, I was more of a promoter than an agent, but I was speaking to agents and buying talent from people that I ultimately would end up working with later in life.

I also worked for the arena there in Knoxville, Thompson Boling Arena. I worked for the general manager Tim Reese. I worked on the local crew, I worked in the box office there, I did the campus entertainment board, and I also booked all of the bands for our fraternity [events]. So I had a fairly traditional college course study, but I layered in a lot of extracurricular music business stuff.

Pictured (L-R): Carly Pearce, Marc Dennis

What were some shows you organized in college?

I was in college from 1988 to 1992. MTV was still a really big deal and they had a lot of those branded content tours that went out, so we did a lot of MTV stuff that was rolling around college campuses, like the Def Comedy Jam. I pretty much just booked my favorite bands and it turned out the rest of the student body liked it, too.

The first big country show that I had something to do with that was playing at the arena was probably Clint Black. That’s when I really started to appreciate country music more. Not only that concert, but the album that he made Killin’ Time. I was wearing that thing out back in 1990, and not a lot of kids my age were listening to country music back then. It wasn’t like it is now, it was much harder to discover music.

What happened after graduation?

I graduated in 1992 and, with my role as the campus entertainment guy, I was mainly into concert promotion, so my first instinct was to keep going with that. I went to work for a great guy named Steve Moore who had just left a company called Pace, which was running the amphitheater here called Starwood. Steve left Starwood and Pace to start his own company called Moore Entertainment. I was his fourth or fifth employee. Steve was promoting Alan Jackson, Reba, Billy Ray Cyrus, and Brooks & Dunn. I would help him build budgets, put offers together, do ticket counts, and just learn how to promote concerts on a big level. He was really a great teacher. Steve was super accessible to me and I really appreciate and respect him to this day.

Pictured (L-R): Sam Forbert, Russell Dickerson, Marc Dennis

When did you move to the agency side of things?

In my capacity with Steve, I had a lot of exposure to agents that we were buying talent from. The concert promotion business is really tough. You win some, you lose some, and by nature, you have to be a bit of a gambler. After doing it for a while, the agency side of the business attracted me a little bit more than promotion. A guy named Rick Shipp at a company called Triad asked me if I wanted to talk to those guys. I took a job there at Triad to be an assistant for a really great mentor, Keith Miller. I was his assistant for a while and then William Morris Agency acquired Triad, so I moved over there and learned from a lot of really great people. I moved to CAA in 2005.

After joining CAA, you moved up the ranks, eventually becoming Co-Head. Along with Brian Manning, Darin Murphy, and now Jeff Krones, you help lead the Nashville office. What all does that entail?

At the end of the day, I’m an agent first and foremost. I’m honored to be in the position to help lead the day to day business of our Nashville office. I’m helping counsel all of our clients and I’m helping counsel our other colleagues. We take care of each other. My primary responsibility is making sure everybody is in a position to succeed and playing the position that they were born to play.

Pictured (L-R): Marc Dennis, Brett Eldredge

I know you’ve probably been asked about the pandemic a lot, but now that we’re getting past it, have you walked away with any lessons learned or new perspectives?

I don’t know that I have a new perspective as much as it’s fortified what I already thought—which is that this is a really collaborative business and a job where the culture of your team really matters. None of us really have degrees on our wall that say, “You graduated from the school of agenting,” so it’s important to learn from each other. I really believe in that. I believe in community and I believe that we learn something from each other every single day. Obviously that was really difficult during the pandemic when we were all separated. We certainly did our best to stay connected. We’ve been looking at each other on a screen for two years now, but you just can’t replace being in the same space physically with each other.

What are some of the best qualities about our community?

I’ve been doing this for 25 years, so I’ve seen a ridiculous amount of growth in this business. It is stunning what the country music business has become. But at the same time, it’s still a relatively small community of people that are doing it. I really appreciate the fact that I can call someone that I was doing this with 25 years ago.

What have been some of your favorite experiences over the years?

I don’t want to give you a boring, soundbite answer, but I really do enjoy seeing a young person at CAA rise through the ranks and excel. There are four or five agents here now that were my assistant at some point. I’m honored to have been in the position to promote all of them to an agent. I will never forget all of those moments, because I know what it takes to get to that point. I know how hard they’ve worked. I know they’ve had long days and long nights, tough days and great days. When you get to that point, it’s really special.

With our clients, I think a lot of agents would probably say their favorite part is when the artist is first breaking–that first single that works really well or that first album that everybody falls in love with. You can just see their lives changing, both professionally and personally. We all get a lot of gratification out of that. You start working with someone typically when no one knows who they are, and then you’re able to experience a transformational period of time with them. Of course it’s driven by their creative talent, but hopefully you’ve made a couple decisions along the way to help that process.

Pictured (L-R): Chrissy Metz, Cait Hoit, Marc Dennis, Kennon Dennis

If someone asked you how to be a successful person in business or in life, what would you say?

This is a very emotional business. All we do is deal with people. Who we represent is a human being with emotions, feelings and thoughts, and who we sell them to…there’s a relationship there as well. When you’re dealing with people all the time, it lends to some complicated situations occasionally which can be emotional. There can be a lot of highs and lows. You can experience the highest of highs and literally 10 minutes later, it’s like you’ve completely forgotten about it because there’s a problem over here that you need to fix. So I think consistency is huge in this business.

One phone call doesn’t need to feel like what you experienced on the phone call before that. I try to not ride a lot of highs or lows, I try to just be consistent every day. I come in and what you see is what you get, people know what to expect from me. I try to be a really stable, logical force, and normalize a super abnormal business as much as I can.

My Music Row Story: Natalie Hemby

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Natalie Hemby. Photo: Alysse Gafjken

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.

Award-winning songwriter Natalie Hemby has written some of the last decade’s most loved country songs. Since signing her first publishing deal at 19, Hemby has amassed eight No. 1 country singles, including Lady A’s “Downtown,” Justin Moore‘s “You Look Like I Need A Drink,” Jon Pardi’s “Heartache Medication,” Little Big Town’s “Pontoon,” and Miranda Lambert’s “White Liar,” “Automatic,” and “Bluebird.” Her songs have been recorded by the likes of Kacey Musgraves, Alicia Keys, Lady Gaga, Maren Morris, Sheryl Crow, Dierks Bentley, Eli Young Band, Kelly Clarkson, Chris Isaak, Blake Shelton, and Lee Ann Womack among many others.

In 2019, Hemby joined Brandi Carlile, Maren Morris and Amanda Shires to form The Highwomen. Their self-titled album debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s country albums chart. That year, The Highwomen won Americana Music Honors & Awards for Album of the Year, Duo/Group of the Year, and Song of the Year for their single “Crowded Table,” which was also dubbed the Best Country Song at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards.

In 2021, Hemby stepped out with an artist project herself, releasing her album Pins and Needles to wide acclaim.

Photo: Courtesy of Natalie Hemby

MusicRow: Tell me about your childhood.

I was born in Illinois. My parents were very young when they got married and were very young when they had me. My dad was in music and he decided to move us [to Nashville] because music was becoming a really big thing here back in the ’70s. We moved here in ’79, so I grew up in Nashville. We lived in the Iroquois Apartments over in Bellevue, then they bought a duplex and then we bought our first house when I was about 11 years old. I was actually a sick child growing up. I had horrible ear infections and I had a tumor on my ear, so I couldn’t hear very well. My mom had to take me to the doctor all the time and she ended up losing her job over it—and my dad was on the road a lot. Long story short, I had to have surgery and all this kind of stuff. I got baptized when I was seven and I’m not even joking when I say that after I got baptized, I got all my hearing back. It was a miracle, honestly.

My dad started working for this woman named Amy Grant, playing in her band. My mom started cleaning houses because she didn’t have a job and she started cleaning Amy’s house. One day my mom said to Amy, “Listen, if you ever need an assistant, I’m really good at organization. I can help you get your house in order.” She’s been with her for over 35 years now, so I really grew up in the music business.

Were you musical as a child?

I was very musical, I loved piano. I started taking piano lessons when I was about six. I played in talent shows and I played saxophone in band. I’ve always loved music, not because my parents were in it, but because it brought me so much joy. It was a passion.

Photo: Courtesy of Natalie Hemby

When did you start writing songs?

I was such a dreamer. I just thought I’d be the singer on stage and it would be that easy. I never dreamed about music business, I didn’t even dream about writing. I was not a big songwriter [growing up], but what I did do was write a lot of poetry. I was a diary writer as a kid and wrote all my feelings down. (Laughs) Honestly, I didn’t start writing songs until I was about 18. Some people would consider that late in life. (Laughs)

Once you started writing songs, how did you start your journey to become a professional songwriter?

I started figuring out that all the artists that I love, a lot of them wrote their own songs. So I started writing my own songs. At the time I was listening to Sarah McLachlan and I was writing really sad piano songs, but I quickly evolved. I started writing with other people. I got my first publishing deal with Barbara Orbison at Still Working Music. Tommy Lee James was my first professional co-write. He was the first person on Music Row that I started writing with a lot. I wrote a lot of songs and I almost got a record deal, but those doors did not open. Throughout the whole process, the one thing I kept doing was writing and writing.

I never wanted to do country music, I wanted to do Tom Petty or Sheryl Crow-style music. But radio just kept changing. It went through a Britney Spears era, it went through a time where you had to be on a TV show to get a record deal, then it went through a Coldplay era. It kept evolving and, as far as being an artist goes, I couldn’t figure out what direction I was going in and what I wanted to do. So I just kept writing songs with and for other people. Then eventually, my husband [Mike Wrucke] was co-producing this girl, Miranda Lambert.

Miranda Lambert and Natalie Hemby. Photo: Courtesy of RIAA

You and Miranda have had a long and fruitful relationship, co-writing many of her hits together. How did you guys start writing?

My husband co-produced her first three records. I sang all the backgrounds on all the records, but the third record was when I got to write with her. I told her, “Look, I realize I’m the producer’s wife, but I have some song ideas I’ve been saving for you. If you just gave me one day, I feel like we could write a bunch of great stuff.” That first day we wrote “White Liar” and “Only Prettier.” We wrote four songs that day, and then she came back and we ended up writing “Virginia Bluebell.” Meeting Miranda and writing with her was a huge turning point.

Now we’re tight, but we don’t see each other all the time, so whenever we do, I feel like it all comes out in songs. The most important thing about writing with someone is not hitching all of your wagons to this one person’s journey. I have written with lots of people and she’s been so supportive of that. She writes with lots of people and I love the songs that she writes with other people. I’m a genuine fan of her and I feel like that’s how our relationship throughout the years has been able to grow and keep us together. That’s why we keep musically going back to each other.

Was “White Liar” your first cut?

My first cut was with a Christian artist, Rachael Lampa. I wrote a song called “When I Fall.” It was single for her on Christian radio. I was so excited about that.

My first [country cut] that was a really big turning point for me was with Lee Ann Womack. She cut a song of mine that I did not write for anybody, I wrote it for myself with Daniel Tashian. We wrote a song called “The Bees.” It was on her Call Me Crazy album. It wasn’t a single or anything, but she got Keith Urban to sing on it with her. Everybody started calling me after that song, saying, “I love that song. I want to write some time.” So it wasn’t a single, but it was definitely a song that opened so many other doors.

In addition to being a hit songwriter, you’ve also released a lot of music as an artist. Do you have any trouble with separating your artistry with writing for other artists?

Honestly, it’s been pretty natural for me. I write so many different kinds of music that I can compartmentalize things. [My first record] Puxico was a love story to my family and to a town that I love. To me, nobody could do those songs justice like I could. I could pitch it around to a thousand people, people could cut it, but it just meant the world to me. With my new record, those songs have been sitting around for a while. Sometimes you have to say to yourself, “Maybe no one has cut these songs because I need to cut them.” (Laughs) I wanted to make a 1990s-Lilith Fair-Sheryl Crow-Tracy Chapman-type of record. All those female artists that I loved from Lilith Fair. So I took those songs and made that record with them.

What did you think of the Music Row community before you became a part of it?

Here’s a little truth serum. When I was growing up, I don’t know if it was because I was intimidated by it a little bit, but I did think of it as a boys club. I was young at the time and I thought people probably thought I sang really good but didn’t really take me seriously. With that respect, when I was younger it was hard to take myself seriously because I never felt like I quite fit in on Music Row. It’s not really anyone’s fault, it’s just what it was at the time. But as things progressed and I’ve gotten older, I feel like a lot of things have changed. There’s so much more diverse music and people. It’s been a nice change. Nashville was a small town back then, and it’s hard for [diversity] to be present in a small town. But as it has grown, it’s been forced to take a look at itself.

Who have been some of your mentors along the way?

If I’m being honest, my husband has been a huge mentor to me. I’ve almost quit so many times that he hasn’t let me, and part of the reason why people like my music is because of him. He is my music and I can’t imagine doing it without him.

I wouldn’t be here if Jody Williams wasn’t here. I used to sing all his demos at his company. My husband would produce those demos and that’s how I met my husband. Jody literally kept my lights on because he paid me so well when I sang demos. When he went to BMI, he got me a couple of really big co-writes. He showcased me and I would go meet with him and play songs. He was so supportive of me. And now he’s representing me in publishing, so it’s been a real full circle moment. I’ve gone to him for advice, I’ve gone to him for so many different situations and he has been a guiding light in my career.

Photo: Courtesy of Natalie Hemby

If someone was describing you, what would you want them to say?

I would want them to say that I was kind, genuine, and sincere. That I never used them to get anywhere. I grew up in this town so I’m constantly searching for that quality in people—the sincerity in the love of music and for friendship. One of the things I always tell my friends is, “Hey, we’re friends beyond music.”

What moment have you had that your little kid self would think is so cool?

Singing with Dolly Parton. That was pretty cool. (Laughs) Dolly is like the female Santa Claus. You can’t stop staring at her. She goes around and talks to everybody, looks everyone in the eye. My young self would have been so enamored with her.

My Music Row Story: Fusion Music’s Daniel Miller

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Daniel Miller

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.

 

This edition of “My Music Row Story” is sponsored by Worldwide Stages.

 

Daniel Miller is Managing Partner of Fusion Music where he and his team guide the careers of Martina McBride, Riley Green, Lily Rose, Cassadee Pope, Laine Hardy, and pop artist Jeffrey James. Miller, who has 20-plus years of management experience, opened Fusion Music in 2013 and aligned with Red Light in 2014. In 2015, he was named to the MTSU College of Media and Entertainment Wall of Fame, and has served as an adjunct professor there.

MusicRow: Where did you grow up? How did you get into the music business?

It’s hard to believe that this August will mark 25 years from when I moved here. I grew up on a small family farm in rural Missouri. My only exposure to the outside world was the local country radio station and the three or four TV channels our antenna would pick up. I was a finance and banking major at the University of Missouri in the early ’90s when I made friends with the owner of the local country nightclub who managed a band out of Nashville. I soon transferred to MTSU for their Recording Industry Management program. On the day I moved, my mom took me to lunch at the old Shoney’s on Demonbreun and said, “I have no idea what you’re about to do, but I know you’ll figure it out.”

Pictured (L-R): Chris Ferren (Fusion Music), Martina McBride, Daniel Miller at ACM Honors in 2019

Take me through your career journey thus far.

I had only been at MTSU a few weeks when I had the chance to volunteer for the radio remotes at the 1997 CMA Awards. I met Wes Vause, who eventually got tired of me badgering him over email and introduced me to Schatzi Hageman. They ran their independent PR firms out of a shared office space and gave me my first opportunity to learn the business. It’s hard to even remember how we got so much done without Internet access or cell phones back then, but we did.

After graduating from MTSU, I took a position with Simon Renshaw’s management company handling ticketing for the Dixie Chicks 2000 “Fly Tour.” Later that year, I moved over to Borman Entertainment in the middle of the first Tim McGraw and Faith Hill “Soul2Soul Tour,” assisting the great, late Joni Foraker. I spent the next 13 years there working in various support positions. In 2007, Lady A walked in the door and that was my first real shot at being an overzealous day-to-day manager. Gary Borman was a brilliant visionary to learn from.

When did you start your own company?

In the summer of 2013, I was convinced it was time to step out on my own, so I created Fusion Music. It was the wrong time, and I made every mistake imaginable, but no one could have convinced me otherwise. I quickly found out what I knew and mostly what I didn’t. Six months into it, Coran Capshaw extended the opportunity to partner with Red Light Management. His knowledge and intuition are highly underrated and Red Light gave us a place to incubate our business. We still work with them across all our artist projects.

Today our roster includes Martina McBride, Riley Green, Lily Rose, Cassadee Pope, Laine Hardy, and developing pop artist, Jeffrey James. My original business plan had a concept for content development but aside from a couple TV production credits, it didn’t pan out as I had hoped…until now. We recently started consulting on brand direction for The Morning Hangover, and have begun looking at unscripted TV concepts. We’re also about to start construction on a content studio adjacent to our new office in Berry Hill.

Pictured (L-R): Dylan McGraw (Fusion Music), Daniel Miller, Lily Rose, Daira Eamon (Lily Rose fiance), Lexi Howder (OH Creative) at the 2022 ACM Awards

We’re not the biggest or flashiest—nor will we ever be—and I’m fiercely protective of our team and the culture we’ve built. Chris Ferren was our first intern eight years ago, and he was recently elevated to VP of Artist & Business Development. He, Nicholas Garvin, Danielle Broome, Dylan McGraw, our co-managers and the extended management team we work with are relentless in finding the best opportunities we can to set our artists up for success.

When did Martina join the roster? How did you two come together?

We met with Martina in the fall of 2015 and I told her, “I know your catalog. I know your career.” Working with an iconic artist was a bucket list dream of mine and over the past six years, we have worked to build upon her incredible catalog and touring history.

You have several artists who are owning their own lane such as Lily Rose and Riley Green. What would you say is the ticket to developing a new artist who is different from your ordinary country artist?

It’s important to me that each of our artists have a unique career path and none are too similar or in direct competition with another. We don’t commit to a client relationship unless we can make a significant difference. The vision is ultimately theirs and we work to surround them with the resources needed to reach their goals. Then we move the goalpost. The secret recipe lies within the artists themselves, whether they know it at first or not.

I don’t think this is unique to us, but we look closely at each artist’s life—from childhood to the present moment—and try to understand their values and what motivates them. The superstar armor comes off at the door and we work as partners to create the most authentic connection between who they are and what they sing about. That’s easier said than done.

Pictured (L-R): Daniel Miller, Riley Green, RAC Clark, Zach Sutton (Red Light Management)

Riley Green knows his brand with laser-sharp precision and is a natural-born entertainer. He already had an incredibly passionate team around him when we came on board a few years ago. Our focus has been to show how who he is off stage informs the lyrics in his songs.

WME brought Lily Rose to us. I was not familiar with her music yet and until then had refused to use TikTok or take artists emerging from the platform seriously. She showed me how wrong I was. Her progressive approach challenges us to find a unique cross-section of fans influenced by a completely different generation of music and her fans are unconcerned with the genre confines.

What is something people might not know about what you do?

Philanthropic work is required of the team and expected of our artists. We owe our privilege and success to society whenever possible. The Academy of Country Music gave me an opportunity to serve on their board of directors a few years ago and I quickly learned more about ACM Lifting Lives and the significant impact it makes on our community and countless other benefactors. After witnessing the insurmountable reach of their COVID-19 Response Fund, I was honored to accept a leadership position on Lifting Lives’ board of directors.

When do you feel most fulfilled in your role?

We encourage all our artists to be completely unrealistic with their dreams and then we try our damnedest to bring them to life.  Every big “first”—single release, album release, or tour—is uniquely special. Nothing is more magical than standing at front of house for the top of a big show and hearing the thunderous crowd respond to an artist’s entrance onto the stage. That beats any amount of money you could ever earn.

My other passion is mentoring people up. I had the great privilege to be an adjunct professor for a few semesters at MTSU and loved sharing our daily experience with excited young students. After my time is done on Music Row, I hope to bore students with my stories.

Pictured (L-R): Daniel Miller, Cassadee Pope, Shannon Radel (Rising Star Travel)

What’s the best advice you’ve ever gotten?

Don’t go bankrupt buying your own hype.

Who are some of your mentors?

I was raised by strong, independent women so it’s not surprising that my mentors are also. Schatzi Hageman, Karen Krattinger, JoAnn Burnside, Joni Foraker, Donna Jean Kisshauer, and Sandra Westerman gave me opportunities I didn’t deserve and taught me the business. Ed Hardy, Joe Galante, Clarence Spalding and Paul Worley have been incredible resources over the years.

If you could change anything about the Nashville music industry, what would it be?

We have a songwriting community in Nashville like none other in the world but can’t find a way to properly pay them for their works that fuel the entire industry.

What is one of your favorite experiences in the industry that you will share for the rest of your life?

This job isn’t real life. Most of the world works a whole lot harder for much less money. We have been fortunate enough to have artists tour the world and it is overwhelming when an audience in a foreign country sings back every word of their songs.

My Music Row Story: Essential Broadcast Media’s Ebie McFarland

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Ebie McFarland. Photo: Jon Paul Bruno

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.

Raised just 90 miles outside of Nashville in the small town of Waverly, Tennessee, Ebie McFarland, a Vanderbilt University grad, founded award-winning PR company Essential Broadcast Media, LLC in 2007. Since then, she has helped launch the careers of critically acclaimed artists such as Ashley McBryde, Caitlyn Smith and Whiskey Myers, as well as earned the trust of discriminating artists such as George Strait, Kenny Chesney and Eric Church. She has retained longtime clients such as Ryman Hospitality, Darius Rucker and Hootie & the Blowfish, further reinforcing McFarland and her team understand and execute the growing importance of telling one’s story with passion, grit and perseverance.

In addition to being a publicist and owner of Essential Broadcast Media, McFarland is highly involved in various organizations. She is Vice President of the ACM Board of Directors, and sits on the CMA Board of Directors, the ACM Lifting Lives Board, the Vanderbilt University Project on Unity and American Democracy Advisory Board, and the Millions of Conversations Advisory Council. She has been honored as part of Nashville Business Journal‘s 40 Under 40 list (2012), MusicRow’s Rising Women on the Row (2014), the CMA SRO Publicist of the Year (2015), CMA Publicist of the Year (2017, 2019), and with the Nashville Business Journal‘s Women in Music Award (2017).

Ebie alongside management with clients Kenny Chesney and Michael Franti at SoFi Stadium. Photo: Allister Ann

MusicRow: Where did you grow up? How did you get into music?

I grew up in Waverly, Tennessee. It’s an hour and a half west of Nashville. That’s why I ended up executive producing the Loretta Lynn “Hometown Rising” benefit concert, because that was my hometown that flooded last year. Until she retired, my mom was a psychiatric nurse practitioner. She and my dad met while camping and going to art experiences in Kentucky, years and years ago. My dad was always a painter, but grew up up on Joe Cocker, Tina Turner, and The Rolling Stones. I don’t remember this, but my first concert was Talking Heads when I was two years old. The first concert I really remember was Jon Bon Jovi.

I graduated high school in ’99 and went to Vanderbilt University. They did not have a music program at that time, so I did a bachelor of science. I have a cognitive studies major and a child development and women’s studies minor. It comes in handy working with artists because the best ones are a little crazy. Understanding and getting to the root of the origin story is probably the most exhilarating part of my job. If it is Ashley McBryde and “Girl Goin’ Nowhere,” and that moment that fueled that chip on her shoulder. If it’s anything Eric Church offers up, I always feel like there’s a “why” with him. In working with new artists, like Caitlyn Smith and Walker Hayes, it’s understanding what stories to lean into that really connect and having that conversation with them that helps drill that down.

What happened after graduation?

I started working entry level at a PR firm that’s now defunct. I was at Webster & Associates for four years. I made $8 an hour so I also worked at a tanning bed and I bartended on weekends. I remember not being paid until every other week from one of the jobs and having to put an IOU for toilet paper [so I could take some] home until I could buy toilet paper and then pay them back. (Laughs)

It was dark days in PR early on. Even around the holidays, you weren’t guaranteed to make your paycheck because so many artists took the holidays off and it wasn’t tour season. I remember the looming threat from my boss at the time was, “We’ll see if we can keep the lights on this Christmas or if we need to light more candles.”

Pictured: Team Ashley McBryde at the Ryman after one of her AIMP wins. Selfie courtesy of Ashley McBryde.

You started your own PR firm in 2007. How did that come to be?

It’s truly a 10 year town. I started my company in 2007. Darius Rucker had signed with UMG and he was doing a “Hootie Homegrown Tour.” [At the time] I had all the rock acts. I had Sister Hazel, Hootie & the Blowfish, Van Zant, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Kid Rock, and Hank Jr. When I found out Darius had signed, I started thinking it might be a good time to go out and super-service one or two clients and try to do this on my own. So I started the company when I was 26 years old. I very naively thought, “I can do this.”

I’m glad I bet on myself, but at the same time, when you have mentors helping you along the way, you learn so much faster. I’m super grateful for the mentors that were and still are there for me, including Doc McGhee and Joe Galante. I’m very fortunate, looking back, on the people that took time out of their days to help me.

How did you grow your roster from there?

After working with Darius for a few years, I started working with other management firms. I started working with Q Prime on Little Big Town. They left and went to Jason Owen, so Q Prime asked if I could work on Eric Church on the Carolina record. So Eric was my next big one as far as signing, and somebody that I’ve been with the longest. I started working with George Strait in 2012, ahead of Cowboy Rides Away, and did everything from the strategy on the announcement through the two-year tour into Vegas, then subsequently these stadium shows that he’s doing. I’ve been with George for 10 years now, and Kenny Chesney since 2014. I started working with Caitlyn Smith and Chase Rice around then, too.

I had been working with Miranda [Lambert] on the touring side for a few years, so I was very honored when she called. That’s a big change anytime an established artist makes a PR change. I thought I was going over to the office to talk about the tour, and I sat down with her and Marion [Kraft] and [they asked me to do] Palomino and everything from Miranda, with Mutt Nation, the forthcoming announcements that she has, and strategizing the Las Vegas announcements. It’s been a blessing to work with so many in-charge people who know who they are and know what they stand for. They know what they want to do.

Pictured: Comedian Sebastian Maniscalco and Ebie ahead of his four 2019 Madison Square Garden shows. Photo: Brian Samuelson

Because you were young when you started your company, did you have to fight for people to take you seriously?

Yes and no. Enthusiasm goes so far. When the artist is fired up about an idea that I come to them with, then everybody else doesn’t really have a chance to undercut me. Being a little bold in that sense, as long as you really thought it out, [paid off]. Scott McGhee used to always say, “Is it important, is it urgent and is it interesting?” If it checks those three boxes, it’s worth taking to the artist. So I always try to answer those reasons before I take something to someone.

When do you feel most fulfilled in what you do?

Definitely at the live shows. When it’s all together and the fans gravitate toward a song; they have their phones up and they’re FaceTiming other people because they want to be in that moment with even more people, that’s the most fulfilling.

The happiest I get for an artist is when I hear a song that fulfilled the life it should have had. The saddest thing is when I hear a song and it never gets to reach that moment. There are so many hidden gems on albums that I don’t know why those songs were never smashes.

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

To truly listen more. [I listen] in meetings when artists are talking. I feel like the access we’re given has pretty unparalleled insights. So in the moment, I try to be as present as possible, absorb it all, and then come back with, “Hey, here’s some ideas because I heard you when you said this.”

Galante is always saying use your voice and speak up in meetings, in the sense of CMA Board meetings. That’s why I probably volunteer so much. I sit on [a lot of boards]. That’s like a full time job, in addition to doing the job. (Laughs) I wish more industry members and artists had the time to dedicate to that because I think that’s where you can really impact real change—systemic, generational change.

Pictured: Ebie and George Strait

What are some things that you think are really great about our industry and what are some things that we could work on?

We can always be working on how we communicate. Working in communications, knowledge is power. There’s still folks that want to retain that power so they hold back on that knowledge. That doesn’t really help anyone. I get it, but at the same time, we as an industry could do a better job telling the story of what we are doing on a foundational level.

Country music is the soul of America. I’m very proud of our songwriters and the songwriting community. Anything we can do to further elevate their voices and their roles in the industry is important. Something that everyone on our roster, including the comedians, have in common is that they’re all storytellers. Every single one of them, even the Ryman. I mean, name a better stage; her story is insane. When we move too fast, we don’t do the story justice. If we could all just take a little bit more intention and time to do that, then we’ll all benefit.

What is a moment that you have had that your little kid self would think is so cool?

There was a moment on the George Strait tour where afterwards I went on George’s bus. We were recapping the weekend and he was playing some music. It wasn’t his music, he just had music on in the background. He and Martina [McBride] went into this moment of singing back and forth on the bus. For whatever reason, I jumped up and was singing with them. (Laughs) I will never forget it. I caught myself and was like “Oh, I can’t even sing!” I was just in the moment having so much fun. I remember George laughing and patting me on the shoulder. I got so carried away in the moment that I jumped in and crashed George Strait and Martina McBride singing. My younger self would’ve kicked myself off the bus. (Laughs)

My Music Row Story: CMT’s Leslie Fram

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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.

 

This edition of “My Music Row Story” is sponsored by Worldwide Stages.

 

As Sr. VP Music and Talent at CMT, Leslie Fram oversees music on all of its platforms and negotiates talent for major tentpoles specials and music specials. A champion of female artists, in 2013 she created CMT’s Next Women Of Country franchise which has grown to include a tour, and also oversees CMT’s Equal Play platform. Before joining CMT in 2011, Fram had a long and impressive career in radio. She is one of the Co-Founders of Change The Conversation and Nashville Music Equality. Fram has been honored by the T.J. Martell Foundation, Billboard Women In Music and more.

MusicRow: Where did you grow up?

I grew up in a little town called Fairhope, Alabama. I’m the only southerner in my family. My family is from Massachusetts and moved to the south before I was born.

Were you musical as a child?

Yes. I didn’t play an instrument, but was turned on to music by my older brother who turned me on to a lot of classic rock, from Led Zeppelin to Heart. Then I started discovering my own artists that I liked. It went from one extreme to the other—I loved rock and folk. Country was not in my sphere at all, I have to admit. I would listen to radio stations late at night and really liked a lot of underground music. I was very shy, so I listened to music as a form of entertainment. I would call DJs to request songs.

Pictured: Sting and Leslie Fram

Is that why you started your career in radio?

At first, I wanted to be a journalist, but I got a job at this radio station and I was hooked. Radio was IT for me. It was definitely my first love.

In college I was working an album-oriented rock and top 40 radio station. So I was doing midnight to 6:00 a.m. and going to college from 8:00 a.m. to noon—and falling asleep in my 12 o’clock class.

When I graduated, I ended up getting a job in Atlanta at a radio station called Power 99 that turned into 99X in 1992, which was the beginning of the evolution of alternative music and the explosion of Nirvana and all of those bands. So I was really lucky to be at the height of alternative in the ’90s.

What was next?

I left Atlanta and went to a radio station in New York for three years called WRXP. It was a rock-alternative hybrid. I went to be the program director in 2008, but when I got there, they said, “Hey, how would you like to do a morning show with Matt Pinfield?” He came from MTV and had a radio background. I was like, “Well, how can I turn this down?” [I didn’t realize] that my day would be getting up at 4:00 a.m. and working until 6:00 or 7:00 at night and then going out. (Laughs) But I did it for three years, living and doing radio in New York and going to all these historic venues to see shows. I was like a kid in a candy store. It was incredible. So I was the program director and on-air with him, but the company sold the station in 2011 and the new owners turned it into a news talk station.

Pictured: Leslie Fram and 99X colleagues with Johnny Cash

My radio mentor was Brian Philips when I worked at 99X. Brian was president of CMT, so he invited me to come to Nashville to meet everyone and see CMT. I came in for a very long weekend and at the end of the weekend, he offered me the job to come and oversee music. I said “Yes” without even thinking about it because I loved it in Nashville and obviously loved Brian.

How did you get your feet wet in country music?

For the first year, I really put my head down and people in the building were so helpful. I would go to shows just so I could learn the format and how it worked. I discovered all the artists and met a whole new set of people from managers, labels, publishers and publicists. I obviously fell in love with, first and foremost, Nashville. The community of people here are incredible.

[Before I got to Nashville,] when I was in New York and at this rock station, Skip Bishop was working for Sony. Skip and I knew each other from my rock years, and he would send me music all the time. He sent me music from this up-and-coming female artist they had signed named Miranda Lambert, and he invited me to go to her show. So I go to this show in New York, not realizing it was a CMT Tour, and I see a lot of the rock [staffers from the] management company Q-Prime. I said, “Why are you guys here?” They said, “We have the opening act, Eric Church.” So I fell in love with Miranda and Eric Church. I just couldn’t believe how much of a rockstar she was on stage.

Pictured: Matt Pinfield, Brad Paisely & Leslie Fram

Skip also brought Brad Paisley into our studio. We had him on the air for an hour. I went to see him in Madison Square Garden. Keith Urban played Madison Square Garden and I went to see him, so I started opening up my eyes to some of these [country] shows then.

You joined CMT in 2011, and your impact since then has been enormous with new initiatives like Next Women of Country and many more. What was your vision for CMT when you started moving up the ranks?

When I got there, I was blown away by the music team. They’re all experts in their own field; they are music junkies. They go see all types of music. I was like, “Wow, I have this team that I can empower that are so incredibly talented. They are music fans first and foremost.”

The lay of the land was that women were not being well represented on contemporary country radio, and I didn’t understand why. So after doing a deep dive there, and knowing that Viacom was behind us wanting to start a female franchise, my first passion point was launching Next Women of Country in 2013. [We wanted] CMT to be a vehicle to support these artists on all of our platforms and then continue to grow it with a tour, because if you remember, you couldn’t get on a tour unless you had a song on the radio. Half of these artists had no tours and no chance to play on stage anywhere, so we started the tour. It just kept developing, so we knew that we could have an impact on new artists and artist discovery.

Pictured: Tracy Gershon, Leslie Fram, Beverley Keel & Dr. Jada Watson

Not only are you helping to lift up female artists at CMT with Next Women of Country, but you also co-founded the initiatives Change the Conversation and Nashville Music Equality, and are a very big advocate for equality in country music when it comes to gender and race. Do you feel we are moving in the right direction?

I do. Even for us, we had to look at ourselves first and foremost. That’s why we started Equal Play. We had to ask ourselves, “What more can we do?” Knowing that we program our own music channels and we have three video channels, we could do even better. So we started Equal Play to have 50-50 parody: male, female. Then we looked at ourselves again and said, “We can’t wait for people to come to us, whether it’s a label or a publisher or artist reaching out. We actually need to do the research to find these artists that make our format move forward.” I’m really proud of what the team has done there with our Equal Play, Next Women of Country, and Listen Up programs, and being a voice for these artists.

What is something people might not know about what you do?

Speaking for myself, because I love to do it, I do a lot of mentoring and make myself available because people did that for me when I was getting into the industry. I always feel like I have that responsibility to give back, but I honestly enjoy doing it. I think a little encouragement goes a long way for someone and if you’re being a good listener and you’re encouraging someone, it’s incredible to see what happens next.

Who have been some of your mentors?

Early on when I was in radio, there was a guy named Eric Tracy. When I was a little baby DJ, he would listen to my airchecks. He was a big DJ in New Orleans and he would actually get back to me and would critique my airchecks. I speak a lot about Brian Philips because, throughout my career from radio to television, he’s always given me solid advice. When I made the move to come [to Nashville], he was the one that said, “You should look outside of radio. You should think about other opportunities.” He’s been a huge mentor to me throughout my career and still is.

Pictured: Mickey Guyton & Leslie Fram

What are some of the best qualities about our industry?

The support. When I moved here, I couldn’t believe how people got back to you. They were willing to meet, they were willing to give advice. It’s just an open arms policy. I don’t think you find that in other cities. We all want to support the next generation of industry leaders.

If you had to name something that helped make you a successful person, what would it be?

Number one is just respect. You treat everyone the same. If I’m going to walk into a room, I’m going to talk to everybody. I know that there’s a hierarchy with some people, but for me, it’s just about treating everyone with respect and kindness.

What moment have you had that your little kid self would think is so cool?

When I was 19, I was working at this little radio station and we were covering this Eagles concert in Pensacola, Florida. I was going to drive back late at night and Irving Azoff said, “Why don’t you just jump on the plane with us and we’ll take you back?” I said, “Okay.” I didn’t know who was going be on the plane, I thought maybe the label [staff would be]. I get on the plane and it’s me Irving Azoff and the Eagles. I didn’t say one word the entire time, because I was sitting there going, “What do I say? What do I do?” I’ve got Don Henley to the left of me. (Laughs) Looking at it now, I’m like, “What would I do today if I was on a plane with the Eagles?” I probably wouldn’t say anything again!

What are you most proud of in your career?

I’m proud of the team that we have at CMT because we are a big family in how we all support each other. That doesn’t always happen, but I think everyone has each other’s back and everyone supports each other. For me, personally in my career, it’s just the friendships that I’ve made along the way. It’s not about getting an award. It’s not about recognition. To me, it’s just the friendships along the way that are invaluable.