Folk & Bluegrass Great Tracy Schwarz Passes

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Tracy Schwarz

Best known for his work in The New Lost City Ramblers, fiddler/singer Tracy Schwarz passed away on March 29 in Elkins, West Virginia at age 86.

Raised in New Jersey and Vermont, Schwarz took up the guitar as a pre-teen after listening to country radio stations. He mastered the fiddle in the 1950s, and immersed himself in the bluegrass scene in Washington, D.C. while attending college there.

After serving in the Army for two years, he joined Mike Seeger and John Cohen in forming The New Lost City Ramblers in 1962. The group began as old-time music revivalists, but soon absorbed the bluegrass, folk and Cajun influences that Schwarz brought to the band.

The New Lost City Ramblers became one of the mainstays of Folkways Records. The band recorded nine albums for the label between 1964 and 2009. The New Lost City Ramblers collaboration with country-music legend Cousin Emmy was a highlight in 1968.

Tracy Schwarz and Mike Seeger also recorded as members of The Strange Creek Singers in 1972. That group was the launchpad for the feminist old-time duo Hazel & Alice (Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard), who influenced The Judds.

During his career’s 50+ additional years, Tracy Schwarz also recorded four solo albums, four others with Cajun master Dewey Balfa and three with Schwarz’s musical family.

He was an enthusiastic educator of traditional music styles and made several fiddle instruction albums. The Folkways website printed this as a eulogy: “He fervently believed that anyone who was interested in learning how to play an instrument or sing, could.

His infectious enthusiasm and innovative methods helped generations of students around the world to develop their skills.”

Avenue Bank Founder Van Tucker Passes

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Van Tucker

Music Row banking executive Van Tucker passed away on March 28. She was 67.

Tucker was the founder and Chief Creative Officer of Avenue Bank, and later served as CEO of Nashville Fashion Alliance and Launch Tennessee. She was a 1999 graduate (and later a board member) of Nashville’s Leadership Music program, and a founder and board member of the Americana Music Association, among many other board positions.

Tucker is survived by her husband of 17 years, Monty Holmes; sons Casey Spicer and Eamonn (Ami) Spicer; grandchildren Annalen Spicer, Oakley Spicer, Ripley Spicer, Alyse Spicer, Charlotte Gibson; bonus children Whitney (Andy) Gibson and Braden (Michelle Gay) Holmes; furry loves Mr. B and Beck; brother Melvin C. (Theresa) Tucker III; nieces Cate Tucker and Vivienne Tucker; and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins.

In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting donations to the Williamson County Animal Shelter.

A Celebration of Life for Tucker will take place on May 18 at 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Franklin Mercantile (100 4th Ave. N, Franklin, TN 37064). Billed as her “Farewell Tour,” attendees are encouraged to bring their favorite stories and memories of Tucker.

Songwriting Legend Troy Seals Passes

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Troy Seals. Photo: Courtesy of ASCAP

Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member Troy Seals has died at age 86.

During his illustrious career, Seals co-wrote more than 75 charted singles, including 30 top 10 hits and 11 No. 1 records. Among his classics are “Seven Spanish Angels,” “Lost in the Fifties Tonight,” “There’s a Honky-Tonk Angel (Who’ll Take Me Back In)” and “If You Ever Have Forever in Mind.” Troy Seals was also a recording artist and a session guitarist.

The musician was born in Big Hill, Kentucky, and his family moved to Cincinnati when he was 11. Troy Seals began his career at age 17 in 1956. He and his band The Earthquakes performed on the rock & roll nightclub circuit during the 1950s, working with such legends as Fats Domino, Jackie Wilson, Bo Diddley, The Drifters, Lloyd Price, Dorsey Burnette and Chubby Checker.

At one rock & roll show, Seals met rockabilly recording artist Jo-Ann Campbell, who was featured in such teen films as Go, Johnny Go (1958) and Hey Let’s Twist (1961). Not long after Seals and Campbell married, she scored a 1963 country hit with “I’m the Girl From Wolverton Mountain.” Billed as “Jo-Ann & Troy,” the couple had pop success with “I Found a Love, Oh What a Love” in 1964.

After regular appearances on Dick Clark’s TV shows American Bandstand and Where the Action Is, Campbell retired in 1965. Seals gave up music and founded a construction company in 1968. The couple moved to Nashville in early 1969. Troy Seals continued to work in construction, building Music Row’s Quadraphonic Studio. He also took work as a session musician, hoping to break into the country industry.

He began to make inroads as a songwriter in the 1970s. In 1972, Sammi Smith had a top 40 hit with his “Girl in New Orleans.” Waylon Jennings introduced Seals’ co-written ballad “We Had It All” in 1973. Although never a big hit, the song became something of a country standard with subsequent versions by Dolly Parton, Dottie West, Tom Jones, B.J. Thomas, Tina Turner, Donna Fargo and co-writer Donnie Fritts, among others.

Troy Seals recorded his debut album at Quadraphonic in 1973. Titled Now Presenting Troy Seals, the Atlantic Records collection included his version of “We Had It All,” as well as “There’s a Honky Tonk Angel (Who’ll Take Me Back In).”

Another of the artists Troy Seals worked with on the rock & roll circuit was Conway Twitty, who had transitioned into country stardom in Nashville. Twitty took Seals under his wing and in 1974 turned “There’s a Honky Tonk Angel” into the songwriter’s first No. 1 smash. Twitty also had No. 1 hits with the Seals tunes “Don’t Take It Away” (1979), “Red Neckin’ Love Makin’ Night” (1982) and “Fallin’ for You for Years” (1987). Three Troy Seals songs were duet hits for Twitty and Loretta Lynn, “Feelin’s” (1975), “I Can’t Love You Enough” (1977) and “From Seven Till Ten” (1978).

Producer Billy Sherrill recorded Troy Seals as the songwriter’s second album. It was issued by Columbia Records in 1976. Seals also recorded singles for Elektra, RCA, Polydor and several smaller labels. But he became increasingly known for his writing, rather than his recordings.

By the close of the 1970s, Troy Seals was established as a Music Row tunesmith. He worked with a variety of co-writers, most successfully Eddie Setser, Max D. Barnes, Graham Lyle and Mike Reid. Seals and wife Jo-Ann Campbell were also sometimes cowriters. His early songs were recorded by Johnny Paycheck, Jeanne Pruett, Jerry Lee Lewis, Nat Stuckey, Bob Luman and Connie Smith. In 1979, Elvis Presley had a posthumous, top 10 country hit with his revival of “There’s a Honky Tonk Angel.”

The 1980s witnessed his full flowering as a songwriter. During the decade, Troy Seals provided top-10 hits for Charley Pride (1980’s “You Almost Slipped My Mind”), The Bellamy Brothers (1984’s “Forget About Me”), George Jones (1985’s “Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes”), Keith Whitley (1986’s “Ten Feet Away”), Alabama (1984’s “When We Make Love”), John Schneider (1985’s “Country Girls”), Ronnie McDowell (1984’s “I Dream of Women Like You”), Lee Greenwood (1986’s “Didn’t We”) and Waylon Jennings (1985’s “Drinkin’ and Dreamin’”).

Between 1980 and 1986, Brenda Lee, David Allan Coe, Johnny Rodriguez, Merle Haggard, Glen Campbell, Dobie Gray and others also issued country singles of Troy Seals songs. In 1985, his co-written “Seven Spanish Angels” became a smash hit for Willie Nelson and Ray Charles. It was nominated as Song of the Year by the CMA and was the biggest country hit of Charles’ career.

Seals songs reached beyond country music. In 1983, Eric Clapton had a pop hit with the songwriter’s “I’ve Got a Rock and Roll Heart.” Over the years, Troy Seals copyrights were also recorded by such pop and R&B stars as Joe Cocker, Millie Jackson, Celine Dion, Three Dog Night, Etta James, Jodeci, Delbert McClinton, Aretha Franklin, The Rolling Stones and Barry Manilow, among others.

In 1985, Ronnie Milsap had a huge hit with “Lost in the Fifties Tonight.” This became the second Troy Seals song nominated for a CMA Award. It won the ACM’s Song of the Year honor, was ASCAP’s Country Song of the Year and earned Milsap a Grammy. It also led to Troy Seals being named Country Songwriter of the Year by ASCAP.

Troy Seals became even more successful in 1987-88, when he co-wrote six top 10 country hits. In addition to Twitty’s “Fallin’ for You for Years,” these included “Maybe Your Baby’s Got the Blues” for The Judds, “Let the Music Lift You Up” for Reba McEntire, “No More One More Time” for Jo-El Sonnier, “Joe Knows How to Live” for Eddy Raven and “I Won’t Need You Anymore (Always and Forever)” for Randy Travis, which won the singer a Grammy Award. During this same two-year span, Seals also provided singles for Gene Watson, The Bama Band and Hank Williams Jr. This era was capped by his induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1988.

Troy Seals closed out the 1980s by cowriting a top-10 hit for The Oak Ridge Boys (“Beyond Those Years”) and a No. 1 success for Eddy Raven (“Bayou Boys”). Around this time, the songwriter’s nephew Brady Seals was becoming known at the keyboardist/singer in the band Little Texas. The extended family also included country stars Dan Seals and Johnny Duncan, pop star Jim Seals of Seals & Crofts and hit songwriter Chuck Seals (“Crazy Arms”).

Troy Seals began the 1990s with a flurry of successes. He co-wrote the George Jones/Randy Travis duet “A Few Ole Country Boys,” as well as Eddy Raven’s “Island” and Travis Tritt’s “Looking Out for Number One.” Seals earned his third CMA Song of the Year nomination along with co-writer Vince Gill for 1999’s “If You Ever Have Forever in Mind.”

His 1990s singles also included songs recorded by Faith Hill, John Anderson, Clinton Gregory, John Berry, Neal McCoy, J.P. Pennington, Chris LeDoux, Mike Reid and nephew Brady Seals, who was then recording as a solo artist. The songwriter’s last notable chart success was with his co-written “Good Little Girls,” recorded by the duo Blue County in 2003. At the time, Troy Seals was 65 years old.

Troy Seals died at home in Hendersonville on March 6. He is survived by wife Jo-Ann and by son Troy Jr. Funeral services were private.

Canadian Country Superstar Dick Damron Passes

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Dick Damron. Photo: Larry Delaney Music/Photo Archives

Canadian Country Music Hall Of Fame member Dick Damron passed away on Saturday (March 29) in Alberta at age 91.

A former rodeo rider and oil-well laborer, Joseph Glenn Damron debuted on disc in 1959 as a rockabilly act. Dick Damron transitioned into a mainstream country stylist, recording with the A-Team in Nashville. In 1970-91 Dick Damron placed 38 singles on the RPM Country Hit charts, including 14 top-10 entries. His first two singles, “Countryfied” and “Rise And Shine,” both topped the Canadian country chart in 1971, as did 1976’s “On The Road” and 1977’s “Susan Flowers.”

As a songwriter, his country and gospel works were recorded by many, including Charley Pride, Wilf Carter, George Hamilton IV, Carroll Baker and Terry Carisse. Damron was noted for his “outlaw” image. In later years, his duets with Ginny Mitchell and Ray Griff were highlights.

During his peak years with RCA Canada in the 1970s and 1980s, Damron was named the Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) Entertainer of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year, Songwriter of the Year and Instrumentalist of the Year, among other awards. He was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall Of Fame in 1994.

In 1997, Damron published his autobiography, The Legend & The Legacy. He has since published two novels. In 2011-12, Germany’s internationally esteemed Bear Family Records issued two 3-CD boxed sets of Dick Damron’s best.

BREAKING: Industry Veteran Lesly Simon Passes

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Lesly Simon

Lesly Simon passed away on Thursday (March 27) peacefully surrounded by her family after a battle with breast cancer.

Simon spent over 20 years in the music industry. In 2016, she was tapped by Garth Brooks as General Manager of his label, Pearl Records. She served in the same capacity for Trisha Yearwood’s, Gwendolyn Records, and has been integral to the continued success of both.

Prior to joining Pearl/Gwendolyn, Simon spent time as the Vice President of Promotion for Arista Nashville/Sony Music Nashville overseeing radio promotion and marketing for the roster including Carrie Underwood, Brad Paisley, Cam and more. During her tenure, she led the Arista team to more than 40 No. 1 singles on the Billboard and Mediabase Country charts. She was also instrumental in launch of Platinum and multi-Platinum albums and tracks from Underwood, Paisley, Brooks and Dunn, Alan Jackson, Cam and many more.

Simon started her career at RCA in Nashville, and she expanded her expertise through roles with artist management and with both pop and country record labels in promotion and marketing.  She served as tour manager for country artist Mindy McCready on the top grossing tours of Tim McGraw, Alan Jackson and George Strait.

While working in promotion at Capitol Records, she contributed to the airplay success of artists like Coldplay, The Beastie Boys, Kylie Minogue, Radiohead, Jane’s Addiction and Snoop Dogg.

In 2020, Simon turned her passion for design and real estate into two new ventures, launching a Florida-based interior design firm with friend and interior designer Tyler Colgan, and starting the residential real estate division of the company with Corcoran Reverie.

A graduate of the University of Alabama, Simon was a member of SOURCE, a Leadership Music Class of 2013 alum, and served on the Board of Directors for Country Radio Broadcasters. She was celebrated throughout her career with multiple industry award nominations and has been named one of Billboard’s Top 100 Country Power Players.

Simon is survived by her husband, Robert; step-children Max and Miller Simon; mother Cindy Adams Somerville; brother Taylor Somerville (Caroline); sisters Cindy Gallion (Thomas) and Amy Landers (William Hansen); mother-in-law Marcia Unger; sister-in-law Carrie Pizitz (Richard) and many loving aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews and friends. She is predeceased by her father Thomas Taylor Somerville Jr.

A service will take place on Monday (March 31) at Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church in Mountain Brook, Alabama at 2:30 p.m. with visitation in Graham Hall immediately thereafter.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to the American Cancer Society or Joe Lee Griffin Hope Lodge in honor of Lesly Simon.

Bluegrass Banjo Wizard Eddie Adcock Passes

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Eddie Adcock. Photo: Courtesy of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

Bluegrass banjo master Eddie Adcock passed away on March 20. He was 86.

A native of Scottsville, Virginia, Eddie left home when he was 14 and backed Mac Wiseman, Bill Harrell, Bill Monroe and more in his early days. He played with the Country Gentlemen beginning in the late ’50s, and rose to prominence as their banjoist, playing on numerous albums. Eddie left the Country Gentlemen in 1970 and founded the IInd Generation in 1971, a bluegrass ensemble that also featured Martha, Eddie’s wife, on guitar and vocals.

The Country Gentlemen reunited in 1989 to record Classic Country Gents Reunion for Sugar Hill Records, and the project was named IBMA’s Recorded Event of the Year for 1990. That year he also teamed up with Kenny Baker, Josh Graves and Jesse McReynolds billed as The Masters, with Martha Adcock on guitar. Eddie and Martha continued to record through the years for Pinecastle Records, until he formed his own Radio Therapy Records. Eddie was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Hall of Fame in 1996 as a member of the Country Gentlemen, and he also won the Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass Music in 2014.

Eddie also notably won 34 consecutive drag races with his car, Mr. Banjo. He became an internet sensation at the age of 70 when video circulated showing him undergoing brain surgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center to address a hand tremor, where he remained conscious and played his banjo throughout the operation, showing surgeons when they had found the spot.

He is survived by wife, Martha, three children: Edward Adcock, Jr., Beatrice Adcock and Dennis Adcock; four grandchildren and five great-great grandchildren. No information has been provided on services at this time.

Dolly Parton’s Husband Carl Dean Passes

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Dolly Parton and Carl Dean

Carl Dean, longtime husband of Dolly Parton, has passed away. He was 82.

Parton shared the news on her social media on Monday (March 3) in a statement. The two married in 1966 and Dean remained out of the public eye for most of their union. They met when she was 18 after passing each other at a Wishy Washy Laundromat, and married two years later. Dean shied away from the limelight during their marriage, preferring to cheer her on from behind the scenes of Parton’s high-watt career throughout their life together. The two never had children.

In her statement Parton said: “Carl Dean, husband of Dolly Parton, passed away March 3rd in Nashville at the age of 82. He will be laid to rest in a private ceremony with immediate family attending. He is survived by his siblings Sandra and Donnie.

“Carl and I spent many wonderful years together. Words can’t do justice to the love we shared for over 60 years. Thank you for your prayers and sympathy.”

Former Opry Exec Jerry Strobel Passes

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Jerry Strobel

The publicist for the Grand Ole Opry for three decades, Jerry Strobel has died at age 84. Born Martin Jerome Strobel, the Nashville native died with his family by his side on Feb. 24.

Strobel was born and raised in Germantown. He grew up a few doors down from Assumption Catholic Church, and was the longtime choir director there. He was a classically trained tenor vocalist.

In 1970, he became the promotions manager for WSM radio and its Grand Ole Opry. He worked with local and national media and shepherded visits by national celebrities who came to perform on the Opry. His duties gradually expanded, and he was later named Opry House Manager.

At the time, Nashville had few venues for concerts by nationally touring artists. So Strobel became the liaison for the dozens of acts who booked shows at the Opry House, everyone from Linda Ronstadt, Patti Labelle, Bruce Springsteen and Elvis Costello to Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Bob Hope and Robin Williams. He retired from the Opry job in 2000.

Jerry Strobel was one of the founders of Fan Fair, now known as the CMA Music Festival. He was also the creator of Oktoberfest. Founded in 1980, it benefits Assumption Catholic Church plus the neighboring and equally historic Monroe Street United Methodist Church.

Strobel sang at Catholic parishes throughout Middle Tennessee, often at funerals, weddings and other church-held events. His brother was Father Charles Strobel (1943-2023), the priest who founded Room in the Inn and was a tireless champion for the homeless.

Jerry Strobel is survived by six children, 17 grandchildren and a sister. Visitation will be Thursday (March 6) from 4-6:30 p.m. at Assumption Catholic Church, 1226 7th Ave. N. His funeral mass will be celebrated on Friday (March 7) at Christ the King Catholic Church, 3001 Belmont Blvd. He will then be interred at Calvary Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Room in the Inn, Assumption Catholic Church or The Pat Holzapfel Strobel Legacy Grant at Christ the King School. Arrangements are being handled by Marshall-Donnelly-Combs Funeral Home c/o Dignity Memorial.

Steve Turner, CMHOFM Champion & Nashville Developer, Passes Away

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Steve Turner. Photo: Courtesy of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

Steve Turner, chairman emeritus and longtime board chair for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, passed away today (Feb. 11) at age 77.

“Steve Turner’s leadership and vision changed Nashville in many ways. But nowhere was his influence more transformative than with our museum. As a longtime board chairman, he saw what our museum should be, what it aspired to be — and made it so,” shares Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Musuem, in a statement.

“He found new opportunities for us, forged crucial deals, and spearheaded a museum expansion in 2014 that more than doubled our size and multiplied our reach exponentially. He was a businessman with the soul of a creative artist and the heart of a champion. Simply put, he inspired us and made our museum the success it is today.”

Turner was born in Scottsville, Kentucky and was raised working in the family business, the Dollar General Corporation, founded by his father, Cal Turner Sr. He served as an executive for the company for 20 years before leaving at age 40 to go his own way.

The Vanderbilt University graduate settled in Nashville in 1986 with his wife Judy, and became focused on investing and real estate development, particularly in Nashville’s urban core. He spearheaded several developments south of Broadway, including the Gulch, the Schermerhorn Symphony Center and the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

The Turners generously supported many philanthropic causes in Nashville, but his focus on the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum was transformative for the institution. He joined museum’s board in 1997, serving as Chairman from 2008 through 2021.

His tenure with the organization included negotiating a complicated public-private partnership involving the museum, Metro Nashville government and the Omni Hotels & Resorts. The result more than doubled the museum’s size, connected the Omni Hotel Nashville with the museum through a stylish shopping corridor, and helped the city anchor the new Music City Center convention hall, which opened in 2013.

Turner also demonstrated crucial leadership in the museum’s capital campaign that enabled the expansion. Thanks to successful fundraising and careful financial stewardship, the museum erased its building debts and markedly expanded its programming, allowing Turner to further push the organization to offer Middle Tennessee youth free admission under a new program, Community Counts.

He and wife Judy also conceived and funded an innovative partnership between the museum and the Nashville Public Library resulting in “String City: Nashville’s Tradition of Music and Puppetry,” an acclaimed puppet show that tells the story of country music and has played to thousands of families, children and adults in Middle Tennessee.

Services have not yet been announced.

BREAKING: Warner Chappell Nashville President & CEO, Ben Vaughn, Passes Away

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Ben Vaughn

Ben Vaughn, President & CEO of Warner Chappell Music Nashville, passed away this morning (Jan. 30). He was 49.

Vaughn spent over a decade at the helm of the company, overseeing all creative and commercial activities across A&R, administration, business development, finance and human resources. Vaughn also worked with staff songwriters, while actively engaging in songwriter advocacy and rights protection initiatives.

The news was sent to the Warner Music Group staff by Warner Chappell leaders Guy Moot and Carianne Marshall.

“Ben has led our Nashville team since 2012, and we know that many of you around the world got to know him over the years. Anyone who had the pleasure of working with him will be as shocked and saddened as we are,” they write. “First and foremost, Ben was an extraordinary human being. He met everyone with enthusiasm, warmth and generosity. His smile was huge, and his sense of humor was infectious.”

The full memo, obtained by MusicRow, is below.

Vaughn grew up in the small Kentucky town of Sullivan, home to just 500 people. A lifelong country music fan, he landed a job at his local radio station, WMSK, where he became obsessed with the liner notes in the CDs that arrived at the station’s office.

Determined to chase his country music dreams, he enrolled at Nashville’s Belmont University. While in school, he reconnected with his former middle school computer teacher, who had become a staff songwriter at Warner Chappell. She introduced him to Kurt Denny, who brought Vaughn on as an intern—marking the start of his publishing career.

Soon, Vaughn earned an internship at Warner Chappell’s partner company, Big Tractor Music. When the company’s leader unexpectedly left, 21-year-old Vaughn found himself in charge.

Scott Hendricks, Big Tractor’s owner at the time, was balancing his role as head of Capitol Records and producing major artists. He gave Vaughn six months to prove that he could lead the company, but warned that if he quit school, he would fire him. Vaughn not only succeeded in growing the small publishing company but also graduated from college.

After six years at Big Tractor, EMI approached Vaughn about a leadership position. He thrived at EMI, eventually running the creative department for seven years. At 34, he became the youngest executive to lead a major publisher in Nashville when he was named EVP and GM of EMI Music Publishing.

During a major acquisition of EMI companies, Vaughn was unable to stay on. After a six-month sabbatical, Warner Chappell tapped him to lead its Nashville office. Returning to the company where he had once been an intern, he reunited with colleagues who had witnessed his earliest days in publishing.

Under Vaughn’s leadership, Warner Chappell Nashville earned multiple Country Publisher of the Year honors from ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC, achieving the prestigious Triple Crown in 2019 by sweeping all three PRO awards. His songwriters amassed 19 CMA, ACM, Grammy, or PRO Songwriter of the Year honors, 35 Song of the Year titles, and eight inductions into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Vaughn was a fierce advocate for songwriters in and outside of Nashville, whether they were affiliated with Warner Chappell or not. He often spoke of the plight of the craft and lended his expertise to those in the community.

Read his story in his own words here.

Vaughn is preceded in death by his wife, Carlee Ann Vaughn. He is survived by three children: Ruby, Griffin and Zeke. Services have not yet been announced.

To everyone at WMG,

It is with broken hearts that we share the unthinkable news that Ben Vaughn, President & CEO of Warner Chappell Nashville, passed away this morning. Our deepest condolences are with his family and many friends.

Ben has led our Nashville team since 2012, and we know that many of you around the world got to know him over the years. Anyone who had the pleasure of working with him will be as shocked and saddened as we are.

First and foremost, Ben was an extraordinary human being. He met everyone with enthusiasm, warmth, and generosity. His smile was huge, and his sense of humor was infectious.

He was always a passionate advocate of songwriters and a topflight music publisher. The Nashville community has lost one of its greatest champions, and he will be profoundly missed by so many across our company and the entire industry.

We are planning to visit the Nashville team very soon and thank you all for helping support them through this awful tragedy.

With love,
Guy & Carianne