Anna Lee (Crenshaw) Williams. Photo: Gina Binkley

Anna Lee (Crenshaw) Williams has been promoted to Director of Marketing at the Americana Music Association. In her new role, she will report to Executive Director Jed Hilly.

Williams marks her sixth year with the Association this month, formerly serving as Manager of Marketing and Member Relations for the nonprofit. After starting her career interning for AmericanaFest in 2013, she subsequently worked at BAM! Social Business as Social Strategist and Product Manager. There she led a team that managed the festival’s social media channels during the event week in 2015 and 2016. She returned to the Americana Music Association full-time in 2017.

During her tenure, Williams has been responsible for managing the Association and festival’s social media presence. She has also created “How To” educational guides containing advice from industry experts, oversees monthly Zoom mixers to keep membership connected throughout the pandemic, and is responsible for registration and ticketing for AmericanaFest and the Americana Honors & Awards.

“Anna Lee is a born leader and her value to the association cannot be understated,” says Hilly.  “She has consistently performed not just as a consummate professional, but also a true team player. She is a huge asset to the community.”

“Over these last five years, I’ve been fortunate enough to get to know our incredible community as I’ve grown within the association,” adds Williams. “It’s always been a privilege to advocate for this music, and I’m looking forward to my new position and continuing to elevate what we can do together.”

Williams can be reached at annalee@americanamusic.org.

Tyler Rich. Photo: Zack Napier

Tyler Rich is heading back out on the road this spring on his “Two Thousand (More) Miles Tour,” which launches March 10 in Springfield, Missouri. SixForty1 will open the first half of the dates in March, with Robyn Ottolini joining for the April shows.

Tickets for the tour, which runs through April 30 and visits Lexington, Buffalo, Wichita, and more, go on sale this Friday (Jan. 14) at 10 a.m. CT.

“The overwhelming response from so many of you who’ve connected on socials made it a no brainer,” shares Rich. “Thank you for asking for a new run of the ‘Two Thousand Miles Tour!’ We started on the West Coast where I grew up and head towards my new home in Nashville with this run. We’re bringing our friends SixForty1 and Robyn Ottolini, and we’re all so excited to see you this spring.”

Rich has amassed over 339 million total global streams with his debut album, Two Thousand Miles, as well as his Gold-certified hit “The Difference,” and latest releases “Better Than You’re Used To” and  “A Little Bit of You.”

See the full dates below:

Katie Jelen

Katie Jelen has exited her role as Creative Sync Executive to launch a new boutique music licensing company, Honestly Good Music. There she will offer a variety of services, including synch representation and consulting around music licensing, creative synch development, and catalog viability in the synch space.

“After nearly five years at Warner Chappell, I’m incredibly excited to return to my indie roots with the launch of Honestly Good Music,” said Jelen. “I’ve learned so much along the way and am so grateful for the projects that I’ve had the privilege of being a part of. I look forward to representing the Nashville community in new ways through film, TV and advertising opportunities while focusing on creating a culture of honesty, integrity and goodness.”

As the first-ever creative sync executive on the ground for Warner Music Group in Nashville, Jelen spent the last five years growing Warner Chappell and Warner Music Nashville’s synch business across film, TV and advertising opportunities.

In 2019, Jelen spearheaded a multi-year partnership with Norwegian Cruise Line for Warner Chappell songwriters to create custom songs for the brand’s online ad campaigns. Most recently, she worked alongside songwriting duo Outskrts on a custom song for the Tennessee Titans, called “Get Loud (Titan Up),” for use both on and off the field. In addition to placing music in campaigns for Target, Peloton, Facebook, Hershey’s, Walmart, Macy’s, and Coca-Cola, she has grown opportunities for country across brands such as Ford and Old Navy, and in TV shows including Yellowstone, The Ranch and 9-1-1 Lonestar.

Prior to her time at Warner Music Group, Jelen got her start at Secret Road Music Services in Los Angeles where she helped to grow the management team, assist in the launch of Secret Road’s publishing division, and launch the Nashville operations for the company. She is an alumni of the Leadership Music program (2020), a member of the Nashville Film Fest music committee, and the Nurturing Outstanding Women (NOW) mentoring program.

Pictured (L-R): Noah Dewey (Sr. Dir. Creative, Anthem Publishing Nashville), Donnie Davisson, Chris Janson, Chris Davisson, Tim Wipperman (Pres, Anthem Publishing, Nashville), Courtney Crist (Sr. Dir. Creative Anthem Publishing, Nashville), Erv Woolsey (Pres, Erv Woolsey Co. Manager), Allen Mitchell (Erv Woolsey Co. Manager)

Anthem Entertainment’s publishing division and Chris Janson‘s Old Tom Music Publishing are partnering together on a new artist development and co-publishing venture. The Davisson Brothers (Chris and Donnie Davisson) are the first official signing under the new venture, along with Shane Profitt, a songwriter discovered by Janson.  

Hailing from Clarksburg, West Virginia, The Davisson Brothers were named one of Rolling Stone‘s Top 10 Country/Americana bands to watch, and debuted on the Grand Old Opry in 2019. They also host their own two-day country festival, Wild and Wonderful Country Fest, that averages over 15,000 daily attendees. Their current album is being produced by Brent Cobb and David “Ferg” Ferguson (Tyler Childers, Sturgill Simpson).

Shane Profitt

Profitt is a budding singer-songwriter who is slated to hit the road with Janson on his upcoming “Halfway to Crazy” Tour.

“I’m so proud to be signing Chris Davisson and Donnie Davisson to a publishing deal with Anthem, and my company, Old Tom Music Publishing,” says Janson. “These guys work harder than anyone I know. I’ve believed in the Brothers for many years, and they believed in me, way back before I ever even had a hit song. I love these guys. I encourage every single one of my songwriter friends, to write with them. They’re hungry to WIN. And win, they will.

“Shane is the real deal, and a fantastic songwriter,” Janson continues. “He has a natural knack for writing hits. He’s a great singer too, and he’s going to be joining me on the road this year on the ‘Halfway to Crazy Tour.’ I’m really proud to be working with him.”

“We are thrilled to be expanding our successful relationship with Chris Janson,” adds Anthem Entertainment CEO, Helen Murphy.  “Chris is a creative genius, and he has a unique ability to write and produce songs that express the raw emotion and vulnerability of life and family. We look forward to supporting Chris and his new talent signings and continuing to create music that resonates with everyone.”

“We are thankful and honored to be working with Chris Janson (Old Tom Music Publishing) and Anthem Entertainment Group,” says Donnie and Chris Davisson. “We stopped to help a stranger on the side of the road many years ago, that stranger ended up being Chris Janson. Since then, we have become brothers on and off stage. We have traveled the country doing countless shows together. Now, along with the amazing team at Anthem Entertainment Group, we are working together to create new music to share with the world.”

Anthem Nashville Publishing President, Tim Wipperman, adds, “When Chris Janson brought us the Davissons, we realized he had found a truly unique, genuine West Virginia rockin’ country duo, and two great songwriters to boot. Shane adds that gritty blue collar country view on life to our mix.”