April Dickey

With more than 10 years in entertainment public relations, April Dickey has joined The Press House as PR Director of Nashville. Dickey has previously worked for Live Nation, Warner Music Nashville, and BottleRock Napa Valley. She has been leading the charge of her own company, The BANDWagon, for the past five years, but decided it was time to join a team of like-minded motivated publicists when The Press House CEO Dawn Kamerling approached her about the position.

“I am thrilled to have April join our team at the helm of the Nashville office. The Press House is celebrating it’s 18th year in business this month, and I am excited to work side by side with April, her roster and her amazing energy.” says Kamerling.

The Press House, a full-service PR and branding firm, has offices in New York, Nashville, and Los Angeles.

Women’s Audio Mission, a San Francisco-based organization dedicated to promoting the advancement of women in music production and the recording arts, will hold an event in Nashville on April 27-28.

The organization will present their WAMCon Nashville immersive recording arts conference, a two-day event with workshops covering topics from studio recording and mixing techniques to songwriting, guided by award-winning female producers and engineers like Linda Perry (P!nk, Adele, Alicia Keys), Emily Lazar (David Bowie, Foo Fighters, Beck), Shani Gandhi (Alison Krauss, Old Crow Medicine Show, Jewel), Simone Torres (Cardi B, Sia, Dua Lipa, Usher, Sean Garrett), Gena Johnson (Brandi Carlile, Kacey Musgraves), Jordan Brooke Hamlin (Indigo Girls, Lucy Wainwright Roche), Jennifer Decilveo (Andra Day, Beth Ditto), and Melissa Pierce (Carrie Underwood, Garth Brooks, Reba McEntire).

“While female artists including Ariana Grande, Halsey and Lady Gaga have dominated the charts in 2019, women throughout the music industry still remain hugely underrepresented,” said WAM Executive Director Terri Winston. “Programs like WAMCon Nashville, featuring some of the country’s most talented audio engineers and music professionals, are designed to inspire and grow the next generation of successful female producers and engineers and address this disparity. Nashville is country music’s creative hub and we look forward to bringing our program to its thriving music community.”

WAM trains over 2,000 women and girls a year in the recording arts to address the critical lack of women in the audio industry. Over the past year, WAM hosted three sold-out recording arts conferences in Los Angeles at Capitol Studios, New York at Jungle City Studios and YouTube Space NY, and Boston at iZotope/PRX Podcast Garage, which served over 500 women.

WAMCon Nashville will take place at The Tracking Room, as well as Ocean Way Nashville Recording Studios. The event is sponsored by Spotify, Eventide, Epidemic Sound, Shure, The Walt Disney Studios, iZotope, and Universal Audio, and presented in partnership with Change the Conversation, an organization that fights gender inequality in the music industry by providing support, education, and community for women artists and executives.

Additional details about WAMCon Nashville, including the information about the sessions, panelists and workshop leaders, as well as ticket purchase, is available here: WAMCon Nashville 2019.

Tammy Ragusa

Tammy Ragusa has returned to Premiere Networks as a writer and producer for the company’s country radio prep team, effective immediately. Based in Nashville and reporting to Ira Robbins, VP/Editorial Director for Premiere, she will be responsible for creating and developing show news prep, music and special event coverage, and holiday programming for 200 country radio affiliate stations across the U.S.  Tammy served in a similar role for Premiere from 2006-2012. 

Most recently, Tammy was a Senior Correspondent and Community Manager for Rare Country, where she provided editorial and social media content for the country music-focused website.  She served as a senior staff writer for Country Weekly from 2012-2016. Tammy previously held positions in marketing and artist development at Capitol Records and Sony Music Nashville.

FBMM Promotes Brad Akin, Betsy Lee

Pictured (L-R): Betsy Lee, Brad Akin

Brad Akin and Betsy Lee have been promoted to Associate Business Manager at Flood, Bumstead, McCready & McCarthy. Lee is based in Nashville, while Akin is based in New York.

Akin came to FBMM more than 10 years ago as one of the first New York office employees. Originally from Larchmont, New York, he is a graduate of Union College and began his career in artist management before transitioning to FBMM. He is a member of the Country Music Association and an active supporter of the New York chapter of Women in Music.

Originally from Milledgeville, Georgia, Lee joined the FBMM team more than 15 years ago following her graduation from the University of Georgia. Lee has extensive worldwide touring experience and, while working at FBMM, has served as interim European tour accountant for her clients. Lee is a member of the Academy of Country Music, Country Music Association and SOURCE. She has previously served as treasurer of the Nashville Film Festival.

“Betsy is an incredibly valuable part of the FBMM family,” said Julie Boos, owner and chairman of FBMM. “Not only is she the financial watchdog for every aspect of her clients’ fiscal world, but she also does a fantastic job at keeping her clients informed every step of the way. I’m excited to see her grow in her new role and continue to be a great representative of FBMM to our clients and the music industry.”

“Brad and Betsy have earned the confidence of their clients,” said Jamie Cheek, owner and president of FBMM. “Their promotions are well-deserved and showcase not only their expertise and dedication to our clients, but also our commitment to developing a deep bench of industry experts here at FBMM. We know they will thrive in their new roles as associate business managers. ”

O’Neil Hagaman Promotes Tiffany Wiggers

Tiffany Wiggers

O’Neil Hagaman, LLC. has promoted Tiffany Wiggers to Manager.

Wiggers began her career at the firm as an intern in the business management division in 2004. After graduating from David Lipscomb University in 2005 with a Bachelors of Arts in professional accounting and management, she continued her education by studying law at Nashville School of Law. In the summer of 2009, she passed the Tennessee bar and is a current member of Nashville and Tennessee Bar Association’s Entertainment Divisions. Her daily duties include management of staff, overall financial management of clients business including financial and tax accounting, contractual oversight and review, and monitoring of risk management.

Brett Eldredge will headline Nashville’s July 4th celebration on Lower Broadway, Let Freedom Sing!, the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp has announced. Mac McAnally, a record breaking 10-time CMA Musician of the Year, and Grammy-nominated neo-soul/rock artist Jessy Wilson are part of the diverse, all Nashville-based lineup. In a new partnership, CMT will air a 90-minute live special that will include performances from Eldredge, highlights from Let Freedom Sing! and conclude with the acclaimed firework show.

Let Freedom Sing! Music City July 4th presented by Dr Pepper is a free, family-friendly event that showcases the Grammy-winning Nashville Symphony and one of the largest fireworks shows in the country.

Additional announcements in the coming weeks will include information about activities on Wednesday, July 3 to enhance the semifinal Gold Cup soccer match being played at Nissan Stadium that day.

“Once again, Nashville will host a world-class July 4th event, and, with Gold Cup activities on July 3, we have the potential to turn this holiday into a five-day extended weekend for locals and visitors alike to enjoy soccer, music, fireworks and so much more that Nashville offers,” said Ronnie Smith, Head of Corporate Bank, Regions Bank, who serves as chair of the NCVC board of directors. “The CMT broadcast will provide yet another opportunity to showcase this stellar celebration and our great live music to a national audience.”

The main concert stage will be located at Fifth Avenue and Broadway and will include a DJ and live music starting at noon and into the evening. Additional performances will feature the 2018 and 2019 winners of Lightning 100’s Music City Mayhem, followed by The Joe West Band and country artist Dylan Scott.

After the concert, the event will shift to the Cumberland Riverfront with a firework show synchronized to a live performance by the Nashville Symphony. The program at Ascend Amphitheater will start around 9:30 p.m. and conclude with a 30-minute pyrotechnics show. The program will feature patriotic recitations from Barry Scott.

The Independence Day celebration will include a Family Fun Zone, with inflatables and other kid-friendly activities, from noon to 5 p.m. at Music City Walk of Fame Park.

Let Freedom Sing! Music City July 4th is presented by Dr Pepper and partners include Advance Financial, Anderson Benson Insurance, Kroger, Green Giant, Topgolf Nashville, Navy Federal Credit Union, Jack Daniel’s, and Budweiser.

Let Freedom Sing! Music City July 4th package experiences are available for purchase. Packages include a minimum of 1-night stay at a participating hotel and a July 4th Fun Pack, which includes the following for each member in a package reservation: Commemorative July 4th event t-shirt, event koozie, hand-held American flag, patriotic folding hand fan, and a Nashville cinch bag to carry your items around. To make this experience more convenient, the July 4th Fun Packs will be delivered to the hotels. To book this package experience or if you have questions, please call 1-800-657-6910 or visit visitmusiccity.com.