Kylie Morgan is the quintessential Nashville artist. Signed to Universal Music Group Nashville, she is getting ready to release a new EP titled P.S. and is about to take a brand new song to country radio. We talk about opening for Jason Derulo, performing her first stadium show, writing songs with Walker Hayes and so much more. Kylie's energy is infectious. She'll make you wish you were a country star. Bibi joins as guest host.
Jun 14, 2022•54 min•Ep. 96
By the age of nine, Jessi Alexander had taught herself how to play Elvis Presley’s “Love Me Tender” by ear on her grandparent’s piano. By the time she was 11 years old, she was already writing her own songs. Alexander first gained prominence thanks to her work on Miley Cyrus’ “The Climb.” Throughout her career, she’s collaborated with multiple artists including Luke Combs, Tim McGraw, Miranda Lambert, Midland, Jason Aldean, Thomas Rhett, Trisha Yearwood, Celine Dion, Ashley Monroe and Midland. A...
Jun 07, 2022•55 min•Ep. 95
Signed to Warner Music Nashville and Disney Music Groups’s Buena Vista Records, band members Dawson Anderson and Emma Salute boast stage credits worldwide, from Stagecoach Festival in their home state of California to C2C: Country to Country Festival in London. The duo just got off the road with Gary LeVox and are currently in the studio recording new music with Nashville legend Dann Huff. Want to know what's bubbling under the surface here in Nashville? This episode is for you.
May 31, 2022•52 min•Ep. 94
Kevin "Chief" Zaruk and Simon Tikhman are the co-founders of The Core Entertainment. They were introduced by their lawyer and Michael Rapino suggested they team up. We get the story and talk about their unique approach to artist management. These two will make you wish you worked in the music biz. If you're already in the biz, this episode will make you wish you had a partnership as great as this one.
Apr 19, 2022•48 min•Ep. 93
Kim Taylor is the director of Real Sound Money Fest, the first bitcoin music festival. She booked the lineup and put the whole event together, which is happening in Miami April 9th. It is closing out the Bitcoin 2022 conference which starts April 6th. Use the code "MOON22" to get 10% off passes for the event.
Mar 22, 2022•20 min•Ep. 92
Mike Errico is a New York-based recording artist, writer and teaches songwriting at universities including Yale, Wesleyan, The New School, and NYU’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music. He has a new book out called Music, Lyrics, and Life: A Field Guide for the Advancing Songwriter. We talk about his day to day in the classroom, what makes a modern pop hit, why songwriters should study wheel makers and so much more. You're going to love Mike. And he might convince you that you could have a c...
Jan 25, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 91
Cody Alan is one of country music's biggest radio personalities. Keith Urban says he "makes Ryan Seacrest look like a slacker". As host and executive producer of CMT Radio, millions of listeners hear Cody daily on more than 200 radio stations. On CMT's flagship music show, Hot 20 Countdown, his face can also be seen in 90 million homes. He has interviewed everyone from Taylor Swift to Blake Shelton, and Bradley Cooper to Dolly Parton. Cody has a brand new book out titled Hear's The Thing and we ...
Nov 30, 2021•51 min•Ep. 90
Panos Panay is the Co-President of The Recording Academy. Prior to his current role he served as the Senior Vice President for Global Strategy & Innovation at Berklee College of Music. A serial entrepreneur, he is the founder of Sonicbids ; the founder of Berklee's Institute for Creative Entrepreneurship; and co-founder of the Open Music Initiative. His first book “Two Beats Ahead: What Musical Minds Teach Us About Innovation” (co-authored with IDEO partner Michael Hendrix) was selected by T...
Nov 16, 2021•55 min•Ep. 89
Legendary ZZ Top guitarist Billy F. Gibbons is on the podcast this week and he has a new solo album, "Hardware." We discuss the early days of ZZ Top, what is was like opening for Jimi Hendrix, what inspires him today and where he likes to eat in Nashville. Here is a man who doesn't need much of an introduction.
Nov 09, 2021•48 min•Ep. 88
Marshall Sandman is the Managing Partner of Animal Capital, a venture firm that was co-founded with manager Michael Gruen and some of the biggest influencers on the planet. With the help of fellow co-founders Josh Richards, Griffin Johnson and Noah Beck, Animal Capital has access to over 100 million consumers across the world and is investing in some of the most innovative companies today. We talk about the portfolio, what Sandman looks for in founders, why the stigma around influencers is over ...
Nov 02, 2021•41 min•Ep. 87
Kristian Bush is a singer, songwriter, record producer and one half of the country music duo Sugarland. In this episode we talk about how Kristian prepared for his TED Talk, how he wrote the opening lines to Sugarland's biggest hits, why he recently started writing musicals and so much more. I guarantee you'll learn something from Kristian.
Oct 26, 2021•1 hr 41 min•Ep. 86
For over twenty years Bruce Pomahac was the Director of Music for The Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization in New York City, where he helmed the restorations and supervised new editions of OKLAHOMA!, CAROUSEL, ALLEGRO, SOUTH PACIFIC, THE KING & I, PIPE DREAM, CINDERELLA, THE SOUND OF MUSIC, ONCE UPON A MATTRESS, ANNIE GET YOUR GUN and many others. He is currently Musical Consultant for Concord Music (Rodgers & Hammerstein, Rodgers & Hart and Kern & Hammerstein), The Irving Berlin...
Oct 19, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 85
Dustin Boyer is a partner at Venture Music, one of the top digital marketing firms in Nashville. We talk about how to grow a fanbase, TikTok strategy, what most artists get wrong when it comes to marketing and so much more. Dustin is all about the analytics and he is one of the sharpest guys in the biz. This episode is going to make you grateful that there are people as knowledgeable as Dustin working in music .
Oct 05, 2021•1 hr•Ep. 84
Carter Faith is a Nashville songwriter and artist on the rise. We discuss her path as an artist, why she moved to Nashville and her songwriting process. For Carter, it's all about the song but she loves being on the stage and she recently opened up for The Avett Brothers. In Nashville, Carter constantly comes up in conversation. The industry is rallying behind her and she has been featured on playlist covers for Fresh Finds and Today's Country. Learn about her now, before she blows up.
Sep 28, 2021•48 min•Ep. 83
Pete Ganbarg is a true record man. He is a 2-time Grammy winning executive who is the President of A&R at Atlantic Records. He learned the business from Clive Davis and over the past 30+ years has played a major role in the careers of some of the most influential artists in the world. We talk about his involvement with Santana, Train, Hamilton, BRELAND and so much. We also talk about his podcast Rock & Roll High School and how the show came together. You're going to love Pete. This episo...
Sep 21, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 82
Charlie Davis is the founder of Preffy, a brand new marketing platform that was recently acquired by Nashville based company Songfluencer. Preffy is changing the way artists engage with fans by allowing them to host competitions to see who can get the most likes on a social media video, that features their song. We talk about how Charlie built the platform, the future on influencer marketing, why Songfluencer CEO Johnny Cloherty was willing to bet big on Preffy and so much more. If you work in t...
Sep 14, 2021•46 min•Ep. 81
Ted Chapin is the former president of the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization. He has lead Broadway productions and revivals, including “South Pacific” Broadway revival, “The King and I,” “Oklahoma!” and “Carousel.” He also approved television productions such as “The Sound of Music Live!” on NBC and “Cinderella,” starring Whitney Houston and Brandy, on ABC. We talk about how he got the job, the importance of these shows today, how Ariana Grande's "7 Rings" came together and so much more. We ...
Aug 31, 2021•58 min•Ep. 80
BEXAR (pronounced ‘bear’) is comprised of Chris Ryan (lead vocals/guitar) and Logan Turner (vocals/banjo/guitar). The band self-released their debut EP in 2018 and have accumulated over 25 million streams to date. Now signed to Warner Music Nashville, BEXAR has been in the studio working on a new EP with producers Ross Copperman and Luke Laird. The project will be released September 3rd. The group is also getting ready to open a string of dates for Keith Urban. These guys are going to make you w...
Aug 24, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 79
All the way from Boston, Lori McKenna is one of Nashville’s most in demand songwriters. From Girl Crush to Humble & Kind to Always Remember Us This Way, Lori has written some of country’s biggest hits. Not only do we talk about her guitars and songwriting process, but we get into how she wrote the hits, why she loves living in Boston and what you need if you want to invite her to your show. Lori McKenna is magical and it’s contagious. This episode will make you wish you were a hit songwriter...
Aug 17, 2021•1 hr•Ep. 78
Mary Rahmani is Triller’s global head of partnerships and TikTok’s first U.S. music executive. Most recently she launched Moon Projects, a new agency specializing in creator curation; content strategy for short-form, vertical platforms; and a label imprint in partnership with Republic Records. Not only does Mary talk about the current landscape of platforms like Triller and TikTok, she also goes into how she got her start in the industry, what she looks for in clients, how to grow your social nu...
Aug 10, 2021•59 min•Ep. 77
Brian Benson is the Vice President of Booking at AC Entertainment. He has been with the company for over 20 years and is perhaps best known for booking Bonnaroo. We talk about how he builds the lineup, discovers new bands, booked Paul McCartney and so much more.
Aug 03, 2021•43 min•Ep. 76
Seaforth are a musical duo consisting of Tom Jordan and Mitch Thompson. They are signed to Sony Nashville and are one of the most talked about rising acts in Music City. Their current radio single is called "Breakups" which they co-wrote with Liz Rose and Cameron Bedell. We talk about moving from Australia to Nashville, how the duo signed their label deal, the worst foods they have ever eaten and so much more.
Jul 27, 2021•58 min•Ep. 75
Emily Oberman is a New York-based multidisciplinary designer and a partner at design studio Pentagram. She is responsible for the recent rebrand of Warner Chappell and Warner Records. Emily is also the creator of the SNL opening credits, the current DC Comics logo, the Late Night With Jimmy Fallon logo, and so many more. We talk about her process, what goes into building a brand, how to get the most out of a graphic designer and so much more.
Jul 20, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 74
Tenille Townes is doing country music her way. The rising star is getting ready to release new music and hit the road with Brothers Osborne. We talk about her new single "Girl Who Didn't Care", the one year anniversary of her album The Lemonade Stand, how she shared a stage with Shania Twain at 9 years old and so much more.
Jul 13, 2021•55 min•Ep. 73
On episode 72, Kevin Griffin and Brandt Wood talk with Zak about how they created the iconic Tennessee music festival Pilgrimage. We also get into what fans can expect from the upcoming 2021 event, why the VIP package is worth it, Kevin Griffin's secret smoothies recipe and so much more.
Jul 06, 2021•56 min•Ep. 72
Jennifer Turner is the CEO of the Tennessee Performing Art Center (TPAC). We talk about how she got the gig, what goes into organizing the season, the future of theater in Nashville and so much more. The 2021 - 2022 season has already been announced and tickets are going fast!
Jun 29, 2021•51 min•Ep. 71
Robyn Ottolini describes herself as the Eminem of country music. No joke. In 2020, Ottolini's career took off with the viral TikTok hit “F-150”. Since then, she signed with Warner Music Nashville, recently announced a brand new tour and has been releasing music non stop. Despite recently making her debut trip to Music City, she is one of Nashville most talked about rising artists.
Jun 22, 2021•59 min•Ep. 70
John Marks has been the Global Head of Country at Spotify since 2015. He moved to Nashville in 2010 to work at SiriusXM, where he became Head of Country Music Programming. During his tenure at SiriusXM, he brought The Highway to prominence and helped bring artists like Florida Georgia Line, Old Dominion, Kelsea Ballerini, Chase Rice, and Russell Dickerson to a national audience. Marks recently decided to step away from his powerful position on Spotify to launch new endeavors, including a brand n...
Jun 15, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 69
Steve Lassiter got his start in the music business as a production assistant at Sound Seventy Productions in 1977 at the age of 19. He went on to have a 20 year career at APA where he became Partner / Sr VP and then Co-Head of Worldwide Music, representing artists like Travis Tritt, The Charlie Daniels Band, Crystal Gayle, Lee Greenwood, Little Texas, Kansas, Jackyl, The Gatlin Brothers, and many others. Today, Lassiter is launching a brand new agency, Reliant Talent. We talk all about it....
Jun 08, 2021•59 min•Ep. 68
Kelleigh Bannen is the host of The Kelleigh Bannen Show and Today's Country on Apple Music Radio. She is also a longtime artist herself. We talk about what goes into creating her radio shows, how she preps for interviews, when she is coming out with new music and so much more.
Jun 01, 2021•54 min•Ep. 67
