Are you an aspiring artist?  Want to gain free consultation from 5 top executives on developing your career?

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Learn from these top executives regarding how to advance your personal career as an artist.

SHELBY KENNEDY

As a music industry veteran, Shelby Kennedy continues to utilize his passion for developing today’s music creators. During his tenure at Lyric Street Records, Kennedy’s involvement with SheDaisy and Rascal Flatts firmly established the label. He also introduced Alan Jackson to then bourgeoning label Arista Nashville. In the recording studio, he works from both sides of the glass as a producer and a background vocalist. As a writer, Kennedy’s first cut was recorded by Ray Charles, and he counts Reba McEntire’s “I’m A Survivor” among his favorite triumphs. Graduating from Belmont University in 1985, he received the inaugural Mike Curb School of Music Business Award of Excellence in 1996. He is a rare executive to have served writer and publisher relations for both ASCAP and BMI. He has been an adjunct professor for the Mike Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business at Belmont University and has served on Nashville’s Board of Governors for the Recording Academy Board as well as the Board of Directors for NSAI. He hails from a musical family: his mother sang on The Louisiana Hayride; his father is legendary producer and musician Jerry Kennedy while his brothers, Gordon and Bryan, are award winning songwriters. Kennedy currently serves as Vice President, Entertainment Relations for TuneCore.

CHRIS OGLESBY

In his 20-plus years in publishing, Chris has worked with some of the giants in the industry. He learned the ropes at Almo-Irving from David Conrad, widely revered as one of Nashville’s top “song men” who attracted talents like Kent Robbins and Mike Reid to the company. While he was there it took Chris signed a new writer named Craig Wiseman who went on to become 4-time ASCAP Songwriter of the Year.

From there he teamed up with Bob Doyle (Garth Brook’s manager) and Kye Fleming (3-time BMI Writer of the Year) to launch Dreamcatcher Music with a handful of songs and 2 writers in their first staff-writing deals. During his 18 month tenure there, Chris scored 18 cuts and 3 singles including Pam Tillis’s “Mi Vida Loca.”

From there he began a 10 year run at BMG where he worked with notable songwriters like Marcus Hummon and Hugh Prestwood, and signing emerging superstar talent like David Lee and Barry Dean. Chris was responsible for and a part of a steady stream of hit songs including “Prayin’ For Daylight”,  “Check Yes or No,” “The Good Stuff”  and “Live Like You Were Dying.”

In 2004 he founded Oglesby Writer Management as a joint venture with 19 Entertainment that produces American Idol. Along with managing the careers of developing and established songwriters including Rodney Crowell and Dan Couche, Chris became instrumental in developing the career of Carrie Underwood. His ties with 19 Entertainment remained strong after his company became independent in 2010, producing #1 hits with Kip Moore’s “Somethin’ ‘Bout a Truck” and Jake Owen’s “Alone With You.”

In 2013 Chris returned to BMG (now BMG/Chrysalis), but working at a publishing giant has not changed his down-to-earth style or his continual quest for new talent.

COURTNEY GREGG

A Nashville native, Courtney Gregg attended Belmont University knowing she wanted to pursue a career in the music industry. After internships at Zomba Music, Billboard Magazine, and ASCAP, Courtney was introduced to Frank Liddell of Carnival Music, where he promptly hired her to start her professional career. Spearheading the label side of Carnival, she has overseen projects on The Eli Young Band, Logan Brill, Jedd Hughes, Rob Baird, Adam Hood, Derik Hultquist, Mando Saenz, Roman Candle, and many others. She is also actively involved with the publishing efforts of the company, directing the sync efforts of the company and landing songs in multiple films and television shows. She has also handled A&R duties for Liddell on projects by Lambert, Nail, Eli Young Band, and Kellie Pickler. As a production coordinator on many albums produced by Liddell, she has worked on projects for artists including Miranda Lambert, Lee Ann Womack, David Nail, Dan Colehour, among others.

Gregg co-produced the annual Americana Music Awards show at The Ryman Auditorium from 2010-2012. She has devoted time recently to developing a freelance business focusing on artist development.

She is a member of NARAS, the Academy of Country Music, the Country Music Association, and the Americana Music Association. She enjoys playing golf, watching football, photography, traveling, has a coffee addiction, and loves sleeping in, and has volunteered her time at Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Hands on Nashville, Junior Achievement, and the American Red Cross, among other charities.

SCOTT GUNTER

Day to Day Mgmt/Publisher/A&R
AMP, LLC

Hard Tix Entertainment
Manager/Publisher/Agent/Tour Press

Gunter Entertainment
A&R,Blogger,Merchandising

Almo Irving/Universal Music Publishing
Creative Manager

Signed the following songwriters:

• Anthony Smith – “Run” & “Cowboys Like Us” – recorded by George Strait– both #2 Country Singles. “What Do Ya Think About That” – recorded by
  Montgomery Gentry – #3 Country Single – and 70 other Major Record Label Recordings.
• Tony Mullins – “Me And My Gang” – recorded by Rascal Flatts – #6 Country Single. “A Little Bit Of Life” – recorded by Craig Morgan – #7 Country
  Single. “Nobody Gonna Tell Me What To Do” – recorded by Van Zant – #16 Country Single.
• Bobby Terry – major cuts recorded by Brad Paisley, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Trace Adkins, Gretchen Wilson, Montgomery Gentry and Trisha
  Yearwood Single. “Nobody Gonna Tell Me What To Do” – recorded by Van Zant – #16 Country Single.
• Bobby Terry – major cuts recorded by Brad Paisley, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Trace Adkins, Gretchen Wilson, Montgomery Gentry and Trisha Yearwood.
• John Kennedy – “Probably Wouldn’t Be This Way” – recorded by LeAnn Rimes – #2 Country Single.

Product Manager for the following songwriters:

• Craig Wiseman – Seven #1 Country Singles during his Almo Irving period and hundreds of songs recorded by Major Label Recording Artists.
• Annie Roboff – “Walking Away” – recorded by Diamond Rio – #1 Country Single. “This Kiss” – Faith Hill – #1 country Single. In the late 1990’s while working with Annie she had seven songs on the Billboard Country singles charts at one time.
• Danny Wells – seven singles in three years with Almo Irving with three top ten singles.
• Steve Robson – Universal Music Publishing Songwriter based in London- “These Days” and “What Hurts The Most” – recorded by Rascal Flatts – both

TIM SMITH

Tim is a passionate advocate for Nashville. He espouses entrepreneurship and innovation as the path to sustainable job creation and economic development. He is a proud graduate of his Alma Mater, Belmont University. His career developed around software innovation to improve business processes in many vertical markets across all areas of the enterprise, with a special love for the media based industries. Living in Nashville since 1979, he has developed an extensive network of influential friends and business associates both locally and internationally. His role as founder and CEO of MyWerx lead to recognition as the Nashville Technology Council’s Innovator of the Year in October 2010. Billboard Magazine named MyWerx a “Top Ten Best New Digital Music Company” in August 2010. Nashville Post recognized Tim as one of Nashville’s Entrepreneurs of the year in 2011. MyWerx was recognized by Nashville post as a
“Tech 25” company in 2011. Mentoring start-ups through the Nashville Entrepreneurship Center, business development consulting and working with corporations and universities to attract the brightest and best of tomorrow’s tech sector talent to Tennessee have become a primary focus.

Tim relocated to Nashville from a small town in Illinois to pursue a career in the business side of the music industry. As both a right brained and left brained thinker his core competencies are entrepreneurship, CRM, leadership, mentorship and innovation. Prior to MyWerx Tim built nine businesses from start-up including:
• Copyright Management, Inc. – a pioneer in copyright administration, licensing, and royalty accounting serving over 1000 publishers globally.
• The Zeal Group – A technology company developing and implementing enterprise business systems. Zeal was a multi-year recipient of the Microsoft Inner Circle Partner award representing the top 1% of sales globally.
• Copyright.net – An early stage technology company. Its product, Copyright Agent was an intellectual property monitoring, and legal notice and take down solution presented to the Senate Judiciary Committee as a solution to the Napster P2P file-sharing problem.
• EQ Business Solutions, (a southeast leader in CRM solutions was a Microsoft Pinnacle Award winner for the Innovative use of Microsoft Technologies)

His favorite past times are hiking in the Smokey Mountains, oil painting, wood working and blogging about entrepreneurship. Most fulfilling achievement: raising and loving six children.