Alex Hall & Tim Hunze

10/30/18 • 81 min

Building a career, managing your career, and all things songs with artist Alex Hall and veteran music publisher Tim Hunze. Alex calls Gainesville, Georgia home but writes songs for himself and other writers in Nashville, TN. He grew up riding horses and playing sports, but music has always been an important part of his life. With encouragement from his middle school choral director, he began focusing specifically on singing. It was the summer before high school when he started playing guitar, singing at the local restaurants and bars and writing songs. We start the conversation when Alex started breaking in music and moving to Nashville. We dive into his newest song "Homesick" and what makes his writing style different than others. Visit for tour dates and to check out all of Alex's music, and follow him @musicbyalexhall Then respected Nashville music publisher, Tim Hunze, comes in to talk things publishing and some insight into songs that he's learned through his career. Tim started his career by starting his own record label, right after graduating from college. After the label scored a hit video on BET and a charting single, Tim sold his interest and moved into the publishing world. In his first job as archive manager at Hamstein, he got his first cut and when it went to #14 on the Billboard Country chart he was promoted to Creative Director. He stayed with the company as it sold to Mosaic and then to Stage Three where he became General Manager. Under his management, Stage Three had over 15 #1 hits and helped Bobby Pinson become BMI 2009 Writer of the Year and Brett James become 2010 ASCAP Writer of the Year. In 2011, along with JP Williams, Tim started Parallel Music Publishing and in their first 4 years, they scored 5 #1 hits. The hits continue to pile for Tim and company. Tim shares some memorable moments working with writers like Bobby Pinson, Michael White, Brett James, Tom Shapiro, Tony Martin, Lee Miller, and Jon Mabe. He also shares the rollercoaster ride of supporting writers and the ups and downs of what it means to be a publisher. Tim is also the host of the AIMP Nashville Pubcast; a podcast that informs and educates current and future publishers and offers insight for songwriters. Listen to the podcast, check out Parallel Entertainment, and give Time a follow @timhunze.

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Matt Urmy and John Craigie

Songwriting, stolen weed, and growing your career with John Craigie and Matt Urmy. First, John Craigie jumps in to talk about expectations of connections but a couple of things you should know is that John is a songwriter armed with wit and truth. “the lovechild of John Prine and Mitch Hedberg.” describes him perfectly. Recently John released a song with Jack Johnson, “I Wrote Mr. Tamborine Man”. We talk about the power of lyrics and the first line, songwriting, and even types of writing songs. In 2018 his studio album Scarecrow was released and hailed as transparent and truthful which is a constant in his life. Be sure to visit www.johncraigiemusic.com for upcoming tour dates including his #KeepItWarm tour and new music, and follow him at @johncraigie. Matt Urmy talks about his perspective of songwriting, entrepreneurship, and owning your career. When Urmy was four years old his family moved to Nashville, TN, where he lived until college. He graduated with a BA in creative writing from UT, Knoxville, and an MFA in poetry from Spalding University in Louisville, KY. He has also studied traditional healing practices with the indigenous people of New Zealand, the Maori, for nearly 20 years. Aside from publishing two books of poetry (2007 & 2015), Urmy also released his debut album in 2017, Out Of The Ashes, which was produced by the late, legendary, Cowboy Jack Clement. Rolling Stone Country named Urmy as one 10 artists to watch, and The Nashville Scene called it, “…the most fascinating Nashville album of the last decade…” In 2012, Matt founded the groundbreaking software company, Artist Growth, which he ran as CEO until 2018, raising millions in venture financing and forging deals with the most iconic institutions in the music industry. He now serves as Chief Strategy Officer and has clients ranging from Universal Music Group, Vector Management, Red Light Management, Maverick, C3, Qprime, and countless other labels, artists and management companies. So in this episode, we capture what Artist Growth is and where is the platform heading for artists and an industry. The platform really is shaking up the industry and making the creator really take ownership of their career. We take a ride on the failure train and because you’re failing doesn’t mean you’re a failure, but rather it’s a learning experience for success. For everything about Artist Growth visit www.artistgrowth.com and everything about Matt at www.matturmy.com. Also, follow him at @matturmy and @artistgrowth.

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The Conversation

Big props to Belmonts, Curb College of Music for hosting the honest conversation on where women are at in having a chance for equality in music. Recorded live at Columbia Studio A, Cassadee Pope (The Voice and recording artist), Tracy Gershon (artist manager and c0-founder of Change the Conversation), and Leslie Fram (Senior Vice President of Music Strategy for CMT and co-founder of Change the Conversation) all share their feelings on where we are as a community in accepting women as equals in business and in creativity. All three women brought their unique experiences and vocations into the conversation. We start with the purpose of Change the Conversation and the numbers behind the topic at hand. The double standards against women and has it always been like this? Then looking ahead is there a chance for women to not just survive but to truly thrive within music. Change the Conversation is dedicated to improving the environment for women in music. Their goal is to become obsolete and “to never have this conversation again." In an attempt to turn their frustration into action and help level the playing field, Leslie Fram, Tracy Gershon, and Beverly Keel formed Change the Conversation in late 2014. Cassadee Pope; singer, song-writer, and musician was the lead vocalist of the rock band Hey Monday then embarked on a season of The Voice and became the first female winner. Her debut solo country album, Frame by Frame, was a top 10 Billboard 200 record and it debuted at No. 1 on Top Country Albums, with 43,000 copies sold in its first week. Today she is releasing new music and working on new material. Recently, she's released "One More Red Light" and "Take You Home" that you can download on Spotify or Apple Music. Be sure to go to for tour dates, merch, and music and follow here @cassadeepope. Leslie Fram serves as Senior Vice President of Music Strategy and Talent for CMT, overseeing all music integration within the CMT brand, including original programs, CMT and music video airplay across all screens. Respected for both her hit intuition and hard-driving passion for music, Fram was the first woman to receive the TJ Martell Award in recognition of outstanding performance in the music industry in 2000 and was presented with the NARAS-Atlanta Chapter Heroes Award for her outstanding contributions to music and the music community. In 2009, she was honored as a Lifetime Achievement Inductee in the Georgia Radio Hall of Fame. She will also be one of the recipients of the very first ‘Innovation In Music’ Awards held June 6th in Nashville. Leslie currently serves on the Board of the Academy of Country Music, the Recording Academy/ Nashville Chapter, Board of Directors for The Sports Authority, the Nashville Film Festival Music Committee, and an alum of Leadership Music Class of 2014. Fram is an avid philanthropist and spokesperson, using her voice to support numerous non-profits and causes. Tracy Gershon is a noted music business professional with a wide-ranging career discovering, nurturing and developing influential talent as an A&R and music publishing executive as well as an artist manager. During her A&R career at Warner Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment, Gershon signed award-winning platinum-seller Miranda Lambert and help guide the careers of Blake Shelton, Randy Travis, Gretchen Wilson, The Wreckers, Faith Hill , Big & Rich and Lori McKenna. As a creative executive at both Sony Music Publishing and EMI Music, she helped to secure hundreds of cuts while working with writers like Harlan Howard, Gretchen Peters, Tom Douglas, Carlene Carter, and The Mavericks. As head of the Nashville office of Warner Music Publishing, she inked award-winning artist Kacey Musgraves. While at Sony Music she served for two years as an on-air judge and associate producer on the USA Network's "Nashville Star." Gershon recently helmed the A&R department at indie label Rounder Records, where she signed or worked with artists as diverse as Blackberry Smoke, Sean McConnell, and Jerry Douglas. Tracy, in association with Redlight Management, oversees the career of Country artist, Natalie Stovall. Gershon is also consulting the country division for Atlas Music publishing, as well as running One Riot Music. Gershon has been the recipient of numerous awards, including Nashville Business Journal's "Woman in Music City" in 2015, 2016 ,2017, and 2018 as well as Nashville Lifestyles Magazine's top ten "Women In Business" award in 2016.