The Bobby Bones Show - Luke Bryan’s Manager and the Keys to her Nashville Success.

Episode Date: January 23, 2023

Join Kerri Edwards with host Buzz Knight on Takin A Walk-Music History on foot.Kerri is one of Nashville's most successful artist managers, managing the careers of country artists Luke Bryan and Cole ...Swindell as Founder of KP Entertainment.KPE has grown into a diverse client roster that focuses on artist development. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Starting point is 00:02:32 Taking a walk with Buzz Night. Well, welcome to the Take and a Walk podcast. I'm your host Buzz Night and I am thrilled with another in our series of Nashville shows with someone who is made and continues to make a little bit of impact on Music Row. Carrie Edwards is the founder and president of management firm, KP Entertainment, and she manages the careers, among others, of country stars Luke Bryan and Cole Swindow. and I'm so grateful to be taking a walk with Carrie. Carrie, thank you for having us here. What an intro. That makes me overwhelmed just hearing an input like that, to be honest. Thank you for having me.
Starting point is 00:03:16 Well, do you have a sense of how important a figure you are in the business to females in the Nashville music workforce? Well, that was a very good question because I think it really hit me in the last probably three or four years. because I just put my head down and go and do my deal and I love what I do and I love music. So honestly, I had never really truly stopped and thought of it that way. But then I started, I've now that person that you walk in the room and you're looking around and people are like, hey, hi, ha, ha, but then I'm like, oh no, I don't know who that is. I've become that person, which makes me mad. But it's also a compliment, in my opinion, because I remember doing that, you know, to people that I looked up to. admired and like followed what they did and and the first few times that happened to me personally
Starting point is 00:04:09 I mean it did kind of freak me out in the moment because I'm like I've always known everybody how do I not know who this is but then you know that's kind of how I put it in perspective and that's one of the things that made me realize like oh gosh and then and then just like I do try to do stuff and trying to do even more in the community and outreach and doing some coffees and some sit downs and you know with people that reach out and and and just inquire and say they have questions and they want to, you know, get to know me and that kind of thing. I try not to ignore those. I think that's an important part of how we keep this legacy going in general for country music, you know. So I try to stop and look at that at times. And that
Starting point is 00:04:48 has helped me also be like, okay, you got more people. But you're being humble. You're being humble about it. Well, I'm being truthful. It really is how I look at it. Yeah. Well, so what is the state in your mind of females in the music industry? in terms of leadership and management from your perspective today. And how do you also view the state of female artists in country music? Right. I think it's, you know, that's obviously two separate questions. But the first one being, you know, with our leadership, I do, I am, I'm proud for both, actually, the artist level and the executive level of women in this role.
Starting point is 00:05:31 But, you know, I do feel like when I'm, I'm proud for both, actually, the artist level and the executive level of women in this role. I first started, which I mean, I guess I technically have done management, probably 15 years. I've worked with Luke Bryan for 20, but in the first part, I did more publishing and some other areas of the business. But when I truly stepped in the management thing, I mean, there was probably two or three women, period, that were even doing that. And then even management, it wasn't even just about the women. I feel like there weren't, there are many more managers in general now than there was then male or female.
Starting point is 00:06:06 Because I feel like back then when I look back at it there was probably 10 or so and those people managed everybody and men and women but now I feel there's a lot more diversity even in the day-to-day management roles in general and I fight there's a lot more people out there doing
Starting point is 00:06:25 it and that doors have opened for them in general. There's many day-to-day managers then? I don't not Not really that I remember. I mean, I worked at a record label for like seven years. But you had a manager. You had a team at the management companies,
Starting point is 00:06:42 but I don't know if they were. There just seemed to be a lot more day-to-days in management and like different tiers than there was then, which I think is a good thing for our industry now. So the trials and tribulations, though, as a female working your way through, were there ever these dark moments where you didn't necessarily have someone to go ask advice for as you were trying to work your way through the business?
Starting point is 00:07:12 I mean, yes, I didn't. I think I had, but I had men that were there that stepped up to if I ever had a question. I mean, I had a handful. I mean, Marion Craft was always an amazing, you know, female leader for management side for me, even from the very beginning. I mean, I took her to lunch immediately when I was even considering doing this, when I considered it and probably wasn't really ready for the role
Starting point is 00:07:38 or even understood what the role really was going to be about at that time. But I believed in my artist, and I believed in what they were trying to do. So I didn't let that completely stop me because I did see something in referring to Luke, Brian, I did see something in him that I knew that I had to just figure out. And there were definitely hiccups along the way that made me stop and go, oh my gosh, you do have so much more to learn, you know.
Starting point is 00:08:04 But I also was determined to not fail him. But is the treatment of females the way it should be these days in the business? I just think that's a personal opinion. Like I don't feel like it has put up walls for me personally. Now, are there walls? Yes, there's walls. I mean, in our industry and many industries. I mean, I don't think it's just about the music industry,
Starting point is 00:08:32 but I don't think, I don't think you can let that block your mind and block your drive, or you just keep freaking doing it. And I just kept freaking trying to figure it out and doing it. But I mean, I had a few examples. Even, you know, then female executives, you know, there was Connie Bradley at ASCab, there was Donna Hilley at Sony, because that was my world a little bit more, my world was publishing and that side of things when I first got into it, you know, but they were some of the few. There was another publishing lady that was amazing Karen Conrad in the business.
Starting point is 00:09:07 You know, there was definitely a handful of those leaders. But, you know, at that time, as far as like label heads and that thing, you know, it was definitely more men driven for sure. But I don't feel like, I don't ever feel like I stopped and went, oh, they're not letting me do that because I'm a female. I never, I never, I really never did view it that way. You just plowed ahead. I plowed and I tripped and I rumbled and tumbled and fell. Sounds like a song. Maybe so.
Starting point is 00:09:37 I'm not sure he would do go so well, but we'll see. You could work the magic somehow, right? Yeah. I mean, you know, I do. I think there's been an amazing growth and awareness for all of us, you know. And I do think it does, it has turned the corner. and we have a long way to go, of course. But again, I don't think it's just about country music industry.
Starting point is 00:10:01 I think it's just as a whole. And I do think that there's been a lot of focus on it, you know, and change. And we'll keep changing, hopefully. So you've been with this guy, what's his name, Luke Billin? No, Brian. I'm sorry, I see his name all over the place. Oh, Luke Bryant. We've gotten that before, don't worry.
Starting point is 00:10:28 You've been with this gentleman a few years. Yes. And what a ride. It's actually weird to say out loud how long that's been. How many years? I mean, we're going on 20 when I first met him. Again, I started with him in the publishing world and was helping him book song rights and do that side of thing. So he had an artist thing happening, but he didn't have a record doing.
Starting point is 00:10:55 already of that when we first met. So I count those years because that's like, you know, I was still working with him and doing stuff. So there was probably five years of that before like it was like an official handshake. You should be my manager moment thing. So what was that first moment when you guys met? Where? Yeah, who was at the publishing. It was. He had gotten signed. He had just moved to town. He got signed to a writing deal pretty quickly compared to a lot of people. I think he just kind of met the right people at the right time and he got a writing deal and then I was hired at that company to be like a creative director so I'd like to pitch the songs and and work on combining songwriting opportunities with other writers and that side of things. So I met him. It was called
Starting point is 00:11:42 Murrah Music and Roger Murrah was the owner of that company, Hall of Fame songwriter. And I got hired to work there and that's kind of where we first. I mean, Matt, I remember meeting him in the kitchen of that building. It was a house on music room. And what was that first encounter like? I mean, and what came in you? Very Luke like, because he's very, you know, engaging and loud and like, you're not going to, you know, but I mean, that was being walked around the building to like meet everybody. But, you know, I don't know why I remember that being in the kitchen. But for some reason, I do.
Starting point is 00:12:15 I mean, I was fortunate thanks to you and Luke and your team to be at one of those famous Super Bowl parties. and thank you. It's one of the best experiences. But you're not going to escape the presence of Luke. You're not. No, no. He can't help himself. But it's like, it's so great.
Starting point is 00:12:35 It's like this immediate like, oh my God, this guy's not only an unbelievable performer, but it's a pretty freaking cool guy too. Yeah, he is. And he really is the guy I met in the kitchen. It's the same guy. He really is the same guy. I can't explain it. Like, how does that happen?
Starting point is 00:12:52 happen. It hasn't affected him in a way that's, you know, I guess what gross. I don't know what the word is. But I think, you know, between his family and just different people in his life, it's like, you know, I think everybody's kept it pretty real. To keep it level. Yeah. Yeah. But isn't that a function of the authenticity of Nashville also? I think so. I love Nashville. I love our people. I mean, it's real. good. Yeah, it's real. I'm glad. I'm glad I ended up here. Where would you have ended up if you didn't end up here? You're from West Virginia, right? I'm from West Virginia. I'm from West Virginia. I probably would still be in West Virginia. I mean, truthfully, my parents kicked me out the curve to go explore life. What would you be doing if you weren't doing this? I really don't know. I mean, initially, I thought I was going to be a school teacher. Oh, that would have been horrible. I love school teachers, but for me personally, yeah. I would have been like, ah.
Starting point is 00:13:52 So, yeah. Do you ever stop and think and go, like, what has happened? Wow. It's funny you say that because yesterday, when my employees was having a birthday, and we tried to post on our social media when somebody's birthday or something. So I was in the studio with another artist, but in the meantime, I was trying to scroll to find some photos, you know, to send in to post. And when I was scrolling, I stopped.
Starting point is 00:14:18 and another person that works with me was at the studio doing content, and I looked at him and I went, oh my gosh, sometimes I don't, it's just hitting me right now as I'm scrolling these photos, how much happens in my life in a week's time? And it, like, I was so grateful in that moment of like, wow, like scrolling through here, we've done a festival in Mexico, we've done a farm tour, we've done Vegas shows, we've done, you know, Cole's done. I mean, like, it's just, it's crazy to, like, think about. It's really, it's really a blessing, but it's, and then, you know, then I'm scrolling, like, my kids going to, both of them going off to college and leaving me. Like, all this has happened in the last 10 months. It's, like,
Starting point is 00:15:03 a lot. It's overwhelming in a great way, though. I mean, we've signed songwriters. We've done, I mean, it's crazy to look at your content. Have you ever done that? Like, scrolled through your photos and just been like, yeah, I sort of go, you know, what happened for these? three weeks. It was a blank. I'm just kidding. I'm just... No. I don't believe that. So the story of Cole is pretty incredible.
Starting point is 00:15:27 Epic, yes. He was a merchandising guy, right? He was. He and Luke met. They had gone to the same college and were actually in the same fraternity. Luke was a few years ahead of him, but when Luke would go back to play frat parties, Cole would show up, you know, and he
Starting point is 00:15:45 was just super intrigued by that Luke did that and he asked a lot of questions and I'm telling their version of the story. I wasn't there at that time. But, you know, Luke just says he was always asking questions and like just intrigued by, you know, everything I was doing and Cole will tell this too.
Starting point is 00:16:01 Like, I think it was, I don't know what year it was, but Luke was doing a party and Luke got excited. He was like, hey, I wrote this song and he and Cole tells the version of like, that was the first time it hit Cole that you could write the songs. You know, because he would always do
Starting point is 00:16:17 Cole would go out and do some little club stuff, him and this other guy, but they would do covers, of course. So Cole says it never occurred to me that I should figure out how to write my own songs until Luke was saying that that day. So they go super way back, and Luke just really wanted to, Cole just became more and more serious about it. And Luke wanted to try to help them. So Luke calls me one day and just says, hey, you know that Cole guy? like, yeah? He goes, because Cole would show up at the show. It was like, even past the fraternity stuff, he would come to like these, you know, we had a bar in Atlanta, Peachtree Tavern and just different places. And he would always come to him. If it was drivable, Cole would be there, like, always. And so I kind of knew him even then, you know, at that point. But, you know, he said, he wants to move to town. Do you have a job for him? And I mean, I've told the story before, but I always laugh because I was like, no, I mean, first of all, I'm not sure I've ever gotten paid yet. And like, so. I don't know. I'm supposed to pay somebody else. So Luke's like, okay, and he hangs up, and then it hit me later.
Starting point is 00:17:25 Like, I mean, pretty maybe 30 minutes after that. I'm like, I called him back. I go, well, you do need somebody to sell your T-shirts when we go out on the, you know, this next time. And we were literally about to leave. And Luke called, he got excited. He goes, I'll call you back. And he hangs up and calls him. And Cole got in his car and drove up that day.
Starting point is 00:17:45 And he was with us from then on. Oh, that's the best. Isn't that great? It was so great. But, you know, to give Cole way credit that he deserved, I mean, he took that, you know, I mean, he took that job and he did the job of selling shirts. But he didn't just sell shirts. He learned so much out there, you know, watching shows happen. And, you know, he would watch, you know, buses roll up and trucks unload.
Starting point is 00:18:13 And, I mean, even then, I mean, Luke didn't even have a hit then, you know, so we were. and who knows what, fans. And I remember, you know, finally getting to take a bus one time, and we got so excited. I think we were opening for either Brooks and Dunn or Darks. I'm trying to remember which one was the first bus moment. Because it's always a big deal. I have a photo of it, actually, whenever the first bus actually got to have it. It was just for one night.
Starting point is 00:18:37 We didn't get, it got taken away from us real quick after that. But my whole point of that is that, Cole, you know, he was doing more than selling shirts. He watched it all happen. He watched shows. He watched interaction. He watched things that worked and didn't work from stage. Because he was the only one at the front of the stage that could actually watch the show. Because he was set up facing the stage to sell the shirts most of the time. So he got all the fun stuff. He got to witness all of it and good and bad, the fights and all of it that happened in bars. But you are the example of someone who through your career has really worked your way through every possible ladder, starting as an intern, and then working your way through that onto your next work within the publishing side and everything. For someone who is maybe listening to this who is considering this business or any business, what advice you? Would you give them a work on your way through every ladder so you learn a lot? Well, I truly feel like I look back at those and I was truly just as excited about being able to be an intern. Once I realized what interning in the music industry, I walked into that building.
Starting point is 00:20:00 My first internship was Ayrista Records. I walked into that. I did not know what it even meant. I did not know what I was walking in to do. I met a lady named Denise Nichols who did radio promotions at the time at a show in West Virginia, and that's truly how I even got the internship. I did not even know what it meant. I walked in there going, I'm interning here.
Starting point is 00:20:23 I don't know what I'm going to be doing. But the minute I walked into that building, and Aresda Records at the time, hadn't been around that long. I mean, you know, the history is Brooks and Don, Pam Tillis, Diamond, Rio, Alan Jackson. I mean, it was pretty an amazing building to walk in on and immediately learn the process from. You know, I mean, it still blows my mind that I ever got to be a part of that. But I was hooked immediately. I was sitting there watching all the stuff. The office was probably under 20 people. So you kind of heard and saw it all, even when you weren't supposed to, you know, because we were kind of in a tight little half of a hallway of offices. And I, I, I,
Starting point is 00:21:07 And I was under Tim Dubois ran Aresda Records and Mike Dungan. There was a guy Alan Butler. He was very well known in the industry then. And, I mean, just the fact that I learned from those people who were great at their jobs, but they were just great people. And at the end of the day, I just think being a great person is, I mean, you can win tenfold, in my opinion, you know, approaching it that way. But going back to your original question about advice, I mean, I just try to encourage people to, like, just be patient with it all. Because I feel like in our rushed and more and more society of everything happening in the second and you're tired of it here and you've got to move on and all that.
Starting point is 00:21:54 But, like, if you could just stop and, like, I remember telling a friend that moved here and got in the business and they got a great job in publishing, but then immediately was get another offer within months to go. to a different publisher and then the next thing I know that guy was calling me back, he's like, hey, this label reached out. I mean, this all was happening within like a two-year period. And I finally just stopped and I said, hey, I said at some point, you have to stay somewhere where you can make a difference. You're moving around too fast. Don't chase the money. Do not chase the money. Stay somewhere and make some difference. Then move. Because then you'll be even worth more because you've already made an imprint on something somewhere else. So that's kind of advice, I guess, for me right now, a little thing that I've been on in my little head of, I guess,
Starting point is 00:22:45 this younger generation of like, hey, don't just be patient. It's going to happen. It's going to happen if you work for it. It didn't just go fall in your lap. You still have to work for it. So you're managing brands. You're managing certainly a brand in Luke Bryan. What are your sort of core principles about managing a brand when you look for opportunities, collaborations, partnerships? I really have always tried to keep it real and authentic to that specific artist, because I really think that you can see through it when it's not. And I just think that, and I think our audience is smarter than we think sometimes, and they,
Starting point is 00:23:33 you know, they can, I mean, they can tell when things are being posted from the person directly and not, you know, so do you just kind of own that it's not and go ahead and say it, you know, or do you know, so it's just that. But when you're, when I'm picking partnerships, you know, I really do think that, like for instance, I think right before you, you came in, we were talking about Lucas launching a jockey with jockey, jockey, jockey outdoors, like a clothing brand with them. And it truly just made sense because Luke is a very known outdoorsman. I mean, that was a given. You know, we have aligned with Jockey on some other pieces with Luke and just realized, you know, just their values as a company and their family owned and they're very, they're just what they stand for as a whole. And, you know, kind of that middle America thing and the whole, all of it, the heartland.
Starting point is 00:24:30 all of it just felt like it fit loop perfectly and it wasn't a stretch. You know, then we get into the business of, you go into this whole process of you're meeting with him, you're looking at the product, you're, I mean, he and I were touching and feeling it and like, no, I don't like that design and, you know, let's try that. And you're like in it. And I mean, I want to be in it. Like, if his name's going to be on it, he needs to be in it. And I think he views it that way too, you know, I mean, he takes that stuff seriously. And, you know, you walked out of that. And I mean, I remember the first time we left, that meeting with them, I was just like, this is exciting because, you know, it's really like you're
Starting point is 00:25:07 putting your name on something that you can walk away and be proud of. You know, and I think you've got to do that on all these pieces. I mean, you can take it for the money, but I think, you know, initially that, eventually that'll not go so well for you. So the ear of hearing a hit when you when you hear something, when you hear I'm clapping songs, my favorite topic. When you hear hunting and fishing and
Starting point is 00:25:38 loving every day did I get the title right? You did? Yeah, well done. It's a mouthful. Did you hear that immediately and go boom? Oh, he well he was a writer on that Luke being Luke yes because it
Starting point is 00:25:55 I mean, who is I mean, you can't scream anything more authentic than that song for him. I mean, he smiles all the time. He's loving every day. He really does. He wakes up. He really has very few bad days, which is a feat for anybody, you know. So, I mean, that title was, it couldn't have been any more perfect.
Starting point is 00:26:19 But it also just had a message, and it also, it did what it needed to do in a song. It wasn't just about the title. know, it did fit him. And I didn't know that one. I mean, there, I mean, you know, there's been, I mean, when Cole walked in and, you know, he, he didn't even have a record deal when he came and played me chill in it. But he walked in, I knew he wanted to, he'd been, he'd been talking about pursuing the artist thing again. And when he walked in and played that demo, I mean, he and I, we actually were just talking about this like four weeks ago and on a show, but, you know, he, He played that, and his take was that I sat there with, like, my head down and didn't really make any reaction.
Starting point is 00:27:05 So he took it that I hated it, and, like, he was so uncomfortable. I think he was trying to run out the office. But I didn't even realize I was doing that. I had my head down because in my brain so much stuff was going, and I was thinking, oh, my gosh, the song is massive. and I turned it off and I was like, wow. And he's like, well, I probably hyped it. I probably, it's, you know, because he really thought I didn't like it. And I just said, Cole, stop.
Starting point is 00:27:36 I'm like, do you really want to do this artist thing? And he goes, I do. And I'm like, well, then this is the song. You know, this is the song. This, like, in my opinion, like this, you know, it was a game changing. Because it was different for, it stood out to me than anything else on the radio and that that was going on. not too far that I didn't think it would work. It was just different enough that I thought,
Starting point is 00:28:01 I mean, I can take this song and, I mean, it did everything that we hoped it would be doing when I heard it that day. But, you know, he had multiple record deals. So it was a very different story than what I experienced with Lou, because he wasn't getting offers for a record deal. And we plowed at that for a long, like a year or two,
Starting point is 00:28:24 doing showcases. In Luke's world, nobody would say no, but nobody would say yes. But with Cole and that song and what it started doing, and then XM started playing it, and then he had multiple record deals. So I was in, like, it was night and day. Like, I had never been in a position where I'm like, oh my gosh, now we got to choose who to pick. Like, the other one was like, somebody please. You know, so it's just, it's just funny how things have. Is there something, though, that you feel when you hear that song at that moment, that it's this indescribable notion that you know. It is, but it's really, it is hard to describe.
Starting point is 00:29:04 Like, I don't know how I would describe when somebody sends a song to me that I feel like works perfect for somebody that I'm working with. Hopefully you get to a point with your artist, if you're a song person, not every manager. That's not their thing. They may not be into that. I'm crazy into that. It's like I tell myself often that if I get sent a song and the moment I get sent a song and it doesn't do what it does to me right now, then that means I need to, you know, pack it up. I mean, in my opinion for me personally, like I don't like when I lose that,
Starting point is 00:29:46 maybe I never do. I hope I never do. But if that ever happens, that would be my cue to be like, all right, you're burnout. You need to go do something else. It's true. It's true. I mean, because it's easy to get burnt out sometimes, you know. But that keeps you on edge, though, in a good way, right?
Starting point is 00:30:03 To just sort of always be curious. I got in the car, I think two weeks ago with my son and my husband, and we were driving. It was a Friday, and my son happened to be in town for the weekend from school, and we were riding to go eat. And I went, guys, it has been a good week. And they're like, why? what do you mean? I'm like, I found four songs this week, four in one week that I loved. And that doesn't happen that often. And I'm like, so, and then I made them listen to them all weekend.
Starting point is 00:30:36 They were like, okay, we get it, you love this. But I'm getting chills talking about this because it really is, you know, backing up the joy of what music is, right? I mean, can you describe what music does to people? I think it's all the things, right? What was the saying for a while? All the feels? That was a hot saying a few years ago. But I just think it depends on the song and the mood and the person.
Starting point is 00:31:06 I mean, you know, what a song could do for me might do something different for you, you know, truthfully. But, I mean, but I, the couch you're sitting on when I got sent sunrise, sunburn, sunset repeat. I was jumping on that couch and I played it over and over in my office probably ten times. I had to call every one of the writers. They were like, and
Starting point is 00:31:30 I was trying to get it to Luke, but he was at a family dinner, and he wasn't answering me, and I was losing my mind, and then I was like, and I'm like, you have got to answer your phone. And then he called, he's like, what is wrong with you? I'm trying to eat dinner. And I'm like, okay, when you're done, go listen to what I see you
Starting point is 00:31:46 immediately. So those moments are so amazing. It's such joy. Yeah, yeah. I mean, Dylan Scott, I work with him as well on, he's on curb. And he, I mean, two nights ago, well, no, I'm sorry, it was last Thursday because I went on the road with him to go see his show. And he jumped on the bus. He's like, I wrote a song last night.
Starting point is 00:32:07 And I'm like, what are you waiting on? He said, you want to listen now? Well, yeah. That's just the best part. That's awesome. It is. It's so fun. So what's the roadmap for KP in the next three years?
Starting point is 00:32:23 What do you set in your sights on that you could share? Well, I have, I was fortunate enough to sign, I have a lot of sites. I have a lot of little goals, I guess, for myself. But we'll pick a couple and talk about. But I was assigned a guy named Chase Beckham. He won American Idol two years ago. and Luke is a judge on American Idol so I watch a lot of American Idol
Starting point is 00:32:53 we're at all the auditions and the tapings and it's, I mean Luke and Katie in line on Ryan put in a lot of work. They really do. It's like more than I ever ever understood was going to go into a show like that but they take it seriously, they work hard, you know, I watch you know, I'm talking hundreds of kids come through there and I'm watching their whole audition and stuff that's not even shown on TV, you know, like a lot of stuff.
Starting point is 00:33:20 But I guess it was season three or four for Luke. And he and Chase was on there. And I don't know. There was just something about him the whole time that I couldn't stop being intrigued about. And we are not like, it's very separated. I mean, as a manager, I'm in a room and I'm watching TV monitors. I'm not interacting with the contestants in any way. And the judges really kind of are in the moment.
Starting point is 00:33:45 but they're not either. Like, I mean, they keep it, you know, you can't show partiality in any way, and they don't want to ever sway anything. So they're very, you know, they do that purposely. But with him, I just, like, the whole season, I just kept commenting and like, oh, this and that and this song. Oh, my gosh, he wrote that song about himself. And, like, it's awesome.
Starting point is 00:34:03 And it, like, and then it was over, and it's over. And we come back to Nashville, and you kind of wait and decide, are you going to do another season up or not? But his stepdad called me, He found my number and called and just said, hey, would you ever consider taking a meeting with him? And again, you know, I mean, for a minute I kind of stopped. I was like, am I allowed to do that? You know, I really wasn't sure.
Starting point is 00:34:26 I didn't know if there were a rule. I mean, no one ever told me there was rules or anything to any of that, but also it was just wanting to be careful about it. You know, and so I met, I did a couple calls with him, and then he came into Nashville. He was about to move here, and he's from Southern California. and he came here and I took him and we did a couple meals and I'm like oh my gosh I mean I truly felt like I was at a point where I probably didn't need to sign another artist but I couldn't walk away from him there's just he I'm so excited about him as as an artist his his voice is amazing his songwriting blows my mind because he had never even co-written a song until like
Starting point is 00:35:10 like a year and a half ago and he moved here and like he is crushing it like when he sends me a song another another one saying it's always about the song for me always end up going back there but it's true like he has just really blown me away for as little as he's been little time as he's been doing it um so my whole point of that in a very very long way of answering that is that i am crazy excited about him and getting him to a next level kind of deal and um i i refuse totally is on that I'm going to win on getting the world to know him even more than they do. So look out for that. Dylan Scott, who I mentioned a little bit ago, he, I think we started working together two years ago.
Starting point is 00:35:56 So we've worked two songs to radio so far. Luckily, knock on wood, they've both been number one. So I didn't get fired, yay! So that's good. But he has been just a great, a well-wrote. grounded, like, I really think he's like this little hidden jewel that that people are about to really, really figure out, like, on stage, he is great, he is entertaining. He does all the things on stage. And then his, his music that he just put out a few months ago, it's just, I mean,
Starting point is 00:36:30 his streams and it's, it's clicking. So it's, I was on a mission with him too, because I do think he was, and even for me, like, I knew who he was and he had a couple hits, but I didn't know enough about him until I started working with him and now I'm like all right we got to raise we got to raise the profile on this guy because he is the he's the deal so that's a pray my my you know not to leave out anybody else obviously that I'm doing stuff with but there's some personal missions for sure some highlights yeah some highlights but they're all highlights yeah they are every day's a highlight I mean like but there's a lot of pressure I'm like gosh just people's livelihood is in your hands is stressful It's stressful.
Starting point is 00:37:11 How do you deal with that? I truly try to... I don't balance well like personal life and work life. I'm terrible. Luckily I have like really awesome kids and husband so that haven't kicked me
Starting point is 00:37:26 out of the window yet. I don't know. They really have been amazing because I can't, I can't ever shake it. I can't. Like I try to relax and I suck at it. It's terrible. It's terrible.
Starting point is 00:37:40 I don't know. I'm somehow eat up with it. I don't know. You said to me about being on the podcast, well, I hope I don't suck, will you? You didn't suck. Thank you. And you don't suck the rest of it. And it's a joy to be with you on the Taking a Walk podcast.
Starting point is 00:37:56 Thank you for having me. It means a lot. Thank you. Taking a walk with Buzz Night is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. When a group of women discover they've all. all dated the same prolific con artist. They take matters into their own hands.
Starting point is 00:38:19 I vowed. I will be his last target. He is not going to get away with this. He's going to get what he deserves. We always say that trust your girlfriends. Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe. On the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hi, I'm Bob Pittman, chairman and CEO of IHeart Media,
Starting point is 00:38:45 and I'm kicking off a brand new season of my podcast. podcast, Math and Magic, stories from the frontiers of marketing. Math and Magic takes you behind the scenes of the biggest businesses and industries while sharing insights from the smartest minds in marketing. Coming up this seasonal Math and Magic, CEO of Liquid Death, Mike Cesario. People think that creative ideas are like these light bulb moments that happen when you're in the shower. It's really like a stone sculpture.
Starting point is 00:39:10 You're constantly just chipping away and refining. Take to Interactive CEO, Strauss-Selny, and our own chief business officer, Lisa Coffey. Listen to Math and Magic on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, I'm Dr. Maya Shunker, a cognitive scientist and hosts of the podcast, a slight change of plans, a show about who we are and who we become when life makes other plans. I wish that I hadn't resisted for so long the need to change. We have to be willing to live with a kind of uncertainty that none of us likes. You can have opinions.
Starting point is 00:39:45 You can have like a strong. strong stance. And then there's your body having its own program. Listen to a slight change of plans on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. It's Financial Literacy Month and the podcast, Eating While Broke, is bringing real conversations about money, growth, and building your future. This month, hear from top streamer Zoe Spencer and venture capitalist Lakeisha Landrum Pierre as they share their journeys from starting out to leveling up. There's an economic component to communities thriving. If there's not enough money and entrepreneurship happening in communities, they failed. Listen to Eating While Broke from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

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