Industry Bios
Bobby Rymer (Nashville, TN) – Partner and General Manager at Writer’s Den Music Group. Bobby has been fortunate to have been in this business over 35 years and have worked with a wide range of writers/artists from Emmylou Harris to Garth Brooks to Mark Knopfler to Gillian Welch to Craig Wiseman, and some very talented folks that you've probably never heard of as well. He’s looking for Country/Americana/Bluegrass/Blues.
Brandon Perdue (Nashville, TN) - A&R and Creative Director at Riser House Entertainment/ The Song Factory Music Publishing Company. Brandon works with a wide variety of artists/writers both in country and pop, including hit writer and artist, Jon Pardi, and Michael Tenpenny. Previously Brandon was Creative Director at Catch This Music in Nashville and a Grammy-winning engineer.
Butch Baker (Nashville, TN) - Mojo Music and Media. Butch got his start in 1979 as a touring writer and artist before finding his way to publishing. He’s worked at Nashville Horipro for 12 years where he oversaw all operations, now he leads Mojo's Nashville office's. He is looking for hit writers and hit songs.
Christina Wiltshire (Nashville, TN) - Director of A&R at Warner Chappell Music Nashville. Originally from a Maryland suburb of Washington DC, Wiltshire grew up living and breathing country music. She studied Hospitality Management at The University of South Carolina from 2010-2013. Upon graduation, Christina moved straight to Nashville to begin internships with Warner Music Nashville and Cornman Music. The publishing world quickly stood out as her dream career path due to the proximity to the songs and their creators. In 2014, she accepted her first position as Creative Coordinator for Patrick Joseph Music owned by legendary music publisher, Pat Higdon. After two years at PJM, she spent 3 years on the Sea Gayle Music creative team and in 2019, became Director of A&R at Warner Chappell Music Nashville where she pitches songs, manages writer calendars and actively seeks new talent.
Ciara Shortridge (Nashville, TN) – Senior Creative Director of Country Publishing at Curb at Word Music Publishing. Ciara recently joined Curb | Word Music Publishing as Senior Creative Director of Country Publishing. Prior to her new position, she held the role of A&R Manager and served as the main creative point of Disney Music Group’s Nashville-based publishing office. In her role, she was responsible for signing and developing songwriters, placing multi genre catalog, and connecting Disney internal and international collaboration opportunities with the Nashville community. Ciara’s career at DMG began in September 2009 after graduating from Belmont University’s Mike Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business and included previous roles as A&R Coordinator and A&R Representative.
Eric Hurt (Nashville, TN) - VP of A&R at EMPIRE. Eric’s accomplishments span creative hit writer/artist collaborations, working on national advertising campaigns, supporting in the development of artist's careers such as up and comer Willie Jones, as well as creating private organizations/clubs that bring together Nashville's creative community of Grammy-winning/nominated writers/producers and industry professionals. He is currently looking for artists to sign as he’s growing the Nashville division for EMPIRE.
Gabi Kochlani (Los Angeles, CA) - A&R at Universal Music Group. Gabi began in the A&R department at Elektra Records working with artists such as Bjork, Missy Elliott and Third Eye Blind. Following Elektra, she worked at several top music management companies before launching her own company, GK Entertainment. After finding success on her own, Gabi landed herself in numerous positions working as A&R for Adam Anders (executive producer of the show GLEE), EMI Music Publishing, and Bump Into Genius Music – Warner/Chappell (just to name a few) before her current position at Universal Music. She’s worked with an impressive lineup of artists, producers, and songwriters including Goldfinger, Izzy Stradlin of Guns N Roses, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Miley Cyrus, Mikal Blue, Ben Burgess, and Tone. She is looking for great songs for pop, electronic and urban artists and great talent to sign to the roster.
Jake Simon (Los Angeles, CA) - Director/A&R at Hollywood Records. Over the course of his career, Jake has had a hand in placements with artists including Chance the Rapper, H.E.R., Matoma/Noah Cyrus, Gryffin/Illenium/Daya, Eminem and more. Have signed Mike & Keys (Nipsey Hussle, Buddy, Wale), Craig Balmoris (SZA, H.E.R., Dr. Dre) and Aron Forbes (Billie Eilish, Halsey, Donna Missal, King Princess, BANKS, Charlotte OC). He is looking for pop artists on the label side, writers and producers in the pop/urban space on the publishing side.
Josh Saxe (Nashville, TN) – Senior Creative Director at Endurance Music Group. Josh is a graduate of Belmont University's Curb College where he studied Music Business with a concentration in Music Publishing. He is currently looking for hit songs for both country and pop genres.
Kendall Lettow (Nashville, TN) - Creative Manager at Peermusic Nashville. Kendall comes from a background as Creative Director at MV2 Entertainment, THiS Music, and Kobalt Music Publishing.
Kirby Smith (Nashville, TN) – Creative Director at WinSongs Music Publishing. Kirby works for Chris DeStefano's publishing company, WinSongs Music Publishing. They have had had hits with Carrie Underwood, Morgan Evans, Dan + Shay, Kelly Clarkson, and so on. They are currently in the process of A&R’ing Chase Fouraker’s upcoming album as well as handing the publishing for a handful of Nashville writers. He is always looking for promising talent, new writers, and connections for current writers in LA.
Noreen Prunier (Nashville, TN & Los Angeles, CA) – A&R at Wide Eyed Entertainment. Noreen is currently working under the leadership of powerhouse Beka Tishcker, Noreen works with clients including Julia Michaels, Becky G, Di Genius (Rihanna, Drake, Cardi B, Post Malone), Noel Zancanella (OneRepublic, Taylor Swift, Ellie Goulding), Aldae (Justin Bieber, Demi Lovato, Nicki Minaj), etc. Graduate of Belmont University, she was formerly Creative Director for Grammy-nominated producer busbee's publishing and label venture with Warner Records where she signed pop/R&B artists Lindsey Lomis and worked closely with busbee and pop top 40 songwriters like JP Clark (Bryce Vine, Lukas Graham, Blink 182, etc.) In addition, she was a key component to building and cultivating the Nashville pop community to create an ecosystem for non country artists to break out of Nashville, but in June will be making the move to Los Angeles.
Olaf Thomsen (West Hollywood, CA) – A&R/Licensing at O Major Songs. Olaf has placed tracks for major artists (#2 hit “Trophies” by Drake). He currently handles A&R for Oceanic Tradewinds mgmt including major label acts Samantha J (Sony) and Shöckface. He handles A&R, licensing, and strategy for writers and artists including Boy Meets Girl (#1 hit “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” by Whitney Houston), Laura Marano (2019 Teen Choice Awards winning pop star and actor), and handles worldwide publishing for KYLE (Atlantic Records, #1 hit “iSpy”). He is looking for current pop/urban producers; great pop/urban/rock artists and writers.
Ralph Torrefranca (Los Angeles, CA) – Director of A&R at Angry Mob Music. Ralph found his passion working directly with the artists early on – helping to launch and grow their careers while sharing a mutual love of songwriting and music. He currently oversees the development of the songwriters, producers and artists for Angry Mob Music Publishing whose roster includes Jake Scott (Aloe Blacc, Jason Mraz), producer Bus (Ty Dolla $ign feat. Kendrick Lamar), Ben Browning (of Cut Copy), producer Rune Westberg (Adam Lambert, Colbie Caillat), dePresno (Sony/Columbia), Sleeplust and Body Language (OM Records). In addition to A&R, Ralph is an active songwriter himself and manages the career of Brooklyn based artist Cape Francis (Sleep Well Records). He is looking for talented songwriters & topliners.
Roxy King (Nashville, TN) - Creative/A&R team at Concord Music Publishing. In her role there, she is responsible for setting up co-writing sessions, pitching songs for artist placement, catalog management and building/strengthening the Concord presence in the Nashville music community. Growing up, she was constantly singing, playing guitar and writing music. Roxy was introduced to the business side of the industry while attending the Durango Songwriters Expo in her early teen years and began diving in. She went on to graduate Summa Cum Laude from NYU with her degree in Music Business and took her first job in Publishing Operations at Songtrust in New York City. After a weekend trip down to Nashville, she realized the unparalleled strength of the songwriting/publishing community there and knew it was where she needed to be. Roxy's passion for music and the creative process is reflected in her dedication to songwriters and her desire to elevate the careers of everyone she works with.
Tricia Fontneau-Ramos (Burbank, CA) – A&R at Disney Music Publishing. Tricia is on the A&R team at Disney Music Publishing and Hollywood Records. She has used her experience to scout new talent and expand the reach of Disney’s developing roster of writers, producers and artists. She is looking for producers that work beyond just the pop space.