Industry Ink: APA Nashville, IBMA, Rock Ridge Music

APA Holds Happy Hour For Hill Entertainment

APA Nashville hosted colleagues from Hill Entertainment Group on Thursday (July 28) for an APA Nashville Happy Hour.

“Our new space at One Nashville Place gives us the opportunity to host our creative friends and partners for some one on one time with our growing staff of Music, TV & Film and Branding agents in the Nashville office” said Steve Lassiter, Partner and Head of Concerts for APA Nashville.

IBMA Final Round Nominees

Pictured (L-R):  IBMA Executive Director Paul Schiminger, Earls of Leicester’s Shawn Camp and Jerry Douglas, and Kyle Cantrell, host of SiriusXM’s Bluegrass Junction channel.

The final round nominees for the International Bluegrass Music Awards were announced earlier this week. The Earls of Leicester lead the pack with eight total nominations, earning three as a group and five for individual band members.

The IBMA Awards take place Sept. 29 at Raleigh’s Duke Energy Center.

Rock Ridge Music Signs Matt Hires, Granville Automatic To Management Deals

Matt Hires, Granville Automatic

Nashville-based Rock Ridge Music, which has both label and management divisions, has signed two artists to management deals: alternative singer-songwriter Matt Hires and Americana duo Granville Automatic.  They join a management roster that already includes such artists as Christian Lopez, Tony Lucca, Ike Reilly, JD Eicher, Matt Brown, Kyle Cox, and Riley Etheridge Jr.

“We’re thrilled to be adding both Matt Hires and Granville Automatic to the RRM family,” says Rock Ridge Music President Cynthia Cochrane. “We’ve been a fan of Matt’s for a long time and his new album exhibits so much depth and pure talent; it’s the perfect evolution in an already strong catalog and we’re excited to help him shape the next phase of his career. The addition of Granville Automatic brings us two individuals who are equally talented as writers as they are performers. We were incredibly impressed by Elizabeth Elkins and Vanessa Olivarez’s passion, intelligence and unique approach to storytelling.”