Women in Business Luncheon
Women in Business Luncheon
Presented by
This month Women in Business brings you an exciting program, featuring a panel of music industry executives and insiders. We're excited to have Kerri Edwards, owner of KP Entertainment and artist manager for Luke Bryan and others, and Kristen Williams, the vice president of promotion at Warner Music Nashville, who has worked with country music’s hottest current artists - including Blake Shelton, Brett Eldredge, Cole Swindell, Hunter Hayes, Ashley Monroe, Brandy Clark, The Railers and newcomer William Michael Morgan.
Panelists
Kerri Edwards
Founder & Artist Manager
KP Entertainment
www.kpentertainment.co
Originally from Alum Creek, WV, this industry vet began her career nearly 20 years ago. Following graduation from Lipscomb University in 1993, Kerri spent 7 years in A&R at Arista Records working with acts such as Brooks & Dunn, Alan Jackson, Brad Paisley, and Diamond Rio. In 2000, she moved into the publishing world, spending the next 5 years as Creative Director for Deston Songs & Murrah Music. Along the way, Kerri also worked for 4 years as Production Coordinator for Mark Bright Productions.
In 2005, Kerri Edwards launched KP Entertainment to manage Luke Bryan, who was an unsigned up-and-comer at the time. Kerri helped Luke secure a deal with Capitol Records, and his first single, “All My Friends Say,” went to radio in 2007. Since the debut of his first album in 2007, Luke Bryan has placed 15 singles at No. 1 and sold nearly 8 million albums with 30 million digital tracks from his five studio albums. He has been named Entertainer of the Year by both the Academy of Country Music (twice) and the Country Music Association. Luke recently debuted his KILL THE LIGHTS album at #1 on both the Billboard Top 200 and Top Country Albums charts. This is Luke’s third consecutive album to debut at #1 on the Billboard Top 200. In 2008, KP Entertainment partnered with Coran Capshaw and Red Light Management to continue fostering Luke’s career together.
KP Entertainment has continued its growth over the past several years by signing Nashville native Kelleigh Bannen. Kelleigh has opened for Cole Swindell, Little Big Town, Luke Bryan, Lee Brice, and others. The roster also includes Warner Music Nashville recording artist and ACM New Artist of The Year winner, Cole Swindell. Following his platinum debut self-titled album, Swindell released his sophomore album, You Should Be Here, on May 6, 2016.. With 3.3 million tracks and over 430,000 albums sold to date, Swindell’s debut LP features four back to back number one singles—gold certified “Let Me See Ya Girl,” and platinum-certified singles “Hope You Get Lonely Tonight,” “Ain’t Worth the Whiskey,” and “Chilin’ It.” In 2015, Swindell was named to Billboard’s Top New Country Artist, Swindell was awarded CMA’s “Triple Play Award” in 2015 for having (at least) three No. 1 songs in the past twelve months, and was the only performer to claim the title in 2015. He was also nominated for CMA Awards' “New Artist of the Year” and named Music Row’s Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year in 2014.
KP Entertainment’s management roster also includes newcomers Chancie Neal, Jon Langston and CB30. Langston recently opened for eight dates on Chase Rice’s “Back to College Tour,” and two sold out nights at Wild Bills in Duluth, GA opening for Thomas Rhett. DJ Rock is another addition to the KPE roster, he has played festivals such as Tortuga and Off The Rails. Rock has opened for Eric Church, Blake Shelton, Sam Hunt, Cole Swindell, Justin Moore, and Luke Bryan just to name a few.
Other joint ventures of KP Entertainment include a publishing arm with Sony/ATV that houses writers Michael Carter, Cole Swindell, Chancie Neal, Jay Clementi, and Jody Stevens. Notable cuts include #1 gold single “Get Me Some of That” by Thomas Rhett, #1 platinum hit “Roller Coaster” by Luke Bryan, #1 platinum single “Hope You Get Lonely Tonight” by Cole Swindell, as well as others. KP Entertainment also works with songwriter Mike Mobley, through a joint venture with Kobalt.
Kristen Williams
Vice President of National Promotion
Warner Music Nashville
www.warnermusicnashville.com
Kristen Williams is a graduate of the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph, Minn. A Minnesota native, she moved to Nashville at the age of 19 to continue her education at Belmont University in pursuit of a music business degree. During her time at Belmont University, she interned in the Promotion department at DreamCatcher Entertainment and worked with acts like Kenny Rogers and Diamond Rio. At 23 years old, Kristen took on a full-time position as the Manager of Secondary Promotion at Warner Bros. Nashville. Over the last 11 years, she has been promoted through the department, taking on regional promotion in the Midwest and Northeast, followed by overseeing the regions in the position of National Director of Promotion. Most recently, in 2014, Kristen was promoted to the position of VP, National Promotion at Warner Music Nashville and has overseen the promotion efforts of some of country music's hottest current artists - including Blake Shelton, Brett Eldredge, Cole Swindell, Hunter Hayes, Ashley Monroe, Brandy Clark, The Railers and newcomer William Michael Morgan.
When not in the office or on the road actively promoting Warner Music Nashville’s roster, Kristen is a wife to Bo Williams, and the mother of two very active children (Mckenna, age 8 and Eli, age 6). She spends most of her limited free time with her family at the lake, on the baseball field or at the campground.
Event Sponsor:
2016 Linen Sponsor:
Date and Time
Tuesday May 24, 2016
11:30 AM - 1:00 PM CDT
Tuesday, May 24
11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Location
Brentwood United Methodist Church
309 Franklin Road
Brentwood, TN 37027
Fees/Admission
$30 - Chamber Members (Includes $5 late fee)
$50 - Guests (Includes $5 late fee)
Registration is non-refundable and cannot be transferred to future events
Website
Contact Information
Suzie Lind
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