In our latest roundup, we present Music Row stars of tomorrow whose dedication and effort make their superiors look good.
Lucky for them, this feature—and $28.95—will get them an Erewhon Kefir Matcha Cloud Smoothie, whatever that means.
Lauren “LT” Thomas
VP, Promotion & Artist Development, Columbia Nashville
Among Thomas’ claims to fame: going viral for tossing a drink in the air (and onto some folks) to celebrate
Old Dominion’s first Group of the Year
ACM and having
Carrie Underwood put out her hair when it caught fire. She’s worked on all of
Luke Combs’ 18 consecutive #1 airplay singles and helped take
Megan Moroney’s debut single, “Tennessee Orange,” to #1 at Country radio. She’s lately been advancing
Beyoncé’s “TEXAS HOLD ’EM” at the format—with an all-female promo team. LT knows every word to the rap in
TLC’s “Waterfalls.” We’re mostly known for
pratfalls.
Patrick Worstell
Director of Artist Development, Warner Music Nashville
Worstell remembers well his first soup-to-nuts experience helping create and release an album, something he still relishes. “When the passion of the artist, management, the agency and the WMN team translates into a room of fans cheering, chanting, crying and dancing… ” he marvels. “There’s something about that indescribable transfer of energy that no other industry can replicate.” He’s presently working that magic for music by
Cody Johnson,
Avery Anna,
Chase Matthew and
Drew Parker. Worstell’s wife is a third-grade teacher. We’re the kid in the corner.
Charlene Bryant
SVP, Business Development & Strategy, UMG Nashville
After five years at the helm of her 2018-founded
Riveter Management, Ohio native Bryant moved to Nashville “in hopes of shifting culture on a larger scale” and joined UMGN in 2023. Now, she’s fulfilling her dream of spearheading a label with UMGN’s launch of
Silver Wings Records.
She’s focused on first signing
Hueston, who debuted 3/4 with “Living Fast.” “Hueston, we have a problem—and I can’t wait for the world to hear it,” Bryant quips. Every Sunday, she binge-watches
Tubi Originals. Our favorite is
Deadly Cheer Mom.
Chris Loss
VP of Streaming, BBR Music Group/BMG Nashville
For Loss, nothing tops working with Nashville’s own
Jelly Roll, who enjoyed global streaming success in country, pop and rock with 2023’s “Need a Favor.” As we speak, the BBR VP is orchestrating the DSP fortunes of worldwide multiformat smash “Save Me,” by Jelly Roll &
Lainey Wilson,
People’s Choice Award winners for Male and Female Country Artist of the Year. During his college days, this martial arts practitioner and native of Niagara Falls, New York, was a tour guide at the falls. Among
our claims to fame: forcible ejection from a Maid of the Mist vessel.
Nikki Boon
Manager, Neon Coast
Boon was proud to witness client
Kane Brown’s historic 2023
Fenway Park show, when he became the first Black artist to singlehandedly headline the storied Boston diamond. His collab with
Carin León is currently bridging country and Latin music. Boon was also thrilled when a DM from her favorite band,
Nightly, led to her managing the alt-pop trio, which recently joined
Weverse and will tour in Asia this year. She moved to Nashville after being the first Dr Pepper Tuition Giveaway winner to use a basketball-style two-handed chest pass. We got nothin’.
Brett Saliba
Agent, UTA
Saliba loves to mix work and family; having his wife and kids backstage or a client and their family over for dinner has inspired his daughters to explore their own creativity. He’s particularly excited about new artists
Stephen Wilson Jr., whose debut,
Son of Dad, was named “one of the best albums of 2023” by
Rolling Stone, and
Dylan Gossett, whose “Coal” went viral last year, amassing over 5m views on
TikTok and 1.6m+ streams on
Spotify. Saliba’s been in full body paint twice, as
Darth Maul and the genie from
Aladdin. He declined to elaborate.
Taylor Manns
Artist Manager, The Core Entertainment
Manns is part of the team that helped
Nate Smith dominate Country radio with “World on Fire,” which spent 10 weeks atop the chart and tied
Morgan Wallen’s “You Proof” for the longest run at #1. Having completed the bulk of his headlining tour, Smith will go out with Wallen in April, release his EP
Through the Smoke on 4/5 and play
Stagecoach 4/28. The career of Bakersfield native (and
Idol alum)
Dillon James is also being nurtured by Manns, who grew up on a farm in Ohio and had a pet deer named Bambi. We’ve been farming, too; our one plant is named Thumper.
Raines Edenfield
A&R/Artist Manager, River House Artists
Edenfield has come a long way since his intern days at RHA, from which he’s climbed to A&R manager and artist manager for
Zach Seabaugh and
John Harvie. Meanwhile, on the publishing roster is up-and-coming pop act
Knox, whom he introduced to RHA and helped grow early on; his single “Not The 1975” is now Top 25 at Pop radio. Edenfield is preparing for Seabaugh’s first (sold-out) headlining tour this spring, with the track “Christmas Lights” going to AAA radio in April. Georgia native Edenfield’s first concert was the
Jonas Brothers.
We’ve been banned from Jo Bros shows.
Jarrod Holley
Managing Partner, Make Wake Artists
Holley revels in the triumphs of his roster, which includes seeing
Cooper Alan sell out 55 North American shows in 2023,
Drew Parker earn his first
Grammy nod and
Colby Acuff premiere at the
Ryman before a sold-out crowd. Today the Clevelander is busy shepherding the launch of Alan’s album bow, readying Parker and Acuff for
Luke Combs’ 2024 stadium tour and masterminding
Jackie Lee’s debut full-length after a four-year hiatus. Holley’s first foray into the music biz was booking clubs tours for emo and rock bands via
MySpace. We were never in anyone’s Top 8.
