President/CEO of Adkins Publicity, a full-service PR firm representing artists and brands across entertainment fields. Adkins has worked with entertainment titans, including Dolly Parton, Katy Perry, Kid Rock, and Kenny Rogers.

Erin is the Founder and CEO of Olivia Management. As a manager, she led the Secret Sisters to a Grammy nom in 2018. She also teaches at Belmont University and recently launched Educate by Olivia Management.

Kari serves as Regions Bank an Entertainment Relationship Manager/Industry Specialist. She is involved in industry organizations SOURCE, Copyright Society of the South, the Troubadour Society, and Grammy Next.

Beth serves as ASCAP’s Associate Creative Director where she maintains relationships with high-profile songwriters and artists, while continuing to develop new talent. Beth also coordinate ASCAP’s involvement in Pilgrimage, CMA Fest, and more.

After development deals with Dreamworks and RCA records, Sam teamed up with Ruby Amanfu to form the duo “Sam & Ruby”. He used the momentum and success of “Sam & Ruby” to launch a music publishing company called Artist Revolution.

John served as head of Christian music at Spotify where he oversaw the programming of the genre worldwide. He previously served as VP of Promotion for Curb Records for 16 years. He began his career in NY in promotion and marketing at labels.

After working in country radio for over 10 years at the Jersey Shore, Lexi moved to Nashville to enjoy all of the things that this great city has to offer and join the WSM team. You can hear Lexi on WSM weekday afternoons from 3-6pm/ct.

Alongside styling for album covers, red carpets, live performances, and creating custom pieces for her clients, Payton is also the best selling author of the book “Hang Up Your Hang Ups: A Radical Guide to Healing Yourself Through Personal Style.”

Jaida Dreyer wrote nine acclaimed tunes for the hit television series ‘Nashville’. Jaida celebrated a multi-week number one writing Luke Bryan’s, “Home Alone Tonight” featuring Little Big Town’s, Karen Fairchild. 

Steve is a 30+ year veteran of the music business in New York, Los Angeles and Nashville. As a tour manager, Steve worked with LeAnn Rimes, Ryan Adams, Jewel and others before becoming a partner at the management firm The Fitzgerald-Hartley Co.

Michael Fogarty serves as a Senior Account Manager at Crowd Surf, a digital marketing, publicity and management firm, where he has developed and executed creative and innovative global marketing promotions for an extensive client roster.

Holly Gleason is an author and artist development consultant. She has done work with Kenny Chesney, Lee Ann Womack, Brooks & Dunn, among many. She also published Woman Walk The Line: How The Women of Country Music Changed Our Lives.

Teea Goans is helping to preserve the Traditional Country sound that is part of our American heritage as a regular cast member on RFD-TV’s “Country’s Family Reunion”, numerous appearances on the Grand Ole Opry and “Larry’s Country Diner”.

Rachel is an entertainment and music industry attorney with Stephanie Taylor Law, PLLC. She is an experienced litigator, who has represented artists, musicians, producers, record labels, managers, and entertainment entrepreneurs.

Dave is the lead engineer at Dark Horse Recording. He has recorded dozens of bands on Sony, Capitol, Gotee, and Tooth and Nail including Ashley Judd, OneRepublic, Relient K, Matthew West, Jeremy Camp and For King and Country.

Dan Hays is the Executive Director of the Franklin Theatre. a historic venue which reopened in 2011 after an $8.5 million renovation. Dan was also the Executive Director of the International Bluegrass Music Association for 22 years.

Beverly Keel is a professor and chair of MTSU’s Department of Recording Industry, a music industry consultant and an award-winning music journalist whose work has appeared in People, Parade, The Tennessean, and other publications.

Chris Lisle has worked in roles including Production
Designer, Lighting Designer, Production Manager, and Show Producer. Some of Chris’ clients include: Jason Aldean, Miranda Lambert, One Republic, Sugarland, Keith Urban and more.

Katrina serves as Director of Digital Marketing for Opry Entertainment, the media and entertainment division of Ryman Hospitality Properties which includes the Grand Ole Opry, Ryman Auditorium, 650 AM WSM and Ole Red brands.

Autumn McEntire has been writing songs professionally for over 15 years. Country artists across the genre have recorded her music including Reba McEntire, Ashley McBryde, Danielle Peck, Warner Brother’s artist Walker County.

Raised in North Carolina, Emily is a songwriter with Green Hills Music Group. Emily has planted her roots as an entertainer including finding herself on stage opening for Lee Brice, Dustin Lynch, Cole Swindell, Maddie & Tae, Scotty McCreery and more.

Chancie signed her first major publishing deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing and shortly after, landed her first major cut on the “Duck The Halls: A Robertson Family Christmas” album called “Hairy Christmas” featuring Luke Bryan.

Jamie brings decades of entertainment business experience to Dark Horse Institute, having formerly served as Owner and President of Common Grounds Entertainment, and VP of Strategic Partnerships at Black Fuel Music/220 Entertainment.

Jerrod first burst onto the scene in 2010 with his #1 smash “Lover, Lover”. From ACM and CMA Award noms, to touring with some of Country’s hottest acts, Jerrod continues to make his mark by pushing boundaries while nodding to the legends before him.

Kathy launched Atticus Brand Partners after 20 years in the music industry as the first music agent to specialize in Brand Partnerships at WME. Previously, she served as Bridgestone Arena’s Director of Marketing and Sponsorships.

Devon O’Day’s broadcast career includes WSM, Mix92.9 Nashville, and more. As a songwriter she has had songs recorded by Lee Ann Womack, Hank Williams, Jr, Pam Tillis, Neal McCoy, Trace Adkins, and a #1 for George Strait called “The Big One”.

Corinne Pavlicko is the CEO and Founder of &ME. She combined her love of music, marketing, & tech to create a virtual meet & greet platform for artists and fans. She was previously the Marketing Director at a software development agency.

Jordan serves as Director of Artist Relations & Programming Strategy for Opry Entertainment Group which owns & operates the most famous performing venues in Country Music (the Grand Ole Opry, Ryman Auditorium) and other various properties.

Dennis has created hits in Pop, Rock, Country, Gospel, Blues and Bluegrass as well as commercial music for radio, network television and movies. A small sampling of his credits include Johnny Cash, Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris, and Charlie Daniels.

Judy Rodman is an award winning vocal coach based in Nashville, Tennessee.  She developed her voice-maxing/voice-protecting training method ‘Power, Path & Performance’ and created several courses in it, including ‘Singing in the Studio’.

For the past 8 years, Ben opened for artists such as Hunter Hayes, Jerrod Niemann, Luke Combs, Kane Brown, Jon Pardi, The Band Perry, Craig Morgan, Dustin Lynch, among many others. He is also the spokesperson for Accu-Guide Guide.

Brian Smith owns Leadership Artists LLC, a full service artist management and consulting company. He manages the business and creative affairs of artists and to maximize their reach, talents and revenue streams.

Shane Tarleton currently serves as the Senior Vice President of Artist Development at Warner Music Nashville. Tarleton oversees marketing, brand sponsorship, digital interactive and creative services for the complete roster of artists.

Marcus serves as the booking manager for the 6 Puckett’s Grocery locations throughout Tennessee where he books #1 hit songwriters and local  rising artists. Whybrew has also joined some of the top acts in country music today on stage.

Sally Williams leads a team responsible for all artist relations, programming, booking, and show production across Ryman Hospitality Properties’ portfolio of entertainment assets including the Grand Ole Opry House, Ryman Auditorium, Ole Red.

Jules Wortman serves as President of Wortman Works Media & Marketing. Wortman is a public relations and marketing strategist who has developed many national campaigns for record labels, brands, music, special events, and more.