Nashville Business Journal Announces 2016 Women in Music City Winners

NASHVILLE, TN--(Marketwired - July 28, 2016) - The Nashville Business Journal has named its 2016 Women in Music City winners. These 30 winners will be awarded, along with the earlier announced artist of the Year, Reba McEntire and Breakout Artist of the Year, Jana Kramer, at a red carpet awards event on Tuesday, September, 27 at the Omni Nashville Hotel. Ella Beckham will perform.

The awards honor women who are helping to shape Nashville's nearly $10 billion music industry and bring together both the business and music industries, combing these two major driving forces.

NBJ Publisher Kate Herman said of the awards, "What women in the music business are doing deserves to be highlighted and honored, not only because of what they bring to the industry, but also to show tangible examples of success for other women entering the industry. All of our winners of this program -- from artists to business leaders -- are essential pieces of Nashville's growing economy and vibe."

The awards program stemmed from a mentoring event held in April 2014. A challenge arose finding enough women from the music industry to fill all the mentorship requests. It seemed like a natural step to marry the music and business industries together, and the Women in Music City Awards was born.

The list of honorees includes: Tatum Allsep, Music Health Alliance; Holly Bell, Skyway Studios, Dance Network, Nashville-Acess and TNTX; Julie Boos, Flood, Bumstead, McCready & McCarthy; Brandi Brammer, Creative Artists Agency; Debbie Carroll, MusiCares; Sarah Cates, Belmont University; Erin Crawford, The Nielsen Co.; Beville Dunkerley, Rolling Stone Country; Tiffany Dunn, Loeb & Loeb; Kerri Edwards, KP Entertainment; Leslie Fram, Viacom/CMT; Dawn Gates, Universal Music Group; Tracy Gershon, Rounder Records and Redlight Management; Amanda Hale, Vector Management; Lisa Harless, Regions Bank; Ali Harnell, AEG Live; Linda Edell Howard, Adams and Reese LLP; Kelly Rich Kautz, Big Machine Label Group; Beverly Keel, Middle Tennessee State University; Gina Keltner, Grand Ole Opry; Chandra LaPlume, Taillight; Erika Wollam Nichols, The Bluebird Café; Risha Rodgers, William Morris Endeavor; Jill Schmidt, Wildhorse Saloon; Alison Smith, BMI; Sarah Trahern, Country Music Association; Ellen Bligh Truley, SESAC; Marcie Allen Van Mol, MAC Presents; Elizabeth "Betsy" Williams, Universal Music Group; and Sally Williams, Ryman Auditorium. All of this year's honorees will be featured in both a Nashville Business Journal printed program and online at NashvilleBusinessJournal.com.

To assemble our list of winners, nominations were taken from the public. The final of selection of honorees was determined by an independent panel of judges made up of the following: Lori Feldman (Warner Bros. Records); Camille Hackney (Atlantic Records); Cara Lewis (Cara Lewis Group); Natalia Nastaskin (United Talent Agency); and Jacqueline Saturn (Harvest Records).

Nashville-based design build firm Van Mol Restoration and Nielsen Entertainment are gold sponsors of the awards dinner. Loeb & Loeb, William Morris Endeavor and SESAC are silver sponsors. KGV Studio is video partner of the event. All winners will be highlighted in both a printed Nashville Business Journal special publication and online at NashvilleBusinessJournal.com.

About the Nashville Business Journal (NBJ)
The Nashville Business Journal, one of 43 country-wide publications with American City Business Journals, is a division of Advanced Media Publications. NBJ is a media outlet that provides local business news and connections through our platforms: print, online, mobile and events. The Nashville Business Journal believes that growing the strength of women business leaders is essential to our community's success. NBJ holds multiple award programs and events for women including the Women of Influence Awards and Mentoring Monday. NBJ's parent company, American City Business Journals, recently launched Bizwomen.com, a national website for women business leaders. The Nashville Business Journal is published every Friday and can be viewed online daily at NashvilleBusinessJournal.com.