The Zak Kuhn Show

Kylie Morgan is the quintessential Nashville artist. Signed to Universal Music Group Nashville, she is getting ready to release a new EP titled P.S. and is about to take a brand new song to country radio. We talk about opening for Jason Derulo, performing her first stadium show, writing songs with Walker Hayes and so much more. Kylie's energy is infectious. She'll make you wish you were a country...

By the age of nine, Jessi Alexander had taught herself how to play Elvis Presley’s “Love Me Tender” by ear on her grandparent’s piano. By the time she was 11 years old, she was already writing her own songs. Alexander first gained prominence thanks to her work on Miley Cyrus’ “The Climb.” Throughout her career, she’s collaborated with multiple artists including Luke Combs, Tim McGraw, Miranda Lamb...

Signed to Warner Music Nashville and Disney Music Groups’s Buena Vista Records, band members Dawson Anderson and Emma Salute boast stage credits worldwide, from Stagecoach Festival in their home state of California to C2C: Country to Country Festival in London. The duo just got off the road with Gary LeVox and are currently in the studio recording new music with Nashville legend Dann Huff. Want to...

Kevin "Chief" Zaruk and Simon Tikhman are the co-founders of The Core Entertainment. They were introduced by their lawyer and Michael Rapino suggested they team up. We get the story and talk about their unique approach to artist management. These two will make you wish you worked in the music biz. If you're already in the biz, this episode will make you wish you had a partnership as great as this...

Kim Taylor is the director of Real Sound Money Fest, the first bitcoin music festival. She booked the lineup and put the whole event together, which is happening in Miami April 9th. It is closing out the Bitcoin 2022 conference which starts April 6th. Use the code "MOON22" to get 10% off passes for the event.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our...

Mike Errico is a New York-based recording artist, writer and teaches songwriting at universities including Yale, Wesleyan, The New School, and NYU’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music. He has a new book out called Music, Lyrics, and Life: A Field Guide for the Advancing Songwriter. We talk about his day to day in the classroom, what makes a modern pop hit, why songwriters should study wheel m...

Cody Alan is one of country music's biggest radio personalities. Keith Urban says he "makes Ryan Seacrest look like a slacker". As host and executive producer of CMT Radio, millions of listeners hear Cody daily on more than 200 radio stations. On CMT's flagship music show, Hot 20 Countdown, his face can also be seen in 90 million homes. He has interviewed everyone from Taylor Swift to Blake Shelto...

Panos Panay is the Co-President of The Recording Academy. Prior to his current role he served as the Senior Vice President for Global Strategy & Innovation at Berklee College of Music. A serial entrepreneur, he is the founder of Sonicbids ; the founder of Berklee's Institute for Creative Entrepreneurship; and co-founder of the Open Music Initiative. His first book “Two Beats Ahead: What Musical Mi...

Legendary ZZ Top guitarist Billy F. Gibbons is on the podcast this week and he has a new solo album, "Hardware." We discuss the early days of ZZ Top, what is was like opening for Jimi Hendrix, what inspires him today and where he likes to eat in Nashville. Here is a man who doesn't need much of an introduction. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our...

Marshall Sandman is the Managing Partner of Animal Capital, a venture firm that was co-founded with manager Michael Gruen and some of the biggest influencers on the planet. With the help of fellow co-founders Josh Richards, Griffin Johnson and Noah Beck, Animal Capital has access to over 100 million consumers across the world and is investing in some of the most innovative companies today. We talk...

Kristian Bush is a singer, songwriter, record producer and one half of the country music duo Sugarland. In this episode we talk about how Kristian prepared for his TED Talk, how he wrote the opening lines to Sugarland's biggest hits, why he recently started writing musicals and so much more. I guarantee you'll learn something from Kristian. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz...

For over twenty years Bruce Pomahac was the Director of Music for The Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization in New York City, where he helmed the restorations and supervised new editions of OKLAHOMA!, CAROUSEL, ALLEGRO, SOUTH PACIFIC, THE KING & I, PIPE DREAM, CINDERELLA, THE SOUND OF MUSIC, ONCE UPON A MATTRESS, ANNIE GET YOUR GUN and many others. He is currently Musical Consultant for Concord Mus...

Dustin Boyer is a partner at Venture Music, one of the top digital marketing firms in Nashville. We talk about how to grow a fanbase, TikTok strategy, what most artists get wrong when it comes to marketing and so much more. Dustin is all about the analytics and he is one of the sharpest guys in the biz. This episode is going to make you grateful that there are people as knowledgeable as Dustin wor...

Carter Faith is a Nashville songwriter and artist on the rise. We discuss her path as an artist, why she moved to Nashville and her songwriting process. For Carter, it's all about the song but she loves being on the stage and she recently opened up for The Avett Brothers. In Nashville, Carter constantly comes up in conversation. The industry is rallying behind her and she has been featured on play...

Pete Ganbarg is a true record man. He is a 2-time Grammy winning executive who is the President of A&R at Atlantic Records. He learned the business from Clive Davis and over the past 30+ years has played a major role in the careers of some of the most influential artists in the world. We talk about his involvement with Santana, Train, Hamilton, BRELAND and so much. We also talk about his podcast R...

Charlie Davis is the founder of Preffy, a brand new marketing platform that was recently acquired by Nashville based company Songfluencer. Preffy is changing the way artists engage with fans by allowing them to host competitions to see who can get the most likes on a social media video, that features their song. We talk about how Charlie built the platform, the future on influencer marketing, why...

Ted Chapin is the former president of the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization. He has lead Broadway productions and revivals, including “South Pacific” Broadway revival, “The King and I,” “Oklahoma!” and “Carousel.” He also approved television productions such as “The Sound of Music Live!” on NBC and “Cinderella,” starring Whitney Houston and Brandy, on ABC. We talk about how he got the job, the im...

BEXAR (pronounced ‘bear’) is comprised of Chris Ryan (lead vocals/guitar) and Logan Turner (vocals/banjo/guitar). The band self-released their debut EP in 2018 and have accumulated over 25 million streams to date. Now signed to Warner Music Nashville, BEXAR has been in the studio working on a new EP with producers Ross Copperman and Luke Laird. The project will be released September 3rd. The group...

All the way from Boston, Lori McKenna is one of Nashville’s most in demand songwriters. From Girl Crush to Humble & Kind to Always Remember Us This Way, Lori has written some of country’s biggest hits. Not only do we talk about her guitars and songwriting process, but we get into how she wrote the hits, why she loves living in Boston and what you need if you want to invite her to your show. Lori M...

Mary Rahmani is Triller’s global head of partnerships and TikTok’s first U.S. music executive. Most recently she launched Moon Projects, a new agency specializing in creator curation; content strategy for short-form, vertical platforms; and a label imprint in partnership with Republic Records. Not only does Mary talk about the current landscape of platforms like Triller and TikTok, she also goes i...

Brian Benson is the Vice President of Booking at AC Entertainment. He has been with the company for over 20 years and is perhaps best known for booking Bonnaroo. We talk about how he builds the lineup, discovers new bands, booked Paul McCartney and so much more.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for adverti...

Seaforth are a musical duo consisting of Tom Jordan and Mitch Thompson. They are signed to Sony Nashville and are one of the most talked about rising acts in Music City. Their current radio single is called "Breakups" which they co-wrote with Liz Rose and Cameron Bedell. We talk about moving from Australia to Nashville, how the duo signed their label deal, the worst foods they have ever eaten and...

Emily Oberman is a New York-based multidisciplinary designer and a partner at design studio Pentagram. She is responsible for the recent rebrand of Warner Chappell and Warner Records. Emily is also the creator of the SNL opening credits, the current DC Comics logo, the Late Night With Jimmy Fallon logo, and so many more. We talk about her process, what goes into building a brand, how to get the mo...

Tenille Townes is doing country music her way. The rising star is getting ready to release new music and hit the road with Brothers Osborne. We talk about her new single "Girl Who Didn't Care", the one year anniversary of her album The Lemonade Stand, how she shared a stage with Shania Twain at 9 years old and so much more.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for informa...

On episode 72, Kevin Griffin and Brandt Wood talk with Zak about how they created the iconic Tennessee music festival Pilgrimage. We also get into what fans can expect from the upcoming 2021 event, why the VIP package is worth it, Kevin Griffin's secret smoothies recipe and so much more.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of...