The Zak Kuhn Show

Jennifer Turner is the CEO of the Tennessee Performing Art Center (TPAC). We talk about how she got the gig, what goes into organizing the season, the future of theater in Nashville and so much more. The 2021 - 2022 season has already been announced and tickets are going fast! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal dat...

Robyn Ottolini describes herself as the Eminem of country music. No joke. In 2020, Ottolini's career took off with the viral TikTok hit “F-150”. Since then, she signed with Warner Music Nashville, recently announced a brand new tour and has been releasing music non stop. Despite recently making her debut trip to Music City, she is one of Nashville most talked about rising artists. Hosted by Simple...

John Marks has been the Global Head of Country at Spotify since 2015. He moved to Nashville in 2010 to work at SiriusXM, where he became Head of Country Music Programming. During his tenure at SiriusXM, he brought The Highway to prominence and helped bring artists like Florida Georgia Line, Old Dominion, Kelsea Ballerini, Chase Rice, and Russell Dickerson to a national audience. Marks recently dec...

Steve Lassiter got his start in the music business as a production assistant at Sound Seventy Productions in 1977 at the age of 19. He went on to have a 20 year career at APA where he became Partner / Sr VP and then Co-Head of Worldwide Music, representing artists like Travis Tritt, The Charlie Daniels Band, Crystal Gayle, Lee Greenwood, Little Texas, Kansas, Jackyl, The Gatlin Brothers, and many...

Kelleigh Bannen is the host of The Kelleigh Bannen Show and Today's Country on Apple Music Radio. She is also a longtime artist herself. We talk about what goes into creating her radio shows, how she preps for interviews, when she is coming out with new music and so much more.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal da...

Tracy Gershon is a leader in the entertainment industry and music business. She has worked with and signed Miranda Lambert, Kacey Musgraves, The Mavericks, Brandi Carlile and many others. We talk about her rise in the industry, her brand new publishing company, the best country music albums and so much more. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our co...

Adam Lowenberg is the Chief Marketing Officer at Primary Wave. He is responsible for some of the most compelling and unique marketing concepts within the modern music industry. Prior to being at Primary Wave, Lowenberg was Sr. VP of Marketing for Island Def Jam and served as Sr. VP of Marketing at Virgin Records. We talk about his rise in the industry, the 15th anniversary of Primary Wave, how he...

Adam C. Sansiveri is Head of the Nashville Private Client Group at AllianceBernstein. He is also a Broadway producer, film financier, tech entrepreneur, philanthropist, restaurateur and a renewable energy investor Adam started his career as a classical vocalist and has performed at the Verbier Festival, the Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall, and Tanglewood. We talk about the growth of Nashville,  ...

Sibling trio Track45 is one of Nashville's most buzzed about acts. Consisting of Jenna, Ben, and KK Johnson, Track45 fill a NEED in the genre for a fresh, harmony-driven band set to explode on behalf of Country Radio, streaming, and social media platforms. The siblings on their own have written songs for artists including Lee Brice, Charlie Puth, Justin Timberlake, Weezer, Dierks Bentley, HARDY an...

Seth Godin is an institution. He is a teacher, author, entrepreneur and you will have a hard time finding a modern business book that does not reference his work at least once. We go on a wild ride hearing Seth's thoughts on music, building a fan base, how to pick yourself, and so much more. Seth's newest book The Practice is out now. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com f...

Ian Munsick is that guy. He one of Nashville most buzzed about artists and signed with Warner Nashville in 2020. Munsick is co-managed by his wife and legendary manager of George Strait, Erv Woolsey. We talk about his rise in the industry, his musical upbringing, where to get the best western shirts and so much more. His new album Coyote Cry is out now.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. S...

Kurt Deutsch is the Senior Vice President for Theatrical & Catalog Development at Warner/Chappell. He is also the President and founder of Sh-K-Boom and Ghostlight Records. Kurt has worked on some of the most iconic cast albums from the last 20 years including: In The Heights, Book of Mormon, The Last Five Years, Pippin, 13 and many more. Kurt is an entrepreneur, a pioneer and a leader in the Broa...

Sarah Trahern is the CEO of the Country Music Association (CMA). We dive deep into her journey to Music City, how the CMA is innovating around the world today, the recovery of the music industry and so much more. This episode is simply a must listen.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Joseph Hudak is the senior editor at Rolling Stone's Nashville office, which covers the country and Americana genres. Prior to joining the iconic title in 2014, he was the managing editor of Country Weekly magazine and spent 12 years at TV Guide magazine as an editor, dissecting and writing about television programming. Joseph is a pioneer in country music journalism and we talk all about it.  Hos...

Ken Davenport is a Tony Award-winning Broadway producer whose credits include Once On This Island (Tony Award), The Play that Goes Wrong, Groundhog Day, Godspell, Kinky Boots (Tony Award), 13 The Musical and so much more. We talk about the return of live events, what makes a perfect logo, how he knew Ariana Grande would become a massive star and so much more.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz com...

Jordan Burger is the head of Madison House Nashville. He has worked with artists such as Oasis, Squeeze, Kid Rock, Kevin Costner, Southern Avenue, Sugar Ray, Los Lonely Boys, Rob Zombie, Marc Cohn, American Idol Winners [David Cook, Nick Fradiani, and Kris Allen] and many more. We talk about the current booking landscape, why so many music industry legends come out of Emory University, the secret...

Michael Barra & Stephen Snedden are the lead producers behind the Florida Georgia Line inspired musical "May We All". The show plans on making its debut in June of 2022 and will be part of the upcoming Broadway at TPAC series in Nashville. We talk about the show, the upcoming national tour, the future of Broadway and so much more. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for i...

David Kells is the the Executive Vice President at Bridgestone Arena and the Nashville Predators. He oversees operations for the entire venue and has been named twice to Billboard's Country Power Player list. We talk about how the venue is reopening, the best place to watch a show, why the venue community is so collaborative and so much more. Kells even mentions the best Bridgestone snack! Tune in...

Jody Williams might as well be a Nashville institution. Born and raised in Nashville, he started his career in the mail room at BMI. He then climbed the ranks to work at publishing companies like Charlie Daniels’ Hat Band Music, Screen-Gems Music, Chappell Music, Tree Publishing and MCA. Williams has championed talent such as Alison Krauss, Brooks & Dunn, Maren Morris, Eric Church, Natalie Hemby,...

Martha Earls is the longtime manager of country superstar Kane Brown. Prior to that, she had careers at companies like Warner Chappell, BMG and co-founded the Company that would eventually become Big Machine Music.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Chris Swanson is the co-founder of Secretly Group, which includes independent record labels Dead Oceans, Jagjaguwar, The Numero Group and Secretly Canadian, as well as music publisher Secretly Publishing. Secretly Group artists include Bon Iver, Phoebe Bridgers, The War On Drugs, Mitski and many more. He is also one of hollywoods top music supervisors, most recently working on Motley Crue's biopic...

Mike Deestro is the head writer for The Bobby Bones Show. He has been with Bobby since the very beginning and has been part of his incredible rise in Country Radio. In addition, Mike is a movie/Hollywood expert. We talk about it all!  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Mat Devine is the head of Music Partnerships for Cameo. Prior to that he created and fronted the alternative rock band Kill Hannah, which was signed to Atlantic Records. He also starred in the Spider-Man Musical on Broadway. We talk all about it!  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Ben Vaughn is the President/CEO of Warner/Chappell Nashville. Prior to that, he was the youngest executive to head a major publisher in Nashville, as EVP & GM at EMI. Vaughn started out running an independent music publishing company at the age of 20. Today, he works with some of the biggest songwriters and artists in music including Thomas Rhett, Rhett Akins, Jesse Frasure, Nicolle Galyon, Liz Ro...

Alex Hall is one of Nashville's fastest rising guitar slingers. He new EP is titled 6 Strings and features some of Country music's biggest artists like Vince Gill, Brad Paisley, John Osborne, Tenille Townes and others. Hall is signed to Shane McAnally's Monument Records. Check out Alex's new project here . Check out the Armchair Expert podcast with Keith Urban here . Read more about Alex's new pro...