10 Questions with ... Phyllis Stark

NAME:Phyllis Stark TITLE:VP of A&R WEB:www.robbinsnashville.com & www.myspace.com/robbinsnashville COMPANY:Robbins Nashville BORN:Philadelphia RAISED:By wolves (Does everyone say that?)

Please outline your radio career so far:

Prior to joining Robbins Nashville in April 2007, I spent 17 years at Billboard Information Group where I served in various capacities including senior radio editor, managing editor and, for the last six years, Nashville bureau chief for the weekly magazines Billboard and Billboard Radio Monitor, as well as the Web sites Billboard.com, Billboard.biz and BillboardRadioMonitor.com. In addition to my job at Robbins Nashville, I also still author a twice-monthly column for Music Row magazine titled "The Stark Truth."

1) Well, congratulations on the start-up at Robbins Nashville. Have you had time to look up yet? Seriously, you started with just yourself and then built the staff, artist roster etc., correct? What was all of that like and how is it to have people to talk to now?

Yes, it's been hectic, to say the least. In just nine months we've hired a killer staff, signed six amazing artists to our Nashville roster and charted our first single. I feel really good about our progress.

2) Rockie Lynne is your debut artist. Was that something that was decided way in advance and can you share any other signings with us?

Rockie was the first artist we spoke with seriously about joining our roster and, ultimately, the first artist we signed, and I couldn't be more pleased about that. He is the only one of our artists who had a previous label deal (not counting a couple who had major label development deals), but we felt like his potential in this format had not even begun to be tapped. He has a very loyal fan base, and he made so many friends at radio in the last go-round. We're building on that every week.

In addition to a full court press on Rockie's single, "I Can't Believe It's Me," we'll be introducing a new artist, Joshua Stevens, this spring. We're really excited about his debut single, "Rock & Roll and Pensacola." It's a summer-themed, lost love song and is going to sound so great on the airwaves as we head into the spring and summer.

3) You were at Billboard for what, 30-35 years? Seriously, a long time- and you did a great job, with a stellar reputation as a journalist- why the switch to the records side?

Dang, I'm not THAT old! It was 17 years. And thanks for all the butt-kissing compliments.

The switch to the record side was unexpected, even for me. But label president Cory Robbins recruited me to run his Nashville operations, and the more we talked, the more excited I got about it. It finally got to the point where I couldn't NOT do it. It was just such a great opportunity at such a successful, well-established company.

Interestingly, after my appointment to this job was announced, I got tons of notes and calls from people at record labels all saying the same thing: "Welcome to the dark side." I found that hilarious.

4) How was the transition into that world? I know that we all think we can do Joe Galante's job, but seriously, did it all come pretty natural? What kind of things are challenging?

I obviously have a learning curve having never worked on this side of the business before, but part of the appeal of this job for me is that I love new challenges and learning new things. Working through contracts and things like that have been more challenging, obviously, than the music side. I've learned everything takes longer than I think it's going to take.

5) Rockie Lynne has a very fine single embarking on the charts. It's also tight, tough and lean out there- how do you like your chances?

I'd never be foolish enough to make a prediction in public. What I do know for sure, though, is that we have a fantastic single that people respond to so passionately. Many new fans are already requesting copies to play at their upcoming weddings. If radio will play it enough for their listeners to actually hear and become familiar with it, it's absolutely a hit. I'm certain about that.

6) How long has the set-up been going on- from the volume of Industry Snaps that you have sent in, you certainly have visited a lot of stations.

Rockie's been visiting stations for about a month and a half with our promotion team. He's been to about 50 so far. We've seen over and over that when stations bring listeners in to hear him play in the conference room during those visits, every one of those listeners walks away a fan, so keeping him in front of those people is key.

7) Tell us about your all-star staff and how you came about tapping these fine folks.

Tony Benken is our VP of promotion and has already earned the nickname "Captain Awesome." Tony hired a wonderful team that includes Joe Redmond in the Northeast, Anne Weaver in the Southwest and Heather Propper in the Southeast.

We also have Ashlee Rodgers, who is our A&R and promotion coordinator and that cheerful voice you hear on the phone. And our Nashville team is supplemented by our whole New York staff, most of whom are extremely involved day-to-day in the Nashville operations and have been invaluable.

8) And how is everyone getting along- would someone like, maybe Benken, say Phyllis is fun to work with? And I know what he said about the last folks he worked for- ha!

You'd have to ask Captain Awesome if I'm fun to work with, but he's the one with the disco ball and the margarita machine in his office. (Well, OK, the disco ball anyway.) "Take your dog to work day" was my idea, though.

9) Coming from the print world, you must have a lot of ideas about setting up a project. Tell us how big of a role that sources like MySpace, FaceBook, iTunes etc. are playing with the set up of an artist.

I'm not giving away any company secrets, but I will tell you MySpace has proved to be an invaluable little A&R tool. For every full demo package I get in the mail, I probably get 10 e-mails with MySpace links to hear artists' music.

10) Aside from my job at AllAccess, what would be your dream job?

I think I'm in it. Helping make artists' dreams come true is a pretty incredible gig.

1) Are you upset that you can't go to everyone else's showcases and events and drink and eat free food like when you were at Billboard?

I can't?

2) What is the best book you have ever read about music?

I still like "Hit Men" by Fredric Dannen. Other faves include Bruce Haring's "Off The Charts," Laurence Leamer's "Three Chords and the Truth," Bruce Feiler's "Dreaming Out Loud" and Jimmy Bowen's "Rough Mix."

3) So, Hollywood is getting ready to start filming the Phyllis Stark story. Who would you want to play you?

I'm thinking Laura Dern. She has my eyebrows.

4) What are you jamming to in your iPod right now?

Besides my own artists, my current fave is K.T. Tunstall's "Drastic Fantastic." I also can't stop listening to the new Trisha Yearwood album. It's amazing.