10 Questions with ... Shelley Hargis

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

I began as an intern at Epic Nashville in the Promotion department in my Junior year of college at MTSU. FELL IN LOVE!!!! I was eventually hired as their Promotion Coordinator, and then promoted to their Southwest Regional. When Epic and Monument were merged and many people on our staff were laid off I moved back to Nashville and was hired at a new indie label called Broken Bow Records. I was their Southwest Regional and became Co-National Director. I left BBR to go to the start-up label Midas Records as their Director of Midwest Promotion. I then left Midas to go to work with Adam Gregory. I was part of his management team as his day-to-day person. But promotion is in my blood so I ended up back in it when I came to Stoney Creek Records this past June as their Regional Promotion Manager/Midwest-Southwest. It's so great to be back in the BBR family!

1) Congrats on the move to Stoney Creek Records in June. What are you excited about with Stoney Creek in 2010?

Thank you! I couldn't BE more excited!!! It's great to be back "home" in the BBR family. I love the people and artists here and I know it's where I belong. I am overjoyed about launching this brand new sister label to BBR, Stoney Creek Records! It was so great being a part of launching BBR and now we're going to do the same thing with SCR. Ash Bowers is the REAL DEAL. He is a star! I'm so excited about him and what's to come in his career. We also have a new duo coming that I'm crazy about called Thompson Square. WOW! With these two artists, we are well on our way to having a great future for Stoney Creek!

2) What was your favorite kind of music to listen to when you were a kid and what originally attracted you to a career in music?

Growing up I loved Pop & Rock music. I loved MUSIC in general and really liked all kinds of things. Michael Jackson was HUGE in my life. I was a dancer and cheerleader all through my life, so I did MANY routines to Michael's songs. I credit him with making me love music so much. (And it KILLED me when he died.) As I got older, in my high school years, I fell in love with Country music. REBA, REBA, REBA. Wow, she is so amazing and I loved her so much! Still do!! I credit her with making me decide to devote myself to music and the industry. By the time I was in 9th or 10th grade I knew I wanted to work in the music business.

3) How did you get your start in the music business?

While going to school at MTSU and majoring in Recording Industry Management, I got lucky enough to get an Internship at Epic Records. I had no idea what I would be doing but was pumped to have the opportunity and just get my foot in the door! It ended up being in the Promotion department and Day One = LOVE. I knew that first day that I was doing what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I ended up becoming their Promotion Coordinator and then they promoted me to the Southwest Regional Promotion Manager. After that I became the Southwest Regional for Broken Bow Records, where I also became Co-National. After that I went to Midas Records to be the Director of Promotion/Midwest. When Midas closed, I worked in management for a few months for an artist named Adam Gregory whom I love dearly and believe is one of the most talented people I've ever known. It was short lived but fortunately I ended up BACK in the BBR family at Stoney Creek where I am today! And I couldn't be happier!

4) Who are two to three people that you would count as mentors along the way, either inside or outside of the business?

Jack Lemeier and Rob Dalton are two of my heroes, legendary in our industry and promo gods in my opinion. I feel so fortunate to have ended up in an internship for Epic Nashville, working under these great people. I learned SOOOOOO MUCH from them and couldn't be more thankful or grateful.

5) What do you like the best about your job? If you could eliminate one of your many duties, what would it be?

I guess what I like most about my job is the closeness to the music. I love music so much and being a Regional Promotion person I get to be so close to it from the VERY beginning. And to be part of the "Artist Development" process is AMAZING to me. Seeing your baby turn into a star, Jason Aldean, is so INCREDIBLE!! I can't even describe the feeling! And fortunately there is nothing I dislike about my job. I guess if there were one thing, it would be doing expense reports. They're just tedious!

6) You've worked for both a major label and independents. What do you think are some pros and cons of both?

I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to do both. Both were/are great. As for the pros of a major label, there comes a sense of "credibility" with a major label name. They also have the luxury of typically having more staff members, and having at least one artist with some name value to fall back on. In my opinion the cons are that there's a lot of red tape. You have to get approvals from many different people in order to make something happen. You can't really "turn on a dime." As for indie labels, the pros are that you CAN turn on a dime. There are way fewer people making decisions, so you can ship a single, pull a single, create a promotion, etc. in a much quicker time period. It's also pretty cool because as an indie label employee, you can have a hand in several different aspects of the business because there are so fewer people doing things. I've learned a lot that way and have gotten many opportunities because I was able to step out and have a creative opinion about things. A big con, however, is that an indie label has to work EXTRA hard to convince the industry we're here to stay. We have to seriously EARN our credibility and it's not easy. Depending on where you are, budgets may also be tighter at an indie label. Fortunately, here at BBR/SCR, we have a very talented business man who owns the label and is doing very well and we have one of the hottest artists in Country music, Jason Aldean, who is on the verge of superstardom. It's been AWESOME to be a part of this artist, this team, this family and this career.

7) I think that one thing that people notice about you right away if your positive cheerful attitude (and your great laugh!). What's your secret to having such a great outlook?

Wow, thank you so much! I actually HATE my laugh because it's SO FREAKING LOUD!!! I am loud in generally and I think I have my family to blame (er, thank) for that! Believe me, I DEFINITELY get mad and have my bad days but I try to see the best in everything it at all possible. And when I really stop and think WOW, I WORK IN THE MUSIC BUSINESS it puts everything into perspective. I love music, I love my job and I love the industry, so I guess that makes me happy or have a "great outlook" most of the time. I am so thankful I'm not flipping burgers!! NOT my cup of tea!

8) You're married to Matt Hargis, who works at Capitol/Nashville, (formerly of All Access!). How do you find balance with both of you having fast paced jobs? What kinds of advantages do you have as a couple that are both in the industry and are there any disadvantages or challenges?

I guess we balance it pretty good. I think it's an advantage that we both "get" what the other one has to do. Matt understands how much I have to travel, and never asks questions. We both work long and weird hours, so that's understood, too. I think when you have a relationship where the other one is NOT in the music business, they tend to not understand a lot of things like being on the road all the time. I guess it's also an advantage that we both love the same things!! Music and this business! The disadvantages though are that we tend to revolve our entire lives around our job and work. That's fine but we tend to never talk about anything else. Plus our line of work is VERY competitive so competition is tough sometimes. But, we keep it friendly!

9) What's been the most significant change in your job since you began your career?

I guess the biggest change is that there is SO MUCH MORE competition. When I first started there were the 6 major labels and a couple of independents like Curb. So there were way fewer regionals calling on the radio stations, so less competition in THAT way. There were also way more reporting radio stations to the chart and there was no "7 spin auto add" rule. Good in a way but also bad in a way. It was good because it's way easier to convince someone to add a record on PAPER but holding them accountable for the spins is different. The bad part is that if it's on PAPER, it's not doing you any good anyway! Also online media and internet exposure has COMPLETELY changed things. It was pretty obsolete when I began. Now you have to be involved in MANY different things (Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, YouTube, etc.) and make sure your artist is visible in every way possible. Those are the biggest changes to me.

10) What would your dream job outside of the music industry be?

I honestly cannot answer this question because MY JOB IS MY DREAM JOB! I can't imagine doing ANYTHING ELSE. I grew up dreaming of working in the music business and from day one of my internship at Epic Records in the Promotion department, I was HOOKED!!! If I weren't doing this I wouldn't be happy. I guess if I had, like my life depended on it, to pick something else it would either be teaching dance or doing CSI work. I think I could enjoy being a crime scene investigator.

1) I know you love watching the Titans. What changes would you make if you were head coach to get these guys to the Super Bowl again?

I do love the Titans!!!!!! GO TITANS GO!!! However, I don't know if I can answer this because I'm definitely not a football know-it-all. I do think we needed to block better on the defense so that Chris Johnson could get through the line even better. But I think with a little time, Vince Young is going to get better and better, and Chris Johnson is a STAR!!

2) What is the first album you ever bought?

With my OWN money it was a CASSETTE. Yep, a cassette and it was Clint Black "Killing Time"!

3) What are some of your favorite restaurants in Nashville that you and Matt like to visit?

We love: Allium, Rumors East, Germantown Café, J. Alexanders, Bricktops, Koto Sushi, and Corner Pub. But if they've got WINE, I'm gonna love it.