Cold River Records To Close After Nearly 15 Years In Business

Cold River Records

In a surprise announcement, COLD RIVER RECORDS founder and Pres. PETE O’HEERON revealed today that after almost 15 years in business, the Country label will be winding down over the next few months so O’HEERON can devote more attention to his parallel career in the world of medicine.

Citing “bittersweet emotions,” O’HEERON said, “We began this journey almost 15 years ago and have enjoyed every moment of music creation by our artists. To the amazing employees who have called our label home, I thank you for being such dedicated champions for our artists and making personal sacrifices to support their careers. As some of my dearest friends, I will miss you the most and cherish all of our memories on the road and the phone calls with your travel stories. To the programmers at radio, producers, songwriters and the music industry leaders who became our friends, I thank you for your counsel, guidance and friendship. To our artists who have performed on the GRAND OLE OPRY, opened for some of the biggest names in Country music, toured the world and even recorded at famed ABBEY ROAD studios in LONDON, thank you for creating amazing music that I will never forget.

“As many of you know, I have a biologics company where we are seeing almost daily breakthroughs in cell therapy,” O’HEERON continued. “As passionate as I am about music, I am equally passionate about medicine. We are developing cures for Degenerative Disc Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s and CTE (NFL head injuries). These disease pathways will require ever more increasing attention and time requirements from me. In stepping away from COLD RIVER, I’ll be focusing on our efforts to address these chronic and deadly conditions. Thanks to everyone for the memories. I’ve loved every minute of it.”

SVP JOHN ETTINGER also issued a statement, saying, “It has been a terrific two years at COLD RIVER, and an honor to work with everyone at the company. PETE O’HEERON is one of the most unique, magnanimous and energetic people I’ve had the chance to partner with in NASHVILLE. Together we created Innovation Music and the Innovation Music Awards, the Tee Roy Williams media executive event, along with a host of initiatives that ideally changed how many view what is a record label. My goal is to imagine and execute a future that looks a lot like our great work together.”

The label’s roster includes DREW BALDRIDGE, among others. The company also includes a publishing arm, PLACER MUSIC PUBLISHING.

O'HEERON can be reached here. Here’s contact info for the rest of the label’s current staff:

JOHN ETTINGER, SVP Promotion
(615) 438-7667
John@coldriverrecords.com

MARIE WAPELHORST, Sr. Dir. of Strategy and Artist Relations
(402) 719-8942
Marie@coldriverrecords.com

MARY LYNNE O’NEAL, National Dir. of Promotion
(903) 926-0625
MaryLynne@coldriverrecords.com

TAYLOR ESCHBACH, Creative Dir.
(757) 374-9705
Taylor@coldriverrecords.com

BILL HELTEMES, Regional Radio Promotion
(859) 653-1345
Bill@coldriverrecords.com

KELLIE LONGWORTH, Regional Radio Promotion
(937) 232-0574
Kellie@coldriverrecords.com

JENNA JOHNSON, Regional Radio Promotion
(626) 484-3382
Jenna@coldriverrecords.com

MEREDITH MCNAIR, Promotion Coordinator
(615) 426-6322
Meredith@coldriverrecords.com

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