Farewell From The All Access Nashville Team As The Country Daily Signs Off

End Of An Era

This is the final Country Daily newsletter you will be receiving, as ALL ACCESS sunsets its news component (and its news staff) as of TODAY (8/15), as previously reported.

While much has been written in recent weeks about the 28-year-old site and its leadership, we'd like to take a moment to share its NASHVILLE and Country music history, and offer some thanks. JIM ASKER (now a Senior Charts Manager at BILLBOARD) was the company's first team leader in MUSIC CITY, building a successful business that was taken over by RJ CURTIS  (now Executive Director at COUNTRY RADIO BROADCASTERS) in 2013, and then me (PHYLLIS STARK) in NOVEMBER of 2018. It was RJ's idea to launch the Country Daily, and what a truly wonderful idea that turned out to be. The Daily signs off TODAY with a recipient list that has grown to more than 21,000 industry readers.

Since JIM's tenure, the NASHVILLE team has always been a three-person operation, and the people who filled the other two positions over the years have gone on to spread throughout the industry into a who's who of leaders, and leaders-in-development. It's truly remarkable how many notable figures in the Country music industry have ALL ACCESS NASHVILLE on their resume. We're everywhere!

I'm proud to have served with so many of them, most recently Country Editor JEFF LYNN and Associate Country Editor CHARESE FRUGE', who elevated our game in NASHVILLE when they both moved here last fall, each bringing years of high-level radio programming experience with them. I cannot wait to see what great things they both do next.

My earliest adjustments here were acclimating to ALL ACCESS' rather (ahem) unique capitalization style for news stories, and discovering firsthand the cult-like mania that surrounded the coveted annual ALL ACCESS mouse pads. Pre-pandemic, when we still maintained a MUSIC ROW office, my favorite days were when artists would come in and perform for us, which we'd stream live on FACEBOOK. Among the most popular of those FACEBOOK Live videos was with the band HOME FREE, which netted 49,000 views in 2020 (quite a lot for our little channel). Those in-office performances were also my first time seeing and meeting MATT STELL, NIKO MOON, INGRID ANDRESS, JAMESON RODGERS, ADAM DOLEAC, DYLAN SCHNEIDER and so many others.

I'd like to say a huge thank you to all of our readers, our valued clients, every station, broadcast group, and record label that shared their Country news and photos and took our phone calls, and every publicist who kept the pipeline full for our Artist Info stories, release calendar, Video Spotlight page and more. Special thanks as well to columnists JIMMY CARTER and JOHN SHOMBY, whose weekly contributions I had the pleasure of editing. And a huge shout-out to our ALL ACCESS colleagues around the U.S., who may not have been based here, but contributed mightily to the success of the NASHVILLE operations.

I'll say farewell here (but not for long, promise) and turn this over to JEFF LYNN and CHARESE FRUGE' for their final thoughts.

"Like everyone else in the industry and on the ALL ACCESS staff, I am very sorry to see it come to an end," said LYNN. "I've been a registered user since nearly day one, and it has been a career highlight for me to work for such a revered platform. For that opportunity, I am grateful to both JOEL DENVER and PHYLLIS STARK. I also appreciate the support and cooperation of the music industry here in NASHVILLE.

"As far as what's next, that remains to be seen," he continued. "I love living in NASHVILLE and hope to remain here and have some role in the amazing music and entertainment that comes out of this great city. A thank you also, to everyone that has read the NET NEWS, submitted a snap, or taken a phone call. It was all very much appreciated. Until next time, all my best."

Said FRUGE', "I know we all felt the shock and disbelief in the industry when we heard that ALL ACCESS was shutting its doors. I, too, have depended on it for so many things, for so many years, and find myself asking, 'Where will I go to for the info I need next?' No one did it quite like JOEL DENVER and ALL ACCESS. I am very lucky to have been a part of the team for a few years. I have learned so much during my time here.

"As for what is next, I am looking forward to finding my next great challenge (hopefully in NASHVILLE) where I can apply my years of experience and relationships to making a new team and organization great in the music, content and audio business," she added. "In the meantime, I am taking on a role at DEAD HORSE BRANDING here in NASHVILLE, where I will work three days a week on brand development, marketing and publicity, brand strategy, social media strategy and more. They are an exciting and innovative PR firm where I know I will learn a lot. And judging from the team, I know I will be inspired every day to bring my creative juices to the table. I can't wait to dive in."

Find FRUGE' here, LYNN here and STARK here.

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