-
10 Questions with ... Michele Block-Rhoades
August 22, 2022
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. -
BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
CBS Records, Epic Records, Arista Records, SBK Records, Imago Recordings, Chaos Recordings/The Work Group (Sony Music), C2/Columbia Records, & EMI Music Reactive, Americana Music Association
1. What was your favorite stations to listen to when you were a kid?
WABC, WXLO, WPIX, WPLJ (when it was a rock station), & of course, WNEW
2. What got you interested in the music business?
I was the PD of my college radio station, and I was the Features Editor for the college newspaper where I would review concerts that I had seen and had to go to the record company offices in NYC to get bios and photos of the artists.
3. Who were your mentors when you started your career?
Barry LeVine, Fred Ehrlich, Diarmuid Quinn, Daniel Glass, and Geordie Gillespie
4. What did you love best about doing record promotion?
It was really fun and exciting doing record promotion in the mid - 80s (starting in college radio promotion) and 90s. Things were definitely different from today. You really had to develop a story from the ground up for your artists as the internet didn’t really exist then. BDS & Mediabase were just starting out, so you were really able to tell if your artists were getting any actual airplay. I could share many interesting and memorable stories like when Jamiroquai didn’t want to play the HFSFestival and they were minutes from going on stage or a crazy story about being on the road with Vanilla Ice. but I will save that for another time.
5. What are the biggest challenges juggling the expectations of the music business, and travel and raising a family?
In 1998, I had my first daughter and then I left the music business in 2000 after working at Sony Music for 9 years. I had my second daughter in 2001 so I wanted to be around to raise both of my daughters. In 2005, I got back into record promotion for about a year as the girls were in nursery school and first grade, so it was difficult to be there for them when I was travelling and covering shows. I took a hiatus after that to be with them and help my mom who wasn’t well at the time and decided to become a substitute teacher in the girls’ school system so I would have the same hours as them.
6. You relocated from NY to Nashville, tell us about your transition to Americana?
I moved to Nashville from NYC in 2011 (my first time working with radio in Nashville was 1987 – a lot has changed here since then) so that my husband, Brian, and I would have a better place to raise our daughters and also be able to be in the music business without the insanity of NYC. I had spent my first 3 years in Nashville going back and forth to NYC to take care of my parents so once my mom passed in 2014, I decided it was time to get back into the music business since the girls were now in high school. In 2015, thanks to Diarmuid Quinn who advised me to get in touch with Cliff O’Sullivan who we both worked with at Epic Records, I was able to find out that the Americana Music Association was looking for a radio chart editor/radio development person. Cliff put me in touch with Jed Hilly (Executive Director) who I also worked with at Sony Music so fortunately it was a good fit as I had worked with many Americana artists before they were called Americana artists.
7. Tell us about your partnership with Sound Stage Studios and the Americana Music Association?
I wanted to create an avenue for radio to get content when they attended AmericanaFest as it is rare for radio stations to have this opportunity when attending other music conferences. In 2015, we created a partnership with Sound Stage Studios (on Music Row) as they wanted to support the Americana Music Association. We created a radio roundtable where the radio stations could interview showcasing artists and also get two songs recorded acoustically by these artists in the studio. These exclusive recordings were sent to all of the Americana Radio Chart Reporters. A couple of years later, with the help of Bruce Warren from WXPN/World Café (who is on the Americana Music Association Board of Directors), we created a radio summit at AmericanaFest exclusively for radio programmers to exchange ideas, learn from each other, and have discussions with some of the AmericanaFest showcasing artists. Last year, Allison Russell participated, and this year Sarah Jarosz and Michaela Anne will join us. AmericanaFest will take place this year on September 13 – 17 in Nashville. Discounted rates for radio programmers are still available for AmericanaFest.
Just email me at m.rhoades@americanamusic.org for more information. For more details on AmericanaFest: www.americanamusic.org You can also download the AmericanaFest app for a full run down on conference panels, showcases, and parties. It is available to download for free through the App Store or through Google Play Store.
8. I also heard you made some upgrades to Americana chart reporting – can you share the details?
Another important change we made in 2018 was to switch to a monitored radio chart so we partnered with CDX who provided the software to monitor our Americana radio reporters. CDX has Country, Texas Dirt, Christian charts and many more. CDX monitors the internet stream of our radio stations as some of our stations are in smaller markets. You can see the policy and methodology for the Americana Radio Album and Singles charts here: AmericanaMusic.org/americana-radio
9. What new acts are you most excited that are playing AmericanaFest this year?
AmericanaFest is all about new music discovery. I am so excited to see War & Treaty, Margo Cilker, Kaitlin Butts, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, Miko Marks, Molly Tuttle, Jade Bird, Adia Victoria, and Nikki Lane to name a few.
Also, the Americana Honors & Awards show on our opening night Wednesday, September 14 at The Ryman Auditorium is an amazing highlight at AmericanaFest. You don’t want to leave the room in case you might miss an awesome artist on stage. Anyone from Bob Weir, Bonnie Raitt, John Prine, Van Morrison, Don Henley, or Brandi Carlile could be hitting the stage. It’s the best 3 hours of music that you could ever imagine. The show usually is edited and rebroadcast on PBS later in the year.
10. If you were to leave the music business today and you could choose any other occupation, what would it be?
Since 2015, I have been working part-time with the University of New Haven’s Nashville Study Away Program where I am the program coordinator during their Spring semesters. I set up the internships and field trips for the students as well as being the main contact for students, Blackbird Studio (where the classes are held) and the University of New Haven. If I were to leave the music business, I would like to work for a college with a music business program so that I could give back to the students.
Bonus Questions
Fill in the blank: I can't make it through the day without ...
a Pepsi as I don’t drink coffee so that’s my only caffeine of the day.
Last non-industry job:
substitute teacher
First record ever purchased:
Queen “A Night At The Opera” and Elton John “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”
First concert:
Aerosmith with Ted Nugent opening at Madison Square Garden
Favorite artist of all-time:
Elvis Costello
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time away from work?
Hanging out at the lake with my family.
-
-