News & Publications
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct. 25, 2006
CMA Elects Clarence Spalding President Of The Board
CMA Elects New Board of Directors
Appointments Take Effect Nov. 7, Following 40th Anniversary of CMA Awards
NASHVILLE – The Country Music Association held the annual Board of Directors election meeting in Nashville this week. The new Board year does not begin until Nov. 7, the day after the 2006 CMA Awards.
Taking over as President of the Board is Clarence Spalding, President of Spalding Entertainment.
“I’m excited and a little intimidated by the whole thing,” Spalding said. “I have had a full year in the President-Elect position attending all the events and committee meetings and this has helped me prepare. I was able to sit there and take it all in, and with that, I’ve grown. I know exactly what I’m stepping into, which makes it all the more intimidating – but then, I have [CMA Board Chairman] Mike Dungan as a partner.”
“Clarence has been an invaluable member of the Board and has contributed a great deal to CMA’s core initiatives,” said CMA Chief Operating Officer Tammy Genovese. “He has great passion for the music and the artists, and the business experience to execute his vision. He brings so much to this important volunteer position at a critical time for the industry and the Association as we move forward with our new network partner at ABC and further define the future of our premiere events, the CMA Music Festival and the Awards.”
Spalding will be joined by new Chairman Mike Dungan, President/CEO Capitol Nashville, as top CMA leaders. Dungan served for the past year as Board President. Outgoing Chairman Victor Sansone, President/General Manager ABC Radio Atlanta, remains on the Board.
As an artist manager, Spalding brings a different point of view to the position. “I do approach it differently because I’m dealing with artists and every facet of their careers every day,” Spalding said. “Strengthening our artist relations is one of CMA’s core strategies and I bring a certain sensitivity toward the artists. We have guys like Kix Brooks, Trace Adkins, John Rich, Troy Gentry, and Jay DeMarcus serving on this Board and that’s part of what I really feel is a good change.”
But that’s not all Spalding feels positive about. “Now we’re Downtown with this world-class music festival and it feeds into a two-hour network television special. We have two TV shows with the Festival and CMA Awards, and we’re spreading Country Music everywhere,” Spalding said.
“Clarence Spalding is a great ‘common sense, don’t waste any time’ kind of guy, and since I am neither, I am thrilled that he is on the team,” Dungan said.
Spalding grew up in the small town of Lebanon, KY. He attended the University of Kentucky and majored in communications. Spalding’s music business career began when he started a one-man agency, booking show bands into fraternities and sororities. After graduation, friends opened a 375-seat club in Lexington and Spalding was hired to book the venue and he found himself working with artists from Ray Charles to Lee Greenwood, Janie Fricke to Spyro Gyra.
Spalding hired local group Exile, who had already had a pop hit with “Kiss You All Over,” as the house band. When the group signed to Epic Records, Spalding joined the band as road manager. Later he worked with manager Stan Moress and a roster that included Ronnie Milsap, Restless Heart, KT Oslin, Lorrie Morgan, Eddie Rabbit, and Roger Miller, before joining Titley and Assoc. (later to become Titley Spalding). It was there that Spalding began working with a new act known as Brooks & Dunn.
Spalding started Spalding Entertainment in 2004. His current roster includes Brooks & Dunn, Pat Green, Terri Clark, Sarah Buxton, and Ashley Monroe.
An organized succession in CMA’s volunteer leadership was established in 2003. Four directors also serve as Officers of the Board, those being Chairman, President, President-Elect and Secretary/Treasurer. This move established a line of succession with the President-Elect moving to President and the President becoming Chairman. These Officers for the 2006-2007 term will be Chairman Mike Dungan; President Clarence Spalding; President-Elect Randy Goodman, President Lyric Street Records; and Secretary/Treasurer Tim Wipperman, Chief Creative Officer Equity Music Group.
FOLLOWING IS A LIST OF ALL CMA DIRECTORS AND DIRECTORS AT LARGE:
Directors By Membership Category
Newly-elected Directors are indicated in Bold followed by Carryover Directors, who are serving the second year of a two-year term.
Advertising Agency/PR
Jeff Walker, Aristo Media/Marco Promotions
Artist Musician
Kix Brooks, B&D, Inc.
Trace Adkins
Composer
Brett James, Cornman Music
Tim Nichols, THIS Music
International
Ron Sakamoto, Gold & Gold Productions, Alberta, Canada
Paul Fenn, Asgard Promotions LTD, London
Music Publisher
Gary Overton, EMI Music Publishing
Tim Wipperman, Equity Music Group
Personal Manager
Clint Higham, Morris Management Group
Clarence Spalding, Spalding Entertainment
Radio Management
Victor Sansone, ABC Radio Atlanta, Atlanta, Ga.
Radio Programming
Becky Brenner, KMPS-FM, CBS Seattle, Seattle, Wash.
Rusty Walker, Rusty Walker Programming Consultant, Inc., Iuka, Miss.
Record Company
Luke Lewis, UMG Nashville
Randy Goodman, Lyric Street Records
Record/Video Merchandiser
Sue Peterson, Target Stores, Minneapolis, Minn.
Talent Agent
Tony Conway, Buddy Lee Attractions
Talent Buyer/Promoter
Steve Buchanan, Gaylord Entertainment
Brian O’Connell, Live Nation
Television/Video
Brian Philips, CMT
Affiliated
Kitty Moon Emery, Moll Anderson Home
Paul Corbin
Lifetime Directors
J. William Denny, National Tape & Disc., Inc.
Ralph Peer II, peermusic, Novato, Calif.
Frances Preston, New York, NY
Directors At Large
Amy Abrahams, Weiden+Kennedy, New York, NY
Bruce Allen, Bruce Allen Talent, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Charlie Anderson, Anderson Merchandisers, Knoxville, Tenn.
Mick Anselmo, Clear Channel, Minneapolis, Minn.
Bill Bennett, Warner Bros. Records
Connie Bradley, ASCAP
Barry Coburn, Ten Ten Music Group, Inc.
Charlie Cook, Cumulus Media, Atlanta, Ga.
Jay DeMarcus, Rascal Flatts
Bob DiPiero, Love Monkey Music/Sony/ATV Songs
Tim DuBois, Universal Records South Nashville
Mike Dungan, Capitol Nashville
Larry Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald Hartley Co.
Jim Free, Smith-Free Group, Washington, D.C.
Joe Galante, Sony BMG Nashville
Dick Gary, The Gary Group, Santa Monica, Calif.
Troy Gentry, Montgomery Gentry
John Grady
Ed Hardy, Great American Country (GAC)
Lon Helton, Country Aircheck
Pat Higdon, Universal Music Publishing
Dann Huff, Dann Huff Productions
John Huie, Creative Artist Agency
Clay Hunnicutt, WSIX Clear Channel Communications
Wade Jessen, Billboard/Radio & Records
TK Kimbrell, TKO Artist Management
Kim Kosak, Chevrolet Motor Division, General Motors, Detroit, Mich.
Ken Levitan, Vector Management
Eric Logan, XM Satellite Radio, Washington, D.C.
JD May, ECHO Music
Mike Moore, KWJJ-FM Entercom Communications, Portland, OR
Steve Moore, AEG Live
Rob Potts, Rob Potts Entertainment Edge, Sydney, Australia
John Rich, Big & Rich
David Ross, Music Row Publications, Inc.
Rick Shipp, William Morris Agency
James Stroud, UMG Nashville
Trey Turner, Turner & Nichols
Jody Williams, BMI
Jim Yerger, Broken Bow Records
Founded in 1958, the Country Music Association was the first trade organization formed to promote a type of music. More than 6,000 music industry professionals and companies from around the globe are members of CMA. The organization’s objectives are to guide and enhance the growth of Country Music and to demonstrate it as a viable medium to advertisers, consumers and the media through it’s core initiatives – CMA Music Festival, which is held each June and featured as part of a primetime special on the ABC Television Network; and the CMA Awards, which will be held at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville on Monday, Nov. 6 (8:00-11:00 PM/ET) and carried live by the ABC Television Network.