TABLE OF
Contents
Page 02 - Publisher’s Letter Page 04 - Table of Contents Page 06 - Editor’s Letter Page 08 - Contributing Writers Page 10 - Luke Bryan and the Team Behind the Fame Page 14 - How Nashville Rock Started Rolling Page 18 - Live in 3, 2, 1...SEC Network Set to Launch in August Page 22 - Have Brush, Will Paint: The Cool Artistry of Muralist MIke Cooper Page 26 - [Tyler] Beede Spurns the Money to Become the Next Great Commodore Page 31 - The Crossroads of Contemporary Christian Music Page 34 - Nashvilles Female Sportscasters: Always on their Game! Page 38 - Women Can Talk Sports: Changing What it Means to Be a Female Fan Page 40 - Anchors Away: Can Nashville’s TV News Professionals Tune out the World and Relax? Page 44 - The Business of Music at Belmont College Page 48 - Garth Brooks Returns Page 51 - Sounds & Echoes: Nashville’s Baseball Ends an Era and Prepares to Slide Home Again to Sulphur Dell Page 54 - The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and the New Music City Center’s First Year Page 58 - St. Jude Country Music Marathon: Celebrates 15 Years of Personal Accomplishments and Making a Difference Page 62 - The New Nashville Sound: Our Fusion of Musical Styles is Thriving! Page 66 - Music Business 101 - The Publicist! Page 68 - Sports Business 101- The Sports Information Director Page 70 - Retired NFL Stars Call Nashville Home Page 72 - Charlie Daniels and his CDB Band are “Off the Grid” Page 76 - The OK Corral Comes to Town: Nashville’s Love Affair with All Things Rodeo Page 78 - Nashville In The Round: How We Do Music! Page 82 - Women’s Collegiate Track & Field: Full of History and Leading the Way Page 86 - Up, Up and Away: The Art of Hot Air Ballooning Page 90 - Marty Stuart: Singer, Songwriter...Lifetime Photographer Page 94 - Our Unwritten Rule: “No Paparazzi!” Will It Last? Page 96 – Nashville’s X-Factor
PLEASE ACCEPT OUR THANKS! Special thanks to Luke Bryan, Kerri Edwards, Jeff Stevens and Jessie Schmidt for our cover story. We also wish to give special thanks to all who helped make this issue of Sports & Entertainment Nashville possible.
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Steve Absher, Pat Alger, Jim Arnold, Brown Bannister, Cristy Barber, Logan Bedford, Tyler Beede, Mark Bond, Paige Boze, Wesley A. Bulla, Gary Burr, Craig Campbell, Steve & Annie Chapman, Kay Clary, Mary Clippard, Regina & Gabby Conklin, Mike & Mickie Cooper, Derric Cotton, Tim Corbin, Pheobe & Callie Cryar, Don Cusic, Roger Dabbs, Melinda Dabbs, Rory Daigle, Charlie Daniels, Heather Darling, Larry Darling, Dawn Davenport Kok, David Dawson, James I. Elliott, Bill Fitzgerald, David & Sumi Flagg, Mark Ford, Taryn Foshee, Charlie Garrabrant, Keith Gordon, Rollum Haas, George Hamilton V, Jovan Haye, Warner Hodges, Jamie Jenkins, Rhori Johnston, Bruno & Taylor Jones, Demetria Kalodimos, Velvet Kelm, Andy Krause, Jill Lauber, Ken Levitan, Audra Martin, Brian Mason, Caitie Merz, Alex Mitchell, Gwen Moore, Bob Mueller, Roger Murrah, Erika Wollam Nichols, Robert K. Oermann, Farrell Owens, Matt Pelham, Gary Pigg, Jennifer Purdon-Turnbow, Greg Sage, Larry Schmittou, Thom Schuyler, Doug Scopel, Matt Scullion, Al Smith, Jennifer Storck, Marty Stuart, Brad Tammen, Ed Temple, Jake Thomas, Teresa Walker, Kirt Webster, Webb Wilder, and Phil Williams.