On Music Row: New top man at Buddy Lee

Also: Faith Hill and manager split, Adkins inks sponsor deal, and more... [From our print edition featured in Monday's City Paper]

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Faith Hill

Longtime Buddy Lee Attractions executive Kevin Neal has been named president of the talent agency following the resignation of former President Tony Conway. Neal has been with the agency 20 years. Previously, he served as senior vice president.

Neal is the responsible agent for Jason Aldean, Colt Ford and Ash Bowers, among others, and was the 2006 and 2008 IEBA Talent Agent of the Year and the 2007 NATD Talent Director of the Year. In a statement, he said additional staff and roster changes at Buddy Lee are forthcoming.

“The changes we’re about to undergo as a company will be made to benefit our client roster. In addition, we will be announcing some strategic alliances that will enable our roster to further profit in years to come,” Neal said. “I am honored to be asked to help direct this company, and I feel that there is a great opportunity for growth.”

Neal was born in Shreveport, La., and raised in the music business as son of the legendary agent/manager Bob Neal. He joined the Neal Agency in 1981 and worked with his father before eventually settling at Buddy Lee Attractions.

Faith, longtime manager split

Faith Hill and Gary Borman have agreed to dissolve their long business association.

“We are so proud of what we have achieved together over the past 16 years,” said Hill and Borman in a joint statement. “We love each other like a sister and a brother, but have made the difficult choice to dissolve our professional relationship.”

Borman Entertainment’s other clients include Keith Urban and Lady Antebellum. Gary Borman opened the company in 1976, which now has offices in Los Angeles and Nashville.

Adkins signs BC deal

Trace Adkins has entered an agreement with GlaxoSmithKline's BC Headache Powder brand to be its spokesman for the next two years. He will record radio ads, be included in images at retail stores and on BC’s Web site, perform at exclusive events and conduct a BC-sponsored concert tour in 2010 that will include more than 80 stops.

Currently, BC Headache Powder is sponsoring Adkins for 38 dates on the Shine All Night Tour with Martina McBride. He is following in the footsteps of country star Faron Young, who endorsed BC in the 1970s.

New sales VP at Sony

Kerri Fox-Metoyer has joined Sony Music Nashville as Vice President, Sales. With 18 years of experience, she previously held the same title at Walt Disney Records.

She will spearhead Sony Music Nashville’s initiatives in sales, catalog exploitation, non-traditional and new business initiatives, as well as managing relationships with retail in conjunction with Sony’s distribution arm.

Fox-Metoyer will report directly to Senior Vice President of Sales and Operations Paul Barnabee, who said Fox-Metoyer “brings a dynamic perspective to the team as we navigate today’s music environment, working with traditional retail accounts while also identifying new business channels.”

Former Bandit duo to run Gilley unit

Country Crossing Records will be headed by Co-Presidents Evelyn Shriver and Susan Nadler, the longtime music business partners who previously ran George Jones’ Bandit Records.

Country Crossing is part of Ronnie Gilley Entertainment, which also includes James Stroud’s Stroudavarious Records and BamaJam Records. The label is home to John Anderson and Lorrie Morgan, who has a long history working with Shriver and Nadler. Country Crossing has released Morgan’s A Moment In Time, Anderson’s Bigger Hands, as well as projects from Aaron Tippin, Lee Greenwood and others. A collection of standards from Louise Mandrell is in the works.

With a background in publicity, Shriver became the first female president of a major country label when she took the helm of Asylum Records. With Nadler as executive VP/A&R, the duo’s collaboration at Asylum resulted in two Grammy wins during their first year of business. Shriver and Nadler formed Bandit in 2001 with Jones. They also opened HD Ready, a high-definition TV production company that handled PBS’s show SoundStage.

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