The Zak Kuhn Show
Episodes
Jessi Alexander talks writing The Climb, working with young writers and why she loves long titles
07 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
By the age of nine, Jessi Alexander had taught herself how to play Elvis Presley’s “Love Me Tender” by ear on her grandparent’s piano. By the ...
Temecula Road talks new music and touring with Gary LeVox
31 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Signed to Warner Music Nashville and Disney Music Groups’s Buena Vista Records, band members Dawson Anderson and Emma Salute boast stage credits wor...
Kevin "Chief" Zaruk and Simon Tikhman talk artist management and building The Core
19 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Kevin "Chief" Zaruk and Simon Tikhman are the co-founders of The Core Entertainment. They were introduced by their lawyer and Michael Rapino suggested...
Kim Taylor talks the first ever bitcoin music festival
22 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Kim Taylor is the director of Real Sound Money Fest, the first bitcoin music festival. She booked the lineup and put the whole event together, which i...
Mike Errico talks about his new book, country guitar playing and why more songwriters should study wheel makers
25 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Mike Errico is a New York-based recording artist, writer and teaches songwriting at universities including Yale, Wesleyan, The New School, and NYU’s...
Cody Alan
30 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Cody Alan is one of country music's biggest radio personalities. Keith Urban says he "makes Ryan Seacrest look like a slacker". As host and executive ...
Panos Panay talks Recording Academy, building Sonicbids and why artists make the best entrepreneurs
16 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Panos Panay is the Co-President of The Recording Academy. Prior to his current role he served as the Senior Vice President for Global Strategy & Innov...
Billy F. Gibbons talks early days of ZZ Top, playing with Jimi Hendrix and favorite Mexican food in Nashville
09 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Legendary ZZ Top guitarist Billy F. Gibbons is on the podcast this week and he has a new solo album, "Hardware." We discuss the early days of ZZ Top, ...
Marshall Sandman talks bringing back the woolly mammoth
02 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Marshall Sandman is the Managing Partner of Animal Capital, a venture firm that was co-founded with manager Michael Gruen and some of the biggest infl...
Kristian Bush
26 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Kristian Bush is a singer, songwriter, record producer and one half of the country music duo Sugarland. In this episode we talk about how Kristian pre...
Bruce Pomahac talks Rodgers & Hammerstein and Annie Get Your Gun
19 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
For over twenty years Bruce Pomahac was the Director of Music for The Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization in New York City, where he helmed the resto...
Dustin Boyer talks about how to grow your Spotify following
05 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Dustin Boyer is a partner at Venture Music, one of the top digital marketing firms in Nashville. We talk about how to grow a fanbase, TikTok strategy,...
Carter Faith
28 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Carter Faith is a Nashville songwriter and artist on the rise. We discuss her path as an artist, why she moved to Nashville and her songwriting proces...
Pete Ganbarg
21 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Pete Ganbarg is a true record man. He is a 2-time Grammy winning executive who is the President of A&R at Atlantic Records. He learned the business fr...
Charlie Davis
14 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Charlie Davis is the founder of Preffy, a brand new marketing platform that was recently acquired by Nashville based company Songfluencer. Preffy is c...
Ted Chapin
31 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Ted Chapin is the former president of the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization. He has lead Broadway productions and revivals, including “South Pacifi...
BEXAR
24 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
BEXAR (pronounced ‘bear’) is comprised of Chris Ryan (lead vocals/guitar) and Logan Turner (vocals/banjo/guitar). The band self-released their deb...
Lori McKenna
17 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
All the way from Boston, Lori McKenna is one of Nashville’s most in demand songwriters. From Girl Crush to Humble & Kind to Always Remember Us This ...
Mary Rahmani
10 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Mary Rahmani is Triller’s global head of partnerships and TikTok’s first U.S. music executive. Most recently she launched Moon Projects, a new age...
Bryan Benson
03 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Brian Benson is the Vice President of Booking at AC Entertainment. He has been with the company for over 20 years and is perhaps best known for bookin...
Seaforth
27 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Seaforth are a musical duo consisting of Tom Jordan and Mitch Thompson. They are signed to Sony Nashville and are one of the most talked about rising ...
Emily Oberman
20 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Emily Oberman is a New York-based multidisciplinary designer and a partner at design studio Pentagram. She is responsible for the recent rebrand of Wa...
Tenille Townes
13 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Tenille Townes is doing country music her way. The rising star is getting ready to release new music and hit the road with Brothers Osborne. We talk a...
Pilgrimage founders Kevin Griffin and Brandt Wood
06 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
On episode 72, Kevin Griffin and Brandt Wood talk with Zak about how they created the iconic Tennessee music festival Pilgrimage. We also get into wha...
Jennifer Turner
29 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Jennifer Turner is the CEO of the Tennessee Performing Art Center (TPAC). We talk about how she got the gig, what goes into organizing the season, the...
Robyn Ottolini
22 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Robyn Ottolini describes herself as the Eminem of country music. No joke. In 2020, Ottolini's career took off with the viral TikTok hit “F-150”. S...
John Marks
15 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
John Marks has been the Global Head of Country at Spotify since 2015. He moved to Nashville in 2010 to work at SiriusXM, where he became Head of Count...
Steve Lassiter
08 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Steve Lassiter got his start in the music business as a production assistant at Sound Seventy Productions in 1977 at the age of 19. He went on to have...
Kelleigh Bannen
01 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Kelleigh Bannen is the host of The Kelleigh Bannen Show and Today's Country on Apple Music Radio. She is also a longtime artist herself. We talk about...
Tracy Gershon
25 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Tracy Gershon is a leader in the entertainment industry and music business. She has worked with and signed Miranda Lambert, Kacey Musgraves, The Maver...
Adam Lowenberg
18 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Adam Lowenberg is the Chief Marketing Officer at Primary Wave. He is responsible for some of the most compelling and unique marketing concepts within ...
Adam Sansiveri
11 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Adam C. Sansiveri is Head of the Nashville Private Client Group at AllianceBernstein. He is also a Broadway producer, film financier, tech entrepreneu...
Track45
04 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Sibling trio Track45 is one of Nashville's most buzzed about acts. Consisting of Jenna, Ben, and KK Johnson, Track45 fill a NEED in the genre for a fr...
Seth Godin
27 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Seth Godin is an institution. He is a teacher, author, entrepreneur and you will have a hard time finding a modern business book that does not referen...
Ian Munsick
20 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Ian Munsick is that guy. He one of Nashville most buzzed about artists and signed with Warner Nashville in 2020. Munsick is co-managed by his wife and...
Kurt Deutsch
13 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Kurt Deutsch is the Senior Vice President for Theatrical & Catalog Development at Warner/Chappell. He is also the President and founder of Sh-K-Boom a...
Sarah Trahern
06 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Sarah Trahern is the CEO of the Country Music Association (CMA). We dive deep into her journey to Music City, how the CMA is innovating around the wor...
Joseph Hudak
30 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Joseph Hudak is the senior editor at Rolling Stone's Nashville office, which covers the country and Americana genres. Prior to joining the iconic titl...
Ken Davenport
23 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Ken Davenport is a Tony Award-winning Broadway producer whose credits include Once On This Island (Tony Award), The Play that Goes Wrong, Groundhog Da...
Jordan Burger
16 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Jordan Burger is the head of Madison House Nashville. He has worked with artists such as Oasis, Squeeze, Kid Rock, Kevin Costner, Southern Avenue, Sug...
Michael Barra & Stephen Snedden
09 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Michael Barra & Stephen Snedden are the lead producers behind the Florida Georgia Line inspired musical "May We All". The show plans on making its deb...
David Kells
02 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
David Kells is the the Executive Vice President at Bridgestone Arena and the Nashville Predators. He oversees operations for the entire venue and has ...
Jody Williams
23 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Jody Williams might as well be a Nashville institution. Born and raised in Nashville, he started his career in the mail room at BMI. He then climbed t...
Martha Earls
16 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Martha Earls is the longtime manager of country superstar Kane Brown. Prior to that, she had careers at companies like Warner Chappell, BMG and co-fou...
Chris Swanson
09 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Chris Swanson is the co-founder of Secretly Group, which includes independent record labels Dead Oceans, Jagjaguwar, The Numero Group and Secretly Can...
Mike Deestro
02 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Mike Deestro is the head writer for The Bobby Bones Show. He has been with Bobby since the very beginning and has been part of his incredible rise in ...
Mat Devine
26 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Mat Devine is the head of Music Partnerships for Cameo. Prior to that he created and fronted the alternative rock band Kill Hannah, which was signed t...
Ben Vaughn
19 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Ben Vaughn is the President/CEO of Warner/Chappell Nashville. Prior to that, he was the youngest executive to head a major publisher in Nashville, as ...
Alex Hall
12 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Alex Hall is one of Nashville's fastest rising guitar slingers. He new EP is titled 6 Strings and features some of Country music's biggest artists lik...
Andrew Stone
05 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Andrew Stone is the Head of Chugg Music, the Management, Publishing, and Record Label arm of Chugg Entertainment. He manages Australian superstars lik...
Clarence Spalding
15 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Clarence Spalding is a partner in Maverick and the founder of Spalding Entertainment. He manages country megastars like Jason Aldean, Rascal Flatts, B...
Lee Greenwood
10 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Lee Greenwood, the myth, the legend, the patriot. This was a fun one! We talk about his biggest hits, how his song ends up in presidential campaigns a...
R.J. Romeo & Brian Bauer
08 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
R.J. Romeo is the president of Romeo Entertainment Group, one of the leading independent talent buyers in the US. Brian Bauer is the founder and presi...
Spencer Crandall & Jeff Cherry
03 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Spencer Crandall is one of Nashville's most talked about rising artists. With over 1 million followers on TikTok and over 1.2 million monthly listener...
Pete Griffin
01 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Pete Griffin is the CEO of Musicians On Call. For more than 20 years, the national organization has brought live and recorded music to patients, docto...
Leslie Fram & Matt Pinfield
24 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
On our 40th episode special, we are pulling out all the stops! Leslie Fram is the senior VP of music strategy for CMT. Matt Pinfield is the legendary ...
Stephen Day
19 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Stephen Day's music makes me feel good. He is one of Nashville most talked about rising stars and has over 32 million streams to his name. Before Covi...
A Thousand Horses
17 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A Thousand Horses are one of the few bands rocking in Country music today. These guys have been through it all and have come out on top. "A Song To Re...
Teddy Robb
12 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Teddy Robb's brand new single "Heaven On Dirt" is out on Country radio right now. He is signed to Shane McAnally's Monument Records and is one of the ...
Adam Paul
10 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Adam Paul is the Emmy Winning CEO of production company 7 Cinematics. Together with his team, Paul is the go to guy for many of the most iconic acts i...
Troy Cartwright
05 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Troy Cartwright is getting ready for his first major-label single “Hung Up On You”, to impact country radio on 11/16. He is signed to Warner Nashv...
David Dufresne
03 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
David Dufresne is a partner at Panache Ventures, one of the most active and best performing Canadian venture capital funds. Prior to that, he was the ...
Ashley Cooke & Chris Ruediger of "The 615 House"
29 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Ashley Cooke & Chris Ruediger are the co-creators of The 615 House. The group of rising country artists have recently been going viral on TikTok, coll...
Dan Rogers
27 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Dan Rogers is the Executive Producer of The Grand Ole Opry. He started with the show as an intern over 20 years ago. Today, he is leading one of Ameri...
Tom Chapin
22 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Tom Chapin is a three time Grammy winning singer-songwriter. He is the brother of legendary artist Harry Chapin. Above all, he is the first artist I e...
Matt Graham
20 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Matt Graham is the manager of country superstars Midland. He is a co-founder of Range Media and grew up in the business promoting college shows with S...
Matt Stell
15 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Fresh off his #1 single Prayed For You, Matt Stell is releasing a brand new EP titled "Better Than That". He is one of the nicest guys in country mus...
Beth Laird
13 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Beth Laird is the founder of Creative Nation, a Nashville-based music company home to some of the industry’s top songwriters, producers and artists....
Ingrid Andress
08 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Ingrid Andress is one of Nashville's fastest rising country stars. The deluxe version of her debut album Lady Like is out now. Hosted by Simplecast, ...
Will Tenney
06 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Will Tenney is the head of streaming strategy & promotion at Crush Music, where he oversees data & record consumption for Lorde, Sia, Alec Benjamin, a...
Filmore
29 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Filmore is one of Nashville's buzziest rising superstars. He is signed to Curb Records and has earned over 147 million total on-demand streams. His de...
Charlie Starr
22 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Charlie Starr is the lead vocalist and guitarist of Blackberry Smoke. Hear about the bands drive-in shows, Charlie's musical influences, the group’s...
Becky Gardenhire
15 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Becky Gardenhire is the co-head of WME’s Nashville office. She has been with the company for over 20 years, and works directly with many of the top ...
Stephanie Wright
08 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Stephanie Wright is the Senior Vice President of A&R at Universal Music Nashville. She has been with the company for over 20 years and worked closely ...
John Esposito
01 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
John Esposito is Chairman and CEO of Warner Music Nashville. He has been running the label for over a decade and has signed acts like Dan + Shay, Ke...
Ryan Griffin
25 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This week on the podcast, we sat down with Warner Music Nashville Recording artist Ryan Griffin. We talk about life growing up in Florida, moving to N...
Steven Galanis
18 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Steven Galanis is the CEO and co-founder of the popular video-sharing website Cameo. We talk about how Steven bootstrapped the company while still wor...
Chris Kappy
11 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Chris Kappy is the manager of country superstar Luke Combs. He is also the founder of Make Wake Artists, which oversees the careers of Hailey Whitters...
Sherod Robertson
04 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Sherod Robertson is the President and Owner of Music Row Magazine. Prior to running Music Row, Robertson served as Director of Finance at Arista Recor...
Alex White, Britnee Foreman, Jason Joven (Live Episode)
28 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this live webinar about data in the music industry, Zak is joined by Alex White (founder of Next Big Sound and current VP, Content & Programming ...
Erik Nelson & Gian Perugini
21 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Erik Nelson & Gian Pergini are the founders of FanFlex, a mobile app that helps venues and artists books shows in a brand new way. As venues start to ...
Graeme Winder
07 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Graeme Winder is an entrepreneur, music educator and founder of Keys & Kingdoms, a video game platform that is changing the way kids learn music. Hav...
Ralph Jaccodine
30 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Ralph Jaccodine is a professor of Music Business at Berklee College Of Music. Ralph began his career as a concert promoter working with artists like B...
Alex Goodman
23 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Alex Goodman is the head of digital at Riser House Records. He also manages the career of major label recording artist Dylan Brady. Alex is one of the...
Morgan Hayduk & Andrew Batey
16 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Morgan Hayduk & Andrew Batey are the co-founders and CEOs of Beatdapp, a startup solving a 4 billion dollar problem in the Music industry. Every year ...
Will Farrell-Green (Live Episode)
09 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Will Farrell-Green is the head of Music Content at Twitch. This episode was recorded live as an industry webinar. We talk about best streaming strateg...
Del Bryant
02 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Del Bryant is the President and CEO emeritus of BMI. He is also the son of legendary songwriters Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, who are considered the f...
Robert Deaton
26 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Robert Deaton is the Executive Producer behind the CMA Awards, as well as the Billboard Music Awards. He also producers the CMA Country Christmas Spec...
RJ Curtis
19 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
RJ Curtis is the Executive Director of Country Radio Seminar (CRS). RJ spent the first half of his career working in radio stations on the West Coast....
Steve Schnur
12 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Steve Schnur is the Worldwide Executive of Music for Electronic Arts, the largest video game producer in the world. Not a piece of music makes it into...
Jon Cohen
05 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Jon Cohen is the co-founder of Vagrant Records. Throughout his legendary career as a label head, Cohen signed bands like The 1975, Edward Sharpe and t...
Craig Balsam
28 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Craig Balsam is the co-founder of Razor & Tie. Originally a lawyer with a love for music, Craig went from creating compilation CDs in an apartment...
Joe Galante
21 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Joe Galante ran RCA Records and Sony Music Nashville. In his legendary career, he worked with and signed acts like Waylon Jennings, Dolly Parton, Alab...
Thomas O'Keefe
14 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Thomas O'Keefe is the current tour manager for Weezer. Before that, he was out with Train, Ryan Adams, Third Eye Blind, and Sia. Thomas talks about li...
David Ross
07 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
David Ross is the founder of Music Row, one of the most prolific trade magazines in Country Music. Hear Ross' story about creating the publication, r...