Nashville Notes

There comes a time in life when, all of a sudden, it seems like everyone is getting married. Aside from weddings of close friends and family, I've received Nashville Alumni Chapter e-mail updates containing lots of engagement and wedding announcements. And our chapter has had plenty of other activity. Over the past few months, we have featured alumni network events at a Nashville Predators hockey game, the Nashville Symphony, and the Nashville Songwriters Association, among others. And individually, our alumni have been busy as well.

Jennifer Way '06 has been promoted to the position of marketing coordinator for Universal Music Group Nashville. She now consults on all marketing matters for such powerhouses as Josh Turner, George Strait, Shania Twain, Billy Currington, Randy Rogers Band, and Halfway to Hazard. She also got married in the early fall and is now know as Jennifer Schaff.

Singer/songwriter Rob Giles '96-who recently got engaged-splits his time between Nashville and Los Angeles. He has delved into the acting world, working alongside actor, director, and musician Christopher Guest. Giles has also produced several artists and placed numerous songs in the Internet's first-ever television series titled Quarterlife. Additionally, Giles has teamed up with best-selling author and Playboy playmate Jenny McCarthy for projects to educate and assist the families of children with autism.

Fiddler Casey Driessen '00 is currently playing gigs with Abigail Washburn & the Sparrow Quartet (featuring BŽla Fleck and Ben Sollee), as well as Frank Vignola, Darrell Scott, Tim O'Brien, and his own band, the Colorfools.

Ken Barken '77 and his partner Leigh Robbins recently opened Thirteen Degrees Studio, a recording facility in the Nashville suburb of Franklin. The two will soon launch a new nationally syndicated radio show called Soap Radio Weekly, which hits the airwaves on Valentine's Day. Drawing on their combined success at placing songs in soap operas, the program will be a two-hour weekly show featuring current songs and interviews with various soap stars and behind-the-scenes people.

Also notable are Shane Adams '95, who received the 2007 Tennessee Songwriters' Association's Hallman Award for outstanding service to the songwriting community, and Caitlin Nicol-Thomas '07 who has begun working as the office manager at the famous Tracking Room studio and song promoter for Dale Morris Publishing Group.

Congratulations to all for your personal and professional achievements in 2007. I look forward to seeing or hearing from you at dpetrelli@alumni.berklee.edu throughout 2008. That's all for now.

-Dave Petrelli

Nashville Berklee Alumni Chapter Leader