From Art to Commerce & Artists to Entrepreneurs

Creating great music is just the beginning. In order to succeed, you’ve got to sell it, too. That requires a skill set that doesn’t come naturally to many artists, some of whom waste thousands of dollars in expenses—and generate only frustration—because they lack the information they need to work smarter. The good news is, you can learn to think like an entrepreneur. From recording and packaging to booking gigs and marketing yourself, you can hop on the road to success, or gallop farther along if you’re already on your way, by cultivating your business acumen.

Presenters

Rod Picott

Artist

Welding Rod Records

Rod Picott is the songs he sings. Since before Woody Guthrie, songwriters have soaked their public image in the sepia tones of the working life, but Picott bears the real-life scars of living that life. Picott's songs are inhabited by sheetrock hangers, drinkers, circus hands, boxers and working girls, and he sings about his characters with intimacy. Listening to a Rod Picott album, you can smell the gasoline on a mechanics hands and the perfume of lovers in dark corners.
In the Folk and Americana world, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Slaid Cleaves, Fred Eaglesmith have been declared some the best writers working and they have all recorded songs written or co-written by Picott. Picott's “Broke Down,” released on Rounder Records by co-writer and artist Slaid Cleaves, became the most played song on Americana radio and was awarded the song of the year award at the Austin Music Awards. In 2010 “Broke Down” found new life in the soundtrack to the Brian Koppelman written and directed film Solitary Man

Tamara Saviano

CEO

Tamara Saviano Media

Tamara Saviano is a Grammy and Americana Award winning producer and music business consultant. Saviano owns and operates a consulting, artist management and public relations company serving the Americana and Folk communities. Current clients include Kris Kristofferson, Guy Clark, Radney Foster, Ashley Monroe and John Corbett.

As a producer, Saviano’s contributions include Beautiful Dreamer: The Songs of Stephen Foster, honored with a 2004 GRAMMY for Best Traditional Folk Album, The Pilgrim: A Celebration of Kris Kristofferson, Shawn Camp and Billy Burnette’s The Bluegrass Elvises, and the Grammy-nominated This One’s For Him: A Tribute to Guy Clark, which won Album of the Year at the Americana Honors & Awards in 2012.

Saviano is a former President and six year board member of the Americana Music Association; sits on the board of the Future of Music Coalition and is a member of Leadership Music, Class of 2007.