Photo Credit: Bev Moser
ole Writer/Artist Charlie Worsham Signs with Warner Bros. Records
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - April 11, 2012)ole writer Charlie Worsham, whose development as writer/artist has been guided by ole, has signed a long-term record deal with Warner Music Nashville.
Worsham, whose original masters were financed by ole, a few of which were part of a previously-released EP, will be in the studio in May to put the finishing touches on his debut album project. It is being produced by Worsham and fellow ole writer Ryan Tyndell with Arthur Buenahora, ole General Manager, Creative from ole's Nashville office, at the helm as Executive Producer.
Buenahora marvels at how far ahead of schedule they are with Worsham's development as an artist. "I am very pleased with all the tremendous growth that Charlie has shown since joining the roster," he says. "It is very impressive to hit the ground running like he has and to get the cuts that he has gotten, not to mention the beginning of a recording career."
The official signing was held at the Warner offices on Nashville's Music Row and celebrated with an intimate party attended by Warner and ole staff; songwriters; his manager, Scott Kernahan (Rogue Music); BMI executives and Worsham's parents and friends.
Worsham's association with ole coincides directly with Arthur Buenahora's arrival at the company in 2010. Buenahora, who in the past has had a hand in developing some of country music's most prominent new names including Dierks Bentley, Miranda Lambert, Eric Church and Taylor Swift, whose Fearless album, which contained a number of ole cuts would make history as the most-awarded country album of all time, had already been championing Worsham's talents. It was an obvious, natural-progression to have Worsham join the ole family at that point and it has been a one-for-all, all-for-one relationship with the company that he characterized, at the time of his signing, as having "this great, brand-new, doors-are-wide-open, everything's-looking up, kind of feel."
Since that time, Worsham has gone from strength to strength as a writer and performer. He has seen his fan-base continue to grow following tours with country stars like Miranda Lambert and Taylor Swift, for whom he opened a number of arena dates on her Speak Now North American tour last fall, and the release by ole of his well-received, self-titled EP. "I'm basking in the glow of ole's generosity, that's what I'm doing," Worsham said at the time. "It has been a year of growth for me and I owe a lot of that to ole for fostering my development. ole was there with me when nobody else was..."
Worsham, a native of Grenada, Mississippi, was a bit of a music prodigy. At the age of 10, he was playing banjo with bluegrass legend Jimmy Martin at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium. Two years later, he played the Grand Ole Opry with Opry member Mike Snider, which led to a short profile on The Nashville Network (TNN). In 2004, he headed for Boston to study at the renowned Berklee College of Music where, in 2006, he was the recipient of the Billboard Endowed Scholarship presented each year to the most promising student. Worsham moved to Nashville in the fall of 2006 and was pursuing a solo career at about the same time he met Arthur Buenahora.
To view the photo associated with this press release, "ole writer/artist Charlie Worsham - and now also Warner Bros. recording artist - performs at ole's recent Tin Pan South Preview Party in Nashville. Photo: Bev Moser," please visit the following link: http://www.marketwire.com/library/20120411-Charlie_Worsham_ole1104.jpg.
About ole:
ole is one of the world's largest independent music publishers. Founded in 2004, and with offices in Toronto, Nashville and Los Angeles, ole boasts a team of 40 experienced industry professionals focused on acquisitions, creative development and worldwide copyright administration. ole has recently entered the Production Music space with operations in the U.S. (MusicBox) and Canada (clear).
ole has been named Canadian Country Music Association's Music Publishing Company of the Year for the past five years and earned its first Grammy Award in 2009 for Best Country Song, "White Horse." Other recent notable ole awards include: SESAC 2011 Country Performance Activity Award for "Til Summer Comes Around" (Monty Powell/Keith Urban); three BMI 2011 Most Performed Songs Awards for "Fearless" (Liz Rose, Taylor Swift); "Why Wait" (Jimmy Yeary, Tom Shapiro) and "Let Me Down Easy" (Marty Dodson, Jennifer Hanson, Mark Nesler) ; 2011 SOCAN Country Music Award for "Make Hay While The Sun Shines" (Steven Lee Olsen, Bruce Wallace); 2011 SOCAN Domestic Television Series Music Award "Busytown Mysteries" (Peter Coulman, Carl Lenox, David Tedesco); and 2011 SOCAN Award for 100,000 Radio Performances of Lighthouse's "Sunny Days" and "Pretty Lady" (Skip Prokop).
The ole catalog includes over 45,000 songs and 40,000 hours of TV music across all genres. ole has completed over $115MM USD in acquisitions, including purchases of music catalogs: Blacktop, Jody Williams Music, Rami Yacoub, Chris Wallin, Rick Giles, Balmur, Keith Follese, Lighthouse, Frank Myers, Dream Warriors, Encore, David Tyson, and Marsfilm Music. ole has also purchased the worldwide music rights for TV catalogs such as WGBH, Cookie Jar, Cineflix, CCI and recently, "The Cat In The Hat Knows A Lot About That."
ole is committed to the creative development of its 60+ staff songwriters, legacy writers and composers and the cultivation of our catalogs and client catalogs. ole has ongoing co-ventures with Last Gang Publishing (Alt Rock), Roots Three Music (Country) and tanjola (Pop/Rock/Urban).
ole is an expert in administrating and sub-publishing music copyrights and has concluded worldwide publishing administration agreements with some of the world's leading songwriters, publishers and film and television producers. adminow, ole's online client account transparency portal, was launched recently and demonstrates ole's commitment to modernizing its client services and to leading-edge IT.
Notable copyrights for ole include Taylor Swift singles "Fearless," "White Horse," "Tim McGraw," "Picture To Burn," "Teardrops On My Guitar"; Rascal Flatts' "Why Wait"; Kelly Clarkson's "Miss Independent"; and "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman" by Britney Spears; Pink's "You and Your Hand"; "It's Gonna Be Me" from 'N Sync'; "Shape of My Heart" by Backstreet Boys; iconic Canadian Olympic theme "I Believe"; "Black Velvet" by Alannah Myles; Tim McGraw's "Something Like That."
ole owns or represents up to 150,000 production music tracks within its MusicBox and clear libraries. With 9 staff in North America, ole's Production Music division delivers excellent customer service and quality Creative on a leading edge IT platform. Our production music division leverages ole's established Administration, Finance and IT services.
ole is committed to being the best and most innovative global destination for world-class songwriters, composers, and management talent, and the first choice music source for creators in all media.
