MUSICROW Magazine: Exclusive: peermusic Comes Full Circle And Full Throttle

Jessica Nicholson • July 27, 2016 

 

Michael Tyler & Michael Knox at peermusic’s Nashville office. Photo: Moments By Moser Photography

Among the gold and platinum sales plaques lining the walls of peermusic’s Nashville outpost on 18th Avenue South are glimpses of the independent publishing outfit’s earliest days, propelled by the emergence of modern country music in 1927.
Rising singer-songwriter and Thayer, Missouri, native Michael Tyler signed with peermusic’s Nashville office in 2012. Tyler had been with peermusic for more than a year before Michael Knox, peermusic’s Nashville VP and producer for superstar artists such as Jason Aldean, learned of the heritage of the young man they had added to their writer roster.
During a visit to the peermusic Nashville office, Tyler’s mother noticed a photo of Jimmie Rodgers hanging on the wall. Rodgers was one of the artists recorded by talent scout Ralph Peer in 1927 during The Bristol Sessions. In 1928, Peer established Southern Music Publishing company, which would later become known as peermusic.
“She mentioned, ‘Hey, we have a musician named Jimmie Rodgers in the family,’” recalls Knox. “I asked if perhaps she meant the ‘50s artist, but she said, ‘Nah, he died back in 1933 or something,’ And I went, ‘That’s OUR Jimmie Rodgers!’ They did the research and it all came back that that is Michael’s bloodline.”
“It is a neat thing,” says Knox. “Very full circle.”