The Recording Academy® Memphis Chapter Hosts Indie Impact Music Conference

The Recording Academy® Memphis Chapter will present the Indie Impact Music Conference from noon to 7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 18 at the Westin Hotel at 170 Lieutenant George W. Lee Ave. in Downtown Memphis.

The event is an educational conference for independent artists, labels and managers. Throughout the day, panels, workshops and networking opportunities designed for independent music makers and entrepreneurs will be featured. Panelists include producers, managers, distributors, advertising executives, publicity agents, entertainment attorneys and record label professionals who will share in-depth knowledge designed to assist independent artists further their careers. A variety of seminar topics will be offered, including rock and urban music demo critique sessions; Webcasting Faceoff: SoundExchange and Pandora; Cut Through the Clutter: Your Indie Promotion Toolkit; Music on Film, TV and the Internet; Plays Well With Others: Producers' Tactics for Communicating with Artists; Indie Success & Sound Financial Practices; and 21st Century Distribution.

"The Recording Academy Memphis Chapter is dedicated to offering quality professional development events for artists, labels and managers, and this conference is a part of that," said Jon Hornyak, Senior Executive Director of the Memphis Chapter. "We regularly offer Indie Impact seminars throughout the year but we also wanted to offer a one-day conference that could provide access to a larger group of industry experts."

Confirmed panelists include Drumma Boy, producer/rapper; Ensayne Wayne, Drum Squad Productions; Nate Douglas, music sales director for Paste Media Group; Tom Conrad, chief technical officer for Pandora Music Genome Project; Billy Zero, Sirius XM Radio; Paul Ebersold, GRAMMY®-winning producer (3 Doors Down, Third Day); Kendrick "WyldCard" Dean, GRAMMY-nominated producer (Chris Brown, Destiny's Child); John Hampton, GRAMMY-winning engineer (The Raconteurs, The Replacements, Jimmie Vaughn); DJ Toomp, GRAMMY-winning producer (Kanye West, T.I.); Dennis Herring, GRAMMY-winning producer/engineer (Modest Mouse, Buddy Guy, Jars of Clay); Billy Hume, producer (Shop Boyz, Ying Yang Twins, Lil Jon, Ludacris) ; Al Kapone, songwriter/producer and Memphis Chapter President; Mr. Del, GRAMMY-nominated holy hip-hop artist; Gilly Roswell, music supervisor (The Great Debaters, The Commitments); Rick Smith, manager (Saving Abel); David Preston, director of writer/publisher relations at BMI; John L. Simson, executive director of SoundExchange; Pierce Stacy, general counsel at IODA digital distribution; Ralph Sutton, engineer (Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Lionel Richie); Jeff Powell, producer/engineer and owner of Humongous Productions; Debbie Carroll, Executive Director of Health and Human Services at MusiCares®; Michael Allenby, co-founder of The Artist Farm; Wayne LeeLoy, music services manager with Ticketmaster; Erin Frankenheimer, assistant program director at Tipitina's Foundation; Betsie Brown, president of Blind Raccoon PR; Tonya Butler, attorney and assistant music business professor at The University of Memphis; Jay Healy, president of Century Wealth Management; Rachel Hurley, freelance music writer, Breakthruradio.com; Zac Ives, co-owner of Goner Records; David Fleischman, co-founder of AllMemphisRadio.com; and Anne Pitts, attorney, director of Levitt Shell.

Conference admission for the general public is $25, and the event is free for Recording Academy and GRAMMY U™ members. The event will be followed by an Indie Impact Producers Showcase at The New Daisy Theater featuring Al Kapone & Tha Untouchablez, Absence of Concern, The Infidelles, Annika, MyNameIsJohnMichael, Total Savage and Perspective. Admission to the showcase is free for conference attendees and $5 for the general public.

MusiCares®, the charitable arm of The Recording Academy, will be offering flu shots to conference attendees from 1 to 3 p.m. Shots will be $20.

For more information about the Indie Impact Conference, please contact the Memphis Chapter at 901.525.1340 or memphis@grammy.com, or visit www.grammy.com/memphis.