Ed Leonard, President of Nashville-based Daywind Music Group
Ed Leonard, President of Nashville-based Daywind Music Group, and Jerry Salley, multi-award winning songwriter, artist and producer, have announced the launch of Billy Blue Records and Billy Jam Records - Nashville’s newest Bluegrass and Americana/Roots labels.
After several months of discussions between the two long-time music business veterans, Leonard tapped Salley as A & R and Creative Director for both labels.
Jerry Salley, newly named A&R and Creative Director for Billy Blue Records and Billy Jam Records.
“Jerry Salley’s considerable success and sterling reputation in the Bluegrass and acoustic music worlds make him the perfect fit to lead our newest venture,” says Leonard. “Jerry’s experience and creative abilities combined with Daywind’s talented staff and distribution reach allow artists at the new labels to compete from record one.”
“I am very grateful to Ed Leonard for this opportunity,” Salley says. “Daywind’s history as a leading independent label in Nashville with an intense artist and song focus is second to none. I am honored and eager to build these new labels with them.”
The labels will join Daywind Records, Daywind Soundtracks, and Daywind Music Publishing as part of Daywind Music Group, which also houses two recording studios. Daywind Music Publishing will begin to add songwriters from these genres to join its industry-leading presence in Christian music publishing.
Salley will be key to drive growth at the labels. Referred to by Billboard magazine as “one of Music Row’s greatest veteran tunesmiths,” Salley has had an incredibly successful songwriting career. The 2003 SESAC Country Music Songwriter of the Year and two-time nominee for IBMA’s Songwriter of the Year, Salley has had over 500 different songs recorded with sales in excess of 17 million records. He has written multiple chart-topping hits in Country, Bluegrass and Gospel music and may be the most successful songwriter to have earned equal recognition from all three genres of music.
The new labels will announce the first signings shortly and plan to have a presence at IBMA and Americana gatherings this fall. The labels will be distributed through the Orchard, Sony's fiercely independent music distributor.
