Date Signed: Dec. 3, 2021
Label: Nettwerk Music Group
Type of Music: Pop Singer-Songwriter
Management: Victoria Henderson - Vic@hard8wrk.com, Mike Bachta - Mike@hard8wrk.com
Booking: Michael Coughlin (WME) - Mcoughlin@wmeagency.com, Grace Stern (William Morris Agency) - GStern@wmeagency.com
Legal: Kent Wolfenbarger - kentwolf@gmail.com
Publicity: Danielle Romeo - romeo@nettwerk.com, Tamara Simons - tsimons@nettwerk.com
Web: iambrekennedy.com
A&R: Marshall Altman - maltman@nettwerk.com, Eric Robinson - erobinson@nettwerk.com
Although she’d been traveling to Los Angeles for years in hopes of sparking her career, singer-songwriter Bre Kennedy eventually moved to Nashville. There, she found better opportunities. Her independently released EP, Jealous of Birds, grabbed attention, enough to allow her to play The Ryman Auditorium and open for Gary Clark Jr.
Then COVID-19 struck. Everything shut down as she was talking to labels. “I was really discouraged,” admits the pop chanteuse. “I just thought, the only thing I can do is keep creating.” So, she did. Like her previous work, she independently recorded and self-released Note to Self, her debut full-length.
Before the album came out, Kennedy received a message on Instagram. It was Terry McBride, one of the founders of Nettwerk Music Group. He’d discovered her through Spotify or another streaming service. Could she hop on a Zoom?
As they chatted, Kennedy mentioned she was in the middle of a tour. She wouldn’t make a decision until that ended. In the meantime, she requested the opinions of other musicians who’ve been with Nettwerk. “Everybody said nothing but amazing things,” she enthuses.
Still, her choice to sign with the Canadian label wasn’t yet certain. “I was working at a bar to pay for the rest of the album,” she recalls. “As I was mopping, Wild Rivers came on, who are also with Nettwerk. I just had this moment of—this feels right. This feels like the way it was supposed to happen.”
Kennedy believes one of the reasons Nettwerk wanted her is they’re into actively shining a light on Nashville’s non-country scene. Also, they’re deeply invested in nurturing young musicians. “Money sometimes gets in the way of watering artists,” she points out. “And my gut was blaring, ‘These people care about watering artists.’”
Besides recently releasing an acoustic EP, Kennedy has been working on new material to boost the next phase of her career.
