Date Signed: July 2020
Label: Vere Music
Type of Music: Country/Americana Rock
Manager: Rusty Harmon, [email protected]
Legal: Scott Safford, Safford and Motley PLC - [email protected]
Publicity: Patti Conte, LtD Publicity - [email protected]
Web: johnkingcountry.com
A&R: Alyssa Logan - [email protected]
Singer, songwriter and musician John King describes his sound as a blend of some of the greats—Lynyrd Skynyrd, Alan Jackson, Steve Earle, Keith Urban and Jackson Browne—just to name a few. So, it makes complete sense that he would hook up with new Nashville-based label Vere.
“I first heard of Vere from a friend and knew they were cooking up some big things,” King says. “Rusty actually pursued me and was a fan of what I was doing. That was really flattering to me, knowing his past and all the success he'd been a part of.”
The “Rusty” he refers to is Rusty Harmon, founder of Vere. The label was born a couple of years ago, and it’s been releasing records for about a year.
“We got all of our systems in place before we actually started releasing records,” Harmon says. “I’ve been an artist manager for 33 years. Before I was here, I was with another label and I worked with a different distributor. I just saw a lot of ways to do business better. We have distribution with Warner Music Group and ADA, and what separates us is we’re marketing on top of all that. As you improve your situation on a weekly basis, we get to turn around and update that information. We also have the ability to upstream within the Warner Music family, and the artist gets to reclaim 100% ownership of their masters.”
That smart business plan was part of what attracted King to Vere—that and a solid relationship with Harmen from the beginning.
“I really admired Rusty from afar long before we started working together,” King says. “Something about his grit, his willingness to work harder than everyone else around him and not being afraid to stick his neck out there for artists he believes in. That's the kind of team I want to associate myself with. The only reason I've gotten this far in my career has been because I'm willing to go that extra mile and outwork people around me. I'm not the most talented singer, songwriter or anything else, but I do know how to work.”
Vere is a multi-genre label, and Harmon is planning on more success in the coming year as they discover more musicians that they want to bring into the fold. As for King, he just wants to release more music.
“We're planning to put out a lot of new music, play a ton of shows and just keep throwing gas on the fire,” he says. “I feel like I'm in a great spot creatively, with an amazing team around me. I have so much music I'm ready for the world to hear and it just fires me up. It's gonna be a great rest of the year!”
– Brett Callwood
