Today we’d like to introduce you to Wyatt Easterling
Hi Wyatt, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I arrived in Nashville in the summer of 1981 with John Loudermilk, the son of legendary songwriter John Dee Loudermilk. John and I were both around 23 years old. John had funding to build a 24 track studio. The studio was called Nashville Sound and it became a well respected facility. The first major session produced was John Anderson’s album Wild and Blue featuring “Swingin'” which made it to #1 on all the charts of the time. Pretty good for a couple of kids just learning the ropes
I was more interested in writing and performing and soon had an offer from Rick Blackburn at CBS which is now Sony. The papers were drawn up for me to sign at CBS when Sony purchased the label. Like most acquisitions the staff was let go leaving Rick with a two year non-compete clause and me without a deal.
Rick called me a few weeks later and said he was opening a publishing company to be named Venture Harbor with hit producer Blake Mevis (George Strait, Keith Whitley) and would I like to sign on as a staff writer which of course I did. Two years later Atlantic Records decided to open a division in Nashville and hired Rick along with Nelson Larkin to head up the label. Rick called me into his office and thinking I was about to be offered a deal with Atlantic he instead asked me to head up the A&R Dept.
I accepted and during my three years with Atlantic I signed John Michael Montgomery and co-produced John’s Life’s A Dance debut album which sold 3 million, then I signed Neal McCoy and Tracey Lawrence both of whom sold millions of records over the course of their careers.
When it was to time to move on and I left Atlantic Records I was approached by artist manager Miles Copeland to partner with him in a publishing venture. I accepted and opened the Nashville office for Bugle Publishing Group which at the time had offices in LA, New York, London and Paris. It was a great time to be in Nashville. I signed Keith Urban to the management division called Firstars, Paul Thorn to Bugle Publishing and produced Hammer and Nail along with Billy Maddox and Greg Wells. We landed that album on A&M records in LA. I produced Keith Urban and landed him a deal on Warner Bro. He later moved to Capitol Records where he is today.
A big highlight for me was creating The Castle with Miles Copeland. Miles owned IRS Records with a lot of artist in need of songs and I had the idea to host a song writer retreat back in 1992. It was one of the first of its kind. I talked with Miles about it and he said: “I have a chateau in the south of France, we’ll do it there. And thus The Castle was born. We hosted our songwriters along with IRS artist and eventually other writers and artist from major labels and publishing companies started vying for a spot at the retreat.. The list of artist that came to The Castle includes Olivia Newton John, Carole King, Bon Jovi, Cher, Stewart Copeland (Mile’s brother and drummer for The Police,) Peter Frampton, Jars of Clay, Keith Urban and Paul Thorn to name a few. The derived a lot of satisfaction seeing the relationships that was forged at that castle over the years. These days I host my own event called Song Travelers. I host a retreat once a year at various locations. For more information check us out at: www.songtravelers.com
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The music industry is never smooth. In a rather bawdy manner I’ve been quoted as saying “If you haven’t been screwed in the music business then you haven’t been in the music business.
I’ve had songs on hold for major artist only to have them bumped off the project at the last minute. I’ve had artist I worked with as a producer having gotten them major record deals only to have them given to a producer the label favored. Politics and the good old boy/girl network is alive and well in the music industry. You develop a thick skin or suffer the consequences of sleepless nights and heartburn! As a songwriter I’ve had an A&R chief at a major label tell me a song I played for them was a waste of their time only to have the same song become the title track for another artist on another major label which went on to sell platinum. Like any industry where the rewards can be life changing there will be those who will forfeit their dignity for success. I guess it depends on what you’re willing to give up.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’ve been producing records for indie and major labels for over 30 years. My first major label production was John Michael Montgomery’s “Life’s A Dance” debut album which sold 3 plus million copies. I was the chief of A&R for Atlantic Records at that time and proudly signed John Michael Montgomery, Neal McCoy and Tracy Lawrence to Atlantic Records.
After I left Atlantic Records I partnered with legendary artist manager Miles Copeland (The Police, Sting, IRS Records) to form the Nashville division of Bugle Publishing Group. I brought Paul Thorn and Keith Urban to the publishing company and both of these two artists to Firstars Management. Early in our partnership Miles and I talked about ways to help our staff writers and I suggested we create a song retreat bringing his artist on IRS Records (The Go Go’s, The Bangles, REM to name a few) to Nashville and put them up in a state park cabin to write for a few days. Miles responded by saying: “I have a chateau in the South of France, we’ll do it there and thus The Castle was born. Within two months I found myself at Mile’s castle with our staff writers and a long list of distinguished artist from Carole King to Cher, to Bon Jovi, to Olivia Newton John and of course our artist Keith Urban and Paul Thorn and others gathered at The Castle to write songs and write they did. This event became one of the most sought after invitations throughout the industry regardless of genres. We crossed them all. It was a thrilling time and an immensely gratifying contribution to my company and to the participants that forged friendships that last today.
After all my years helping lead The Castle retreat I began my own retreat called Song Travelers in 2014 I bring in award winning singer/songwriters to advise up and coming writers and those that just want to write a better songs. More information about my retreat can be found at: www.songtravelers.com
At one point I brought Sting to Nashville to record a duet with Tammy Wynette for Tammy’s SONY project of duets. That was a very proud moment not only for me but for Sting as well. When I asked him if he’d like to be a part of the project his response was “I’d be honored.” That was a fun session, they recut “Every Breath You Take” and it was phenomenal. Legendary producer Barry Beckett produced the session.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
There are so many different levels of success in the entertainment industry. If you make a living working in the industry you’re a success. For me personally I see success in many aspects of the business. Whether introducing two writers to each other and they go on to write big radio hits or I sign an act to a label and they have huge success. I get great satisfaction knowing that that artist now puts hundreds of people to work supporting their career from managers, to publicist, to songwriters, publishers, producers and musicians to bus drivers and road crews. It’s neat to know you were an integral part of the crew helping to get that ball rolling.
I think as a songwriter I know that all the songs I got recorded were the songs that I worked on the hardest. Whether writing the song or getting it recorded by an artist I never pushed a song I didn’t believe in a hundred percent. When the word comes that one of those hard won songs made the record that alone is reward. It’s the highest compliment to have an artist take a risk on your creation when the artist has so much to lose if they make poor choices. As a songwriter when I hear from a listener that one of my songs helped them through a rough patch or maybe even changed their view about something, that’s success to my ears.
Pricing:
- Record Production fee $1000.00 per side
- Artist/song Consultation $200 an hour
- Performance inquires: booking@wyatteasterling.com
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.wyatteasterling.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/wyatteasterlingmusic
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WyattEasterlingMusic/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@WyattEast
Image Credits
Richard Beukelaar – Rotterdam, NL
Michael Landsman – Hank Dietle’s
Mitchell Kearney – Hat in hand
