Janie West Music

IT'S ALL THE BEATLES' FAULT. My first memory of life is at 3 years old, listening to Beatles' records with my brothers, complete with home-made plywood guitars, good only for playing air guitar. I became hopelessly addicted to music - any music, as long as it was great. I fell madly in love with well written songs and it's a love affair that continues to this day. Eventually there were piano lessons, guitar lessons, playing in clubs, a college music degree (in piano pedagogy), and a move to Music City, Nashville, TN following college graduation in 1986. I soon landed at MCA Records where I was a staff assistant for a couple of years. Eventually I became the assistant to the president of the label, Jimmy Bowen, and followed him to Capitol Records, where I was on the A&R staff for 5 years. What an adventure! Garth Brooks was on Capitol and I had the privelege of experiencing, up close and personal, the greatest phenomenon country music has ever seen. We also had other great artists that I had the pleasure of working with: Tanya Tucker, Billy Dean, Suzy Bogguss, Chris LeDoux, Barbara Mandrell, Lacy J. Dalton, etc. I quickly realized that the life blood of Nashville were the creative people - the songwriters and musicians. Without them, none of us would have a job. My tenure at Capitol came to an end after Bowen's retirement. At that point I knew that music publishing was where I belonged - close to the songwriters and the songs. Over the next 10 years I worked for several different publishing companies and had cuts with Kenny Rogers, Collin Raye, Garth Brooks, Keb Mo, Trisha Yearwood, Bryan White, Rascal Flatts, Alabama, Wynonna, Bonnie Raitt, etc. I also had the opportunity to work with accomplished songwriters like Tommy Sims, Randy Goodrum, Jim Lauderdale, Judson Spence, Sharon Vaughn, Rob Mathes, etc. From there, I knew it was time for me to do my own thing. Thus, the formation of JANIE WEST MUSIC. Now I am working with fabulous writers like Rob Crosby ("Concrete Angel"), Allen Shamblin ("I Can't Make You Love Me"), Kent Blazy ("If Tomorrow Never Comes"), Cory Batten ("She Wouldn't Be Gone"), Randy Stonehill (Contemporary Christian artist for over 30 years), Monty Holmes ("Troubadour"), Ann Wilson Music (Tammy Hyler), Stacy Widelitz ("She's Like The Wind"), Rob Mathes, Steve Seskin ("Grown Men Don't Cry"), Lisa Drew ("There Is No Arizona"), Moraine Music and Better Angels Music. What an amazing group of writers!! We are looking forward to an incredible 2009! I edited my profile with Thomas' Myspace Editor V4.4