Sure-Fire Music Company Inc

Sure-Fire Music was started in the Wilburn’s Family home by Teddy, Doyle and then neighbor Don Helms over 5 decades ago. Teddy and Doyle wanted to provide something that they could continue to work at when it was no longer feasible for them to spend so much time on the road.They soon found that the success of the company made it impossible for them to keep up with the work and continue to tour around the country on show dates. To solve this problem their two older brothers Leslie and Lester joined the company to handle the daily business.It wasn't long before the Company became too large to run from the Little House the Boys, as well as Mom and Pop all shared. They relocated the company office to the Cumberland Lodge Building in Downtown Nashville which was also home to Tree Publishing.This building was located next to the National Life and Casualty Building the company that started WSM. At this time the Opry was held in a small room in the building with a stage at the front.The Music Publishing business was a new venture for the country music industry back then. The only publishing companies of any size in Nashville were Tree, Cedarwood, Acuff Rose and Sure-Fire.It was also around that time that The Boys happened across a little girl From Butcher Holler named Loretta Lynn. Lynn penned many songs over the next 10 years or so, all published by Sure Fire Music.Teddy also began getting a reputation as one of “Nashville's Finest Song Publishers.” In fact he was noted as “The Song Doctor” earned because he helped the writers with their ideas and honing their craft to make it more commercial.He never took writers credits for this gift even though it was well known that some of the songs he “doctored” hardly looked like the starting product. He always said that the writers need the credit more than he did and felt that he was just doing his job as a publisher. The other brothers ran the office while Doyle “pitched” their catalogue to the record companies.Now Tree, Acuff Rose and Cedarwood have all been sold or merged with larger companies, Sure Fire still operated as a family owned company. It is because of the brother’s foresight and knowledge of country music that has today made it the oldest independently owned publishing company of any size in Nashville today.As Sure-Fire Music continued to grow they moved a couple more times. For a while they were located in the Owen Bradley building on 16th Avenue before settling in their present home at 60 Music Square West.Over the years so many of Nashville’s greatest writers have penned songs, walked the halls and have run their offices here between the walls of Sure-Fire. Writers such as Johnny Russell, Loretta Lynn, Patty Loveless, Jim and Jesse McReynolds, The Osborne Brothers, Cindy Walker, Faron Young and so many more.Their Catalog contains over 50 years of Country Music History. Their slogan “Was Make your Next Song a Sure-Fire Hit” and they did just that Over and Over again.