Warrior Magazine December 2018

writers. She said “I will continue to work with certain songwriters and take on a deeper role in the managing of certain artists. I was able to create my own company under the Redlight Management umbrella and I’m super excited to see what comes next. I will continue to work with certain songwriters who I have signed in cluding Lauren Alaina, Chris Staple ton, Kacey Musgraves, and Brantley Gilbert. I will also start to take on certain management roles for artists that I sign to the new deal. I’m super excited!” In both publishing and manage ment, Pruitt says she is always look ing for something that stands out. “Something different that makes you feel something. We call it the ‘it’ factor … you just can feel it when you hear or see it. I like real artists, real songwriters,” she said. Pruitt said the highlight of her ca

Alicia Pruitt Alicia Pruitt has been in Nash

ville since 2000 and completed her business degree in music at Belmont University. She said she started working in the music industry for free because she loved it so much. Today, she works with artists and songwriters across the genre. “I started in this industry working for free because I loved it so much! I think a lot of people have to do that. I answered phones, went to get a lot of coffees for people and anything and everything I could to make it. A lot of great people took the time with me and helped me climb the ladder. Even today, I’m still learning every single day from the greats. However, I would say my big break in life was having two parents who supported me and believed in me and helped me along the way. I owe it all to them.” Pruitt said she has had many great people influence her life, both in Nashville and back home in Mis sissippi. “There have been so many great people in my life. Every teacher at Sebastopol High School, the friends/ family I had there, great leaders and friendships here in Nashville. To name everyone who has made a difference in my life would take up every page of every article you could write. I will say that finding my Savior, Jesus Christ, right around my ECCC years, has been the biggest gift of my life. “East Central was a huge step for me. There were so many great people around that organization, including great teachers. It was the first years of my life away from my parents’ house and it taught me so much about life.” For the past 13 years, Pruitt has worked at Warner Chappell Music where she most recently served as Senior Vice President of Artists and Repertoire. Her job was to sign, help guide, and maintain day-to-day activ ities of songwriters and artists. That included anything and everything from securing them record deals to helping them do demo sessions. Recently, Pruitt accepted a new position at Redlight Management, also based in Nashville, where she has moved into more of the manage ment world with artists and song

Michael Hardy Submitted Photo

reer so far has been working with artists on a daily basis and to see them succeed after years of hard work. “My favorite part of the job is to watch people who have worked so hard win! I love watching people succeed and getting to be a part of the creative process.” She said one of the most challenging aspects of the music industry is that it is mostly based off of people’s opinions. “Is that song or artist or songwriter good? It gets somewhat stressful when you believe something is one way and the person making the decision believes it’s another. Just like any job, things get stressful, but it’s also a very exciting and different job. Ev ery day is different,” she said. When asked what she sees for the future of the industry, Pruitt said, “I’ve been asked that in many interviews and the one thing that I will say about the industry, is it’s always changing. The way everyone is consuming music now is changing, which makes the rest of us have to change. People will always listen to music but how they do that is ever-changing.”

Alicia Pruitt Submitted Photo

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