ACM@UCO executive director Scott Booker will lead a “power brunch” presentation Friday during the 19th annual Americana Music Festival & Conference, which runs Tuesday through Sunday in Nashville, Tennessee.

Gathering thousands of artists, fans and industry professionals from around the world, the 2018 AmericanaFest features seminars, panels and networking opportunities in addition to more than 500 live performances at dozens of prominent Nashville venues over six days, all while celebrating the melting pot of Americana’s influences, including roots, folk, country, blues and soul-based music.

For the third consecutive year at AmericanaFest, the Oklahoma Film + Music Office and its Studio Oklahoma project, a collective of Oklahoma industry partners, showcase Oklahoma music during events scheduled throughout the week.

Kaitlin Butts

Booker is traveling to Nashville with the help of the Oklahoma Film + Music Office, which curated the power brunch bringing together music industry representatives and Studio Oklahoma partners in an intimate setting for one-on-one networking. 

Thursday, Sept. 13, OKF+MO and Studio Oklahoma also present The Okie Roundup networking and music showcase at Blake Shelton’s new venue, Ole Red Nashville. Performers include former ACM@UCO vocal performance student Kaitlin Butts and longtime genre-defining act the Red Dirt Rangers.

“Nothing makes me more excited than getting an opportunity to speak about what is happening with the music businesses in Oklahoma,” Scott Booker, executive director of The Academy of Contemporary Music at the University of Central Oklahoma (ACM@UCO), said in a media statement. “The growth in this vital industry is almost easier for people outside looking into to Oklahoma than it sometimes is for us to see ourselves.”

The six-day festival is presented by the Americana Music Association, a professional nonprofit trade organization whose mission is to advocate for the authentic voice of American roots music around the world.

“Going to an event like AmericanaFest reminds me of all the great music and entrepreneurial talent that represent us constantly around the world,” Booker added.

The festival’s marquee event, the Americana Music Association’s Annual Honors & Awards Show, will be nationally televised Wednesday, Sept. 12, at the historic Ryman Auditorium, and features performances by genre-leading talent.

Scheduled 2018 Americana Fest headliners include Courtney Marie Andrews, Brandi Carlile, Rosanne Cash, Tyler Childers, Anderson East, Mary Gauthier, Buddy Guy, Lilly Hiatt, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Robert Earl Keen, k.d. lang, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, Margo Price, John Prine, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats and Irma Thomas, among others.

For more:

• Learn more about the Oklahoma Film + Music Office here.
• Learn more about Studio Oklahoma here.