January 7, 2008

THE MUSIC BIZ

Walking the line on the Row for 20 years

Publicist Martha Moore has been making stars out of country acts since The Man in Black

BY RON WYNN rwynn@nashvillecitypaper.com

Over the past two decades Martha Moore has been a familiar name and face to anyone and everyone with any ties to or interest in Nashville’s music scene. She’s made So Much Moore Media a household name not just locally and nationally but internationally, assisting a wealth of independent artists, while working with well-known stars and building the profile of new and emerging acts.
   Now, as she celebrates her 20th year at the head of So Much Moore, she still maintains some key principles in regards to the choice and selection of clients.
   “I only take on artists whose music I really enjoy and who are the type of people that I really enjoy working with and being around,” Moore said. “The first thing that I do whenever someone contacts me about representing them is to get a CD of their music and really listen to it closely. If it’s not something that I can be passionate about, then it’s not someone that I’ll take on.”
An all-star roster of talent
   Moore’s mix of exuberant advocacy, energetic interaction and natural charm has enabled her to attract a host of clients since she opened her doors with a fellow by the name of Johnny Cash being her first artist.
   The impressive list of people whom she’s worked with includes Jerry Reed, Sylvia, The Amazing Rhythm Aces, David Frizzell, as well as current performers like Todd Fritsch, Jeff Griffith, Lantana, Lisa O’Kane, Jeffrey Halford, Walter Hyatt, Victor Mecyssne Anthony and the legendary singer/songwriter Hank Cochran, who has been a client for 12 years.
   She has not been hesitant to take advantage of new technologies in the marketplace on behalf of her clients either.
   Indeed Moore has both a Web site [somuchmoore.com] and MySpace page [myspace.com/marthaemoore] and says she gets numerous inquiries and solicitations online.
   “One of the most interesting that I got recently was from a rapper in Australia,” Moore said, laughing. “He saw my information online and sent me his whole package, but it just wasn’t something that I wanted to do, though it was quite interesting.”
   Moore added that she feels fortunate that her experience and reputation have enabled her to attract new acts.
   “I get anywhere from 90 to 95 percent now of my business through referrals,” Moore said. “They come from musicians, other clients I’ve worked with, in some cases people that I’ve never even met in the business, but they’ve heard about me and they send me clients. It’s a wonderful feeling, and something that I’m very grateful about and feel quite blessed to have continually happening.”
Embracing the future
   Perhaps the biggest change Moore’s witnessed during her tenure concerns the Internet and its impact on the business, particularly from the media end.
   “There are far fewer print magazines and availabilities for artists today, and that’s one of the downsides from the Internet,” Moore said. “But the plus side to that is that now you don’t need as much from a resource standpoint to get someone’s name out there.
   And Moore realizes there’s a much bigger world out there than when she started.
   “Now I think globally in terms of media exposure for all my artists,” she said. “I’d say about 80 percent of my clients are artists who are known in their area, either locally or regionally, and they’re depending on me to help expand their profile nationally and internationally. One of the clients whom I’ve been very fortunate in terms of getting them international dates has been Lisa O’Kane. It’s also helped greatly in regards to many of the Texas artists such as Todd Fritsch.”
   While singer/songwriters and musical performers are her prime constituency, Moore has branched out to do the media campaign for two books.
   One is the finally issued 30 Years On The Road With Gene Autry by the late Johnny Bond, which recounts Bond’s recollections of his long association with Autry, while No Name of the Bullet by Don Graham is the biography of war hero and western film star Audie Murphy.
   Though reluctant to cite any one client as a favorite, Moore does admit to a particular fondness and joy in her long-term relationship with the great Hank Cochran.
   “He’s such a wonderful, vibrant person, and still very much involved with writing and performing to this day,” Moore said. “When you call him he’ll often say I wrote a new song, do you want to hear part of it? Or he’ll talk about a session he’s doing, or what he’s working on lately. He’s such a positive, upbeat person and one of the greatest creative geniuses that’s ever come through Nashville.”
   Another person Moore remembers is the late Big Al Downing, who battled against racial barriers throughout his career as one of the few black country music singers, yet never let his struggles embitter or anger him.
   “Big Al was really just a big kid,” Moore said. “He always had a smile on his face, and he never ever let the struggles he was undergoing in terms of his career affect his outlook on life or the way that he dealt with people. He could be telling you things about his upbringing or about some of the things he encountered during his career, but no matter how ugly the incidents, Big Al never let it make him angry. He was just really starting to make the impact in country music that he’d fought for all those years, and then he died too soon. But he was one of those people who make an impact in your life that’s not only professional, but highly personal.”
   With many upcoming projects scheduled for the New Year involving such performers as Randy Thompson, Zane Lewis, Ansel Brown and Sammy Sadler as well as her many other clients, Martha Moore doesn’t anticipate slowing down any time soon.
   “No, I still really love what I do and really enjoy the music of all these people, so we’ll just continue what we’ve been doing all these years.” ^CP

Courtesy of Martha Moore Martha Moore of So Much Moore Media works not only locally, but nationally and internationally to gain her clients fame.