Staff
27th January, 2010 - Posted by Turnpike -
Larry Pareigis, President
After graduating with honors from Middle Tennessee State University’s School Of Mass Communications, Pareigis continued the radio career he’d started in Savannah, GA. at 14 with stops at WKDA-AM/WKDF-FM Nashville, WSM-AM-FM/TNN/CMT Nashville, KRST Albuquerque, KNCI/KRAK/KHTK Sacramento & KYCY San Francisco, winning a Gavin program director of the year award on the way.
Post-radio, after a brief stop at Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss’ ALMO Sounds, Pareigis went to work for the newly-rejuvenated Monument Records label under the Sony Nashville umbrella. During his decade with the company that would be Sony BMG Nashville, he ran promotion for each label – at some points ALL the labels – under that umbrella, including the aforementioned Monument, Columbia, Epic & Lucky Dog.
During that decade, he was responsible for breaking acts like Dixie Chicks, Gretchen Wilson, Montgomery Gentry, Van Zant, Miranda Lambert, Buddy Jewell & many more.
Upon leaving SBMG in 2007, Pareigis founded Nine North Records, Nashville’s first “virtual” record label, providing promotion and marketing services to country artists. In February of 2010, Pareigis created Turnpike Music as a companion label to Nine North Records. Turnpike Music will focus on promoting country music to the radio stations that are part of both the Activator and Indicator country charts.
Email Larry: larry@turnpikemusic.com
Tom Moran, Vice President of Promotion & Marketing
After a lengthy career in the pop and rock worlds, Moran segued into country music in the 1990′s. He has done promotion for the Polydor, Warner Bros, and Columbia labels. Moran has also previously served as, VP of Promotion for both Epic Records and Show Dog. Moran has also served as a consultant for numerous country labels. In 2007 Moran joined Nine North Records as VP of Promotion and Marketing and continue to serve in that capacity in addition to his work with Turnpike Music.
Email Tom: tom@turnpikemusic.com
Greg Stevens, National Director of Promotion, West
At 14, Stevens began his first radio job playing Sunday morning tapes on AM radio. He worked at a variety of Rock, Pop and Country stations during his radio career. Some of his most notable stops included KNIX Phoenix, KRAK Sacramento and KRST Albuquerque.
He switched to the record business in the mid 90’s. Stevens’ music business journey started with BNA, and has included stints with Rising Tide, VFR and Quarterback Records. Stevens joined Turnpike’s sister label Nine North Records when it opened in 2007, and moved over to Turnpike Music when it opened in 2010.
Email Greg: greg@turnpikemusic.com
Ryan Barnstead, National Director of Promotion, East
A music business graduate from Middle Tennessee State University, Barnstead’s first week on the job as an intern in the Promotion Department at Epic/Monument Records in Nashville saw the release of the 7x platinum album from the Dixie Chicks “Home.”
Later he officially started his career as the Promotion Coordinator for Epic/Monument Nashville, and worked with numerous artists including The Dixie Chicks, Gretchen Wilson, John Mellencamp, Little Big Town, Harry Connick Jr., and Miranda Lambert. After a couple years, he segued into the Midwest Regional position at sister label Columbia Nashville, where he worked with another impressive group of artists including Montgomery Gentry, Van Zant, Bruce Springsteen, and Buddy Jewell.
After a brief stint with Rust Records, Barnstead teamed up once again with Pareigis to open Nine North Records in June of 2007 and then moved over to Turnpike Music when it opened in February 2010.
Email Ryan: ryan@turnpikemusic.com
Kevin Mason, Director of Top Secret Projects
Kevin Mason handles all of the “top-secret” aspects of both Turnpike Music and Nine North records, focusing on finding new areas to expose our artists. For over 25 years, Mason kept his marketing background top-secret and posed as a member of the media.
Mason is well know in the country format for his years as a Program Director at radio stations WQMX/Akron, WFMS/Indianapolis, and WBHP/Huntsville. Early stops in Mason’s radio career included, WSLC/Roanoke, WCMS/Norfolk, and WLVK/Charlotte.
Prior to joining Turnpike and Nine North, Mason served as Vice President/General manager for the short-lived Rust Records and their online start-up DigitalRodeo.com.
In addition to his top-secret efforts for Turnpike and Nine North, for the last 9 years Mason has run Intensity Media, a music business marketing company that specializes is social media strategies. He also helms Next Level Management & Consulting a music business management company for artists looking to prosper in the new digital landscape.
Email Kevin: kevin@turnpikemusic.com
