Our Writers

Born in 1899, Abner Silver was the pinnacle Tin Pan Alley song writer, responsible for writing music to songs, for all of the big artists of his day. He worked with various lyricists, most frequently Benny Davis, Al Sherman, and AL Lewis. With a career spanning over 50 years, some of Silvers biggest hits include 1918's "You Can't Blame the Girlies (They All Want to Marry a Soldier)," 1921's "I'm Going South", 1925's "Chasing Shadows" and 1940's "How Did He Look?" In the 1950s Silver wrote several songs for Elvis Presley, including "Young and Beautiful," "What's She Really Like?" and "Lover Doll." Silver’s “With these hands” was covered by Tom Jones for Tim Burton’s Edward Scissor Hands and Cyndi Lauper’s breakout album, “She’s Son Unusual” was named for her cover of Silver’s “He’s So Unusual.”

Stillman was born in New York City. After graduating from New York University. He contributed to Franklin P. Adams' newspaper column, and in 1933 became a staff writer at Radio City Music Hall, a position he held for almost 40 years.

Stillman collaborated with a number of composers including Fred Ahlert, Robert Allen, George Gershwin, Kay Swift, and Arthur Schwartz. Many of his collaborations with Allen were major hits most notably, Moments to Remember.

In 1982, Al Stillman was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

With the release of Future Sons & Daughters French electronic pop duo AIR, French chanteuse Charlotte Gainsbourg and legendary Brazilian icon Caetano Veloso all handpicked AM to support them on various U.S. and International tours in 2010. The album, which was produced by Charles Newman (whose long relationship with the Magnetic Fields produced Realism and 69 Love Songs), brought AM considerable acclaim with what Q Magazine described as “a rare talent, juggling everything from steamy tropicalia, to acoustic ballads, to shimmering ’70?s pop” and Spin described as “distinctive melodic swagger.” Future Sons & Daughters was also named one of Rough Trade’s “Top 100 Best Albums of 2010″.

Tulsa-born and New Orleans-raised, indie artist AM brings a heady brew of twanging Americana, twinkling Anglified folk-rock-pop, caressing Philly soul and funky R&B whatchacallit — and, best of all, joyously unheard points in-between. AM does all this with an acute, finessing ear for the ancient art of real, true songcraft. Sure, AM’s very personal brand of pop is sturdily built, but so are Mack trucks. What we’d like to point your attention to are the brashly bold new shapes he brings to bear on the modern pop song, with, arguably, some of the best bridges and choruses in the bizness. Superbly, subtly drawn arrangements of said material, whether drawing from the Beatles and Badfinger or Curtis Mayfield and Jorge Ben, demonstrate over and again this simple fact of songwriting life: that Imagination and taste is what it’s all about…and these are, of course, things you couldn’t buy with all the gold in the realm. If you watch the tele maybe you’ve heard AM’s tunes on HBO’s “Big Love” MTV “The Hills”, ABC’s “Brothers and Sisters” and a dizzying array of other television shows and films.

Already hard at work on a follow up to Future Sons & Daughters AM has partnered with London based groove master Shawn Lee on a new full length album to be released in May 2011 with plans for a limited edition hand numbered 12-inch single to be released in April. The as-yet-unnamed album, and the first-ever collaboration between AM and Lee, promises to push the boundaries of soul, pop, electronica and Latin grooves.

Andy Biersack (Affiliated Music writer) is front man and lead vocalist of rock band “Black Veil Brides.” The band recently rocked the charts when their newest album “Wretched and Divine: Story of The Wild Ones” hit #7 on the Billboard 200.

Taking a cue from the 80s hair bands, besides making incredible music, Biersack and BVB love putting on a show – hair, makeup, costumes, and all. Although Biersack got off the ground, becoming known in hard rock world, Andy Biersack and BVB are clearly rising stars in the main stream.

You may not know Beasley Smith by name, but you definitely know his songs. They’ve been covered by everyone from Frank Sinatra to Willie Nelson. One might say Smith was a musician’s musician.

Beasley Smith's career on Broadway began in the late 1880s. Most of his music was originally written for shows and he had a thriving career in the theatre. Beginning with composer Reginald DeKoven, Smith collaborated with an array of writers, including a long relationship with Victor Herbert. Smith’s hit shows include The Little Duchess in 1901, A Parisian Model in 1906, Sybil in 1916, and The Circus Princess in 1927.

Not all of his songs were written for the theatre. “That Lucky Old Sun” was made popular by Frankie Laine, peaking at #1 on Billboard’s Best Seller chart in 1949.

Carlos Lyra is a name that has become synonymous with Bosa Nova. It’s as if Bosa Nova has become what it is because of Lyra, and Lyra owes the same debt to the soulful Brazilian Jazz.

Over the past 50 years, Lyra has released 29 recordings, including CDs and LPs, represented Brazil in various international events, written 3 books, taught guitar at his academy, appeared in innumerable shows, wrote, directed, staged and won awards for his plays in Brazil and abroad, wrote music for plays, founded the CPC of UNE, was music director of the National Radio, lived in self-exile for more than eight years, wrote scores for cinema, acted in various films and his music has been brought to life by hundreds of musicians, composers and interpreters all around the world.

Lyra’s early music celebrated the beauty and majesty of Rio De Janeairo, but soon became impassioned with messages of political and social justice. His messages were seen as such an inflammatory threat to the government, that he was pushed into two self-exiles.

Carlos Lyra moved back to his native Rio that originally inspired him to make Bosa Nova, in 1976, and never intends to leave. He continues to make music today.

Prolific writer of pop songs, Diane Lampert’s songs have been recorded by the likes of The Beatles, Harry Nilsson, and Joan Baez. After working on pop for some time, Lampert went on to have a successful run in Hollywoof, writing songs for films, including “The Snow Queen” “Silent Running” “The Wild and the Innocent” and Trees Lounge.” Lampert’s music has been featured in television as well, most notably Mad Men.

George Weiss is responsible for writing many of the timeless chart toppers we all know and love, possibly his most famous being 'What a Wonderful World.' Weiss is also responsible for co-writing 'Can't Help Falling in Love' and 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight,' with fellow Scion writers and long time collaborators, Luigi Creatore and Hugo Peretti.

After studying writing and arranging at the Julliard School of Music, Weiss became an arranger for big bands, such as Stan Kenton, Vincent Lopez, and Johnny Richards. His songs have been performed in many Broadway plays and recorded by many of the greats, including Louie Armstrong, Sarah Vaughn, Sammie David Jr., and Elvis Presley, to name a few.

Haven Gillespie, one of the great Tin Pan Alley writers, is the composer and lyricist of the timeless classics “You Go To My Head,” “Honey,” “By the Sycamore Tree.” Most famously, Gillespie wrote the lyrics to “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” with music by his long time writing partner, J. Fred Coots, which became an immediate hit after debuting on the Eddie Cantor Thanksgiving show.

Besides Coots, Gillespie collaborated with many composers of the day, including Charles Tobias, Richard Whiting, and Neil Moret. His songs have been recorded by Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson, Louis Armstrong, Sarah Vaughn, Justin Beiber and Mariah Carey, to name a few.

It’s impossible to tell the story of Hugo Peretti without the telling story of writing duo Hugo & Luigi. The two cousins, Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore are responsible for writing and producing many of the last century’s top 20 hits - not to mention their role in changing industry standards as producers. The legend goes that the team was formed at the wedding reception of Luigi’s brother. After the two collaborated on a children’s record for Mercury Records, label president Irving Green asked them if they wanted to produce pop records.

The first pop hit they produced was "The Little Shoemaker" by the Gaylords (# 2, 1954). Sarah Vaughan scored several Top 20 hits with their productions, 1954-56, and Hugo and Luigi also contributed to one of the most important commercial trends of the mid-50s, the tidying-up of R&B songs for use by white artists, in their case Georgia Gibbs ("Dance With Me Henry", "Tweedle Dee"). In 1957, the hit-making duo left Mercury to buy into Roulette Records and produced million-selling hits for Jimmie Rodgers : "Honeycomb" (# 1) and "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine" (# 3), and their own compositions "Oh-Oh I'm Falling in Love Again" and "Secretly".

Two years later, Hugo and Luigi signed a production deal with RCA Records that set an industry first. They asked for and received the contract stipulations of a salary, a penny-per-album sold royalty, and producer's credit on all their releases. The pair had an artistic breakthrough when they rejected their creamy-smooth past and recorded the Isley Brothers' raw, uproarious, call-and-response screamer "Shout" (Parts 1 and 2), which only went to # 47 on the pop chart at the time, but established the duo's rock 'n' roll credentials and has sold over 1 million copies in the ensuing years. With that success, Hugo and Luigi were able to lure Sam Cooke away from Keen Records to RCA, and together they had 12 Top 20 hits, including "Chain Gang", "Twistin' the Night Away" and "Bring It On Home To Me". At RCA they also produced The Tokens ("The Lion Sleeps Tonight", # 1 in 1961), Ray Peterson ("Tell Laura I Love Her", # 7) , Perry Como and Little Peggy March ("I Will Follow Him", # 1 in 1963). With George Weiss they co-wrote "Can't Help Falling In Love" for Elvis Presley (though our French list members will undoubtedly tell me that they stole it from "Plaisir d'amour"). Hugo and Luigi were also hit recording artists with the RCA albums "The Cascading Voices of the Hugo and Luigi Chorus" and "Let's Fall in Love" and the single "Just Come Home" in late 1959.

After leaving RCA in 1964, the cousins and George Weiss wrote a musical about the Civil War called "Maggie Flynn", which lasted just 10 weeks on Broadway in 1968. In the '70s, they bought Avco/Embassy Records and had many hits with the Stylistics and produced the first # 1 of the disco era, Van McCoy's "The Hustle" (1975). On their H&L label they issued the Brown Sugar LP by Vivian Reed, the star of the Broadway hit Bubbling Brown Sugar. At the end of the decade, the two retired from the record business. Hugo Peretti died in 1986. Hugo and Luigi's work is available on numerous CD reissues.

Ithaka aka Darin Pappas is a hip hop artist, sculptor, photographer, writer and surfer.

Born and raised in Southern California, Ithaka traveled, working in Japan, Greece, Portugal and Brazil – where he currently lives and works at Recanto Akahti, his ranch on the edge of the Atlantic Rainforest in AkahtiLândia.

Ithaka recorded his first two hip hop albums, Flowers and the Color of Paint and Stellafly in Lisobon. His song, "Escape From The City Of Angels" appeared on the soundtrack for Columbia Pictures' feature release, The Replacement Killers. Under the name Korvowrong, Ithaka was also the lyricist/vocalist on the track "So Get Up".

In addition to creating music, his short story series entitled, Fishdaddy Chronicles, has appeared in surfing magazines around the world. His abstract photographic art and body of sculpture work known as The Reincarnation Of A Surfboard have been exhibited globally.

A young up and coming producer/songwriter who has been in the music game for 25 years. He got his start as a 9 year old drummer, touring around the country with his older twin brothers singing group “Cash” who was signed to Greedy/Casbar Records ran by Don Cornelius (Soul Train legend). He later experienced some success as a member of a vocal group he created called “Smooth Approach” who released 5 albums and enjoyed success on a regional level and overseas, still selling units today in Japan and the UK. SA had the opportunity to perform with national acts such as Destiny’s Child, K-Ci and Jo Jo, The O’Jays, Gerald LeVert, Bone Thugs & Harmony, P Diddy, Usher, Tyrese, Lyfe Jennings and many, many more. As a producer Jeff Tight has written and produced on several projects with local, regional and national artist including Men at Large (East West/Atlantic) Hayden Haidue (Biv 10/Motown) KAT (BMG), Lanji (Arista), RAM-Z (TVT) Smooth Approach (Executive Hits), Cosette (Atlantic), Karin Deanna (Artist Factory/Hiram Hicks), Nikko Smith (American Idol) Joe Little (Atlantic) and Toya (Epic). He has written and produced several commercials for Mountain Dew, Coca Cola, Sierra Mist, DIY, Ford, as well as theme songs for the International Basketball League, The Cleveland Browns and the Cleveland Indians. Jeff Tight’s style is versatile; he produces music in the following genres, R&B, Hip Hop, Country, Pop, Jazz, Latin, Reggae, Rock, House, Techno and World Music. Jeff Tight has also ventured into the world of acting with his role in the feature film “You Got It” as a member of a struggling singing group who finally get their big break in the end. He produced the movie soundtrack along with co-producer Steve “Chaste”Berry (24/7 Kevon Edmonds Arista, Blazin RAM-Z TVT) Jeff also appeared as an extra in the HBO original movie “Proximity” which starred Rob Lowe and T.C Carson. Jeff’s talents were utilized for a national voting campaign headed up by Block Buster Video and the NAACP in an effort to encourage African Americans to vote. He produced the theme song entitled “Race To Vote” and it aired nationally on BET for 2 months and was featured on the “Tom Joyner Morning Show” nationally. Jeff Tight’s song “Where dem boyz at” was featured on MTV’s Pimp My Ride and the latest Artist produced by Jeff Tight DEEP 3 has been featured on and won BET’s Wild out Wednesday twice and MTV’s Next Pop Group. Jeff Tight’s music has recently been featured on ESPN Radio’s “Really Big Show” as the opening theme song. His current artist Congrez is blazing a trail in the music industry and was also featured on BET and currently selling records and creating numbers on ITunes, CDBaby and YouTube internationally.

Jerry Barnes is no newcomer to the music industry. At a young age, he formed the duo, Juicy, with his sister, Katreese, and recorded three albums; one for Arista and two for Epic Records.

Jerry has produced, performed and written for artists such as Roberta Flack, Chaka Khan, Carly Simon, Ashanti, Stevie Wonder, Patti Labelle, Raul Midon, Queen Latifah, Diana Ross, Chic, Vanessa Williams, Donald Fagen, Katreese Barnes, Sherrod Barnes, Phylis Hyman, Tony Terry, Maya, Bebe Winans, Bette Midler, Arif Mardin, Nas, AZ, O.A.R. Queen Latifah ......... and many more to come.

During the lifetime of a career that spanned upwards of five decades, Dixon wrote more than 200 songs. Author of gospel classics such as I Love To Praise His Name and He's The Best Thing To Happen to Me, Dixon was perhaps most known for his 1993 hit, I Am Redeemed, a song that impacted audiences worldwide, and held a top-ten position on the gospel charts for over five years.

Dixon began studying music at the age of five, and his original aspiration was to become a classical pianist. Dixon was catapulted into a broader gospel scene after being discovered by gospel music legend, James Cleveland, but remained dedicated to his desire of sharing that gospel he heard about as a youth.

Over the course of his career in gospel music, Dixon received several Dove award nominations for his work, seven Grammy nominations, garnered five gold albums, and was a 2008 Christian Music Hall of Fame inductee.

In addition to his accomplishments in the realm of gospel, Dixon also enjoyed success in other genres of music. Dixon was well known for his collaboration and friendship with Paul Simon, with whom he toured for eight years, and was contributor on several of Simons albums. Aside from his work with Paul Simon, Dixon also wrote numerous songs for such artists as Cher, Natalie Cole, Amy Grant, and Diana Ross. In addition to singing and songwriting, Dixon played keyboard with Earth, Wind, and Fire, and guitarist Phillip Upchurch, as well as piano for gospel legend, Mahalia Jackson.

Joseph Meyer is responsible for writing some of the most notable songs of the first half of the 20th century. Meyer’s first success came in 1922 with lyricist Harry Ruby when the two wrote “My Honey’s Lovin’ Arms.” The song was recorded by the California Ramblers and Benny Goodman, but reached its highest Billboard peak with a recording by Isham Jones in 1922. Later that year, Meyer worked with lyricist Buddy De Sylva to create the Al Jolson #1 recording “California, Here I Come.”

Meyer contributed songs to several Broadway scores, including Big Boy, Just Fancy, Here’s Howe, Lady Fingers, Charlot’s Revue (1925), Yes, Yes, Yvette, Ziegfeld Follies (1934) and New Faces (1936),. He also contributed to the film scores of George White’s Scandals of 1935, Remote Control and Possessed.

He wrote the melody to "A Cup of Coffee, a Sandwich, and You” often used in Warner Brothers' cartoons.

Known to her fans by first name only, Joyce, is a living legend in her home country of Brazil, and throughout the world of Portuguese jazz.

Born in Rio de Janeiro, the singer, composer, arranger and instrumentalist JOYCE MORENO has in her portfolio 400 recordings of songs she has authored, interpreted by the greatest names in Brazilian popular music: Elis Regina, Gal Costa, Maria Bethânia, Milton Nascimento, Ney Matogrosso, Edu Lobo, Emilio Santiago, Boca Livre, Nana Caymmi, Zizi Possi, Elizeth Cardoso, Simone, Leny Andrade, Mônica Salmaso, and many others. Beyond Brazil, Joyce’s work has been recorded by Annie Lennox, Wallace Roney, Omara Portuondo, Black Eyed Peas, David Sanchez, Jon Lucien, Claus Ogerman, Gerry Mulligan, Till Brönner, and Flora Purim, to name a few. Joyce’s compositions have been featured in film soundtracks (e.g., The Player by Robert Altman and Legally Blonde by Robert Luketic), animations (the Japanese anime Wolf’s Rain, in partnership with composer Yoko Kanno), TV programs, and theatrical productions. Since the beginning of her career, Joyce’s registered trademark has been the first-person feminine voice, which she pioneered; she was the first Brazilian songwriter to express herself in this form, opening the way for countless other artists who followed.

Joyce received four nominations for the Latin Grammy. To date, she has released 33 personal CDs and two DVDs, in addition to numerous compilations and guest appearances. Currently, her work takes her all over the world; she makes annual tours and records new albums in various countries, never losing her feminine Brazilian identity. Each year she performs on the Japanese Blue Note circuit and tours jazz festivals and other venues in Europe and North America.

Julius LaRosa is a Brooklyn boy from another era. Known for his pop standard hits, he made a name for himself on the TV show Arthur Godfrey and his Friends,eventually exceeding even the shows host in popularity, receiveing over 7,000 fan letters a week. After leaving the show, LaRosa recorded his biggest hit Eh Cumpari.

LaRosa went on to host popular radio shows as a disc jockey, and found his way into acting on a number of television shows. He was nominated for a Daytime Emmy for his work on Another World.

Julius LaRosa is a true lover of music. He prides himself on story-telling through song and making others happy, doing what makes him happy.

Jonathan "King Phaze" Rivera (born May 20, 1985) is an American also known as King Phaze, a Rapper, song writer and record executive who is known for his feature in the song "Lately" with Billy Ray Cyrus's new band, Brother Clyde.

King Phaze is president of First Priority Music, founded by Nat Robinson, who had recent success with acts such as Eamon (singer), MC Lyte among others. Phaze is also vice president of Magic Lantern Films founded by Don Stone & Nat Robinson. He is also partners With Music Executive Sean Guerrier De Bey.

Currently, Phaze is working on his new album entitled "King Of America" with songs featuring Swizz Beatz, Jadakiss, Styles P, DMX (rapper), Kino Kiongivi, Divine Bars & Dame Grease.

Jonathan "King Phaze" Rivera is no stranger to the music business, having grown up alongside various members of the Wu Tang Clan and young apprentice of Legendary Rapper "Big Pun" in the early 90's.

He was recently featured on Brother Clyde's self-titled album. They performed their hit single "Lately", which was released on Buena Vista Records and Fontana Records, on the George Lopez show alongside country singer legend Billy Ray Cyrus.

Larry Spier was not only a songwriter, but also the founder of Memory Lane Music Group. In 1923, Larry Spier, Sr. co-wrote the music to "Memory Lane" (ahem.) The song was a huge hit, later revived in the 1944 Abbott and Costello film "In Society," and served as Larry's entry into the music business. Shortly afterwards, Larry partnered with songwriters Sam Coslow and Andy Britt to compose the hit "Was It a Dream". Larry eventually realized that his true talents lie in the business of music publishing. Along with Sam Coslow, he formed the music publishing company of Spier and Coslow in 1928, serving as his entry into the publishing world. For More on Larry Spier, please visit the “About Us” page.

The writing career of Larry Stock can be described as nothing short of prolific. The songwriter got his start in the industry as a classically trained musician. However, after graduating college during the great depression, he could only get sporadic work playing evenings in the clubs, which left a lot of time for writing music. The young artist quickly found it easier to make a living writing songs than performing concerts. Stock was successfully writing and selling songs before getting any real recognition with his first big hit “Umbrella Man” in 1938.

Over the course of his career, Larry Stock churned out scores of hits, but used to say he had thousands of unpublished songs as well. Besides “Umbrella Man,” Stock’s most notable songs probably are “Blueberry Hill” and “You’re Nobody Till Somebody Loves You” which are both now deeply ingrained in American musical culture. In 1998 Stock was inducted posthumously into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Anyone who knows 70s or 80s R&B knows the name Leroy Burgess. He may not have been on every album cover of the genre but, usually, he had something to do with creating them.

Mr. Burgess is a singer, songwriter, keyboard player and producer. Most known as a lead vocalist of Black Ivory, releasing a number of R&B hits with the group, including "Don't Turn Around", "You And I", "I'll Find A Way “,"Spinning Around", "What Goes Around " and "Will We Ever Come Together".

Outside of his work with Black Ivory, Burgess had numerous club hits as a solo artist and then with the band Aleem. Burgess wrote and produced a substantial number of hits for the artists as well, including "Big Time" for Rick James, and wrote and performed on the Bob Blank production of Fonda Rae's big hit "Over Like A Fat Rat."

In 2007, he released "Throwback: Harlem 79-83", followed in 2010 by "Throwback: Vol.II: Sugar Hill 82-86", the first albums under his own name. Most recently he collaborated with the other members Black Ivory on their long awaited reunion album "Continuum."

MANDRILL came “outta da bush” four decades ago pushing the musical envelope with a hard-driving combination of heavy horns and heavy percussion deftly layered on a complex mix of Funk, Jazz, Latin, R&B, Rock and Afro-Caribbean sounds, pioneering a genre called “World Music.” This cultural “mash-up” is a staple of the industry today but, because of their innovative work, Grammy Award-winning MANDRILL commands enthusiastic adoration from supporters around the world who have been touched by the “Mandrill Experience.”

One of the most sampled groups today, a new generation of younger fans is appreciating the power and artistry of this band. Their distinctive sound is found in Eminem‘s “On Fire” (from his Grammy Award-winning CD Recovery), Kanye West‘s “Two Words” (from his Grammy Award-winning CD College Dropout), Snoop Dog‘s “Cold Game,” Brandy‘s “Talk About Our Love,” Black Eyed Peas‘ “Weekend,” Wyclef Jean‘s “You Say Keep It Gangsta,” Tweet and Missy Elliott‘s “We Don’t Need No Water,” Floetry‘s “Have Faith,” Nas‘ “U Gotta Love It,” Shawty Lo‘s “Dey Know,” KRS One‘s “For Example,” Kindred‘s “If I,” Public Enemy‘s “By the Time I Get To Arizona (dubbed ‘hip hop’s anthem’),” and more.

MANDRILL’s musical and lyrical message is positive, uplifting and purposely brings people of all races, genders and ages together. “Peace, Love and Justice is our mantra,” say the founding Wilson Brothers. “It’s always an Agenda for Healing.” To that end they have performed extensively throughout the world.

As much a philosopher as a musician, Affiliated Music writer, Mason Jennings has established quite a name for himself in American Indie rock culture.

Jennings dropped out of school to pursue his musical ambitions, and has managed to remain single minded in his journey since. Mason self produced his first, self titled album, from his home. The album gained him some local recognition, and a weekly gig at a Minnesota venue. Shortly after, he was touring nationally with The Mason Jennings band. From humble beginnings, Mason has since recorded 10 albums in addition to producing works for films, DVDs, and compilations.

Mason’s sound retains a purity of folk music from era’s past. His lyrics have a direct honesty, rarely achieved by today’s writers, while still being fun, and easy to listen to. But most importantly, to Jennings himself, he has and uses his own voice. It’s no surprise that his music is loved by some of today’s most popular musicians.

Mason regularly tours the U.S. You can see when Mason will be performing in your area, at the link below.

Patrick Peter Owen Adams (born, March 17, 1950 in Harlem, New York City, New York, US) is an American musician and record producer. He has earned 32 gold and platinum records. He is known primarily for his production, songwriting and engineering work on the New York-based Salsoul Records, Prelude Records and major record labels as well as his associations with various recording artists such as R. Kelly, Keith Sweat, Teddy Riley, Salt-N-Pepa, Jocelyn Brown, Loleatta Holloway, Leroy Burgess and bands (The Universal Robot Band, Logg and Musique). He owns and operates Patrick Adams Productions in New York City.

During his prolific and influential career, dance/club music icon, Patrick Adams has recorded over 300 of his songs and has been involved in over 1000 recordings; including Sister Sledge, Loleatta Holloway, Main Ingredient, Shannon, Cares, Thomas&Taylor, Ace Spectrum, Inner Life, Leroy Burgess, The Spinners, Gladys Knight, Skipworth & Turner, Candi Staton, Eddie Kendricks, Herbie Mann, Debbie Taylor, Bumblebee Unlimited, Universal Robot Band, Narada Michael Walden, Rick James, Chatelaine, Cloud One and Bruni Pagan. In addition, Adams has worked with pop, hip-hop/r&b and dance/club acts such as Coolio, Cathy Dennis, Keith Sweat, Teddy Riley, Black Ivory, R. Kelly, Eric B & Rakim, Salt-N-Pepa and Shades of Love, Jeanie Tracy.

Shawn Mims may have seemed to erupt onto the hip hop scene with a number 1 hit at the age of 26, but in reality, this young superstar has been making music for a long time. Originating from Washington Heights, NYC, Mims did not have it easy growing up. After tragically losing both parents and a baby sister by the time he was thirteen, he made a decision early on. Instead of turning to anger, Shawn Mims had the wherewithal to turn to music, and the rest is history.

With his latest album “Guilt” Mims has shown the world he’s no flash in the pan. Hitting the billboard charts, the album featured the single “Move (If You Wanna)” which went Gold.

Tom Glazer was a great American songwriter, folk singer and all around entertainer. Like most folk singers, Glazer was known for writing ballads that dealt with the social and economic challenges of his time, like "Because All Men Are Brothers", recorded by The Weavers and Peter, Paul and Mary, "Talking Inflation Blues", recorded by Bob Dylan, and "A Dollar Ain't A Dollar Anymore". However, he it’s most likely he sung his way into our hearts with his playful children’s songs like “On Top of Spaghetti” and “Why Does the Sun Shine” which was later covered by They Might Be Giants.

In addition to writing music Glazer performed as well, making a successful professional début at the New York City Town Hall in January 1943. And, in 1945 had a radio show Tom Glazer's Ballad Box.

Growing up during the time when rap was taking shape, Queens NY native, Ty Fyffe, found his passion in making music for some of Hip-Hops most renowned artists. Fyffe is somewhat of a quiet storm. Not so much known by the average music consumers, yet recognized and respected by the industry A & R’s and Execs as the man who “brings the heat”.

Fyffe is recognized for his hypnotic melodies and catchy sounds in both Hip-Hop and R&B. You will find his name in the album credits of over sixteen platinum selling albums ranging from Slick Rick and LL to Jay-Z and 50 Cent! His ability to create quality music immediately attracted the industry’s decision makers.

His music ended up in the hands of the legendary hitmaker, Teddy Riley, who eventually moved Fyffe to Virginia Beach to join his production team. The first major credit to Fyffe’s discography was Wrexx n Effect’s “Rump Shaker” which he produced with Riley. The rest is history.

After many”all nighters” in the studio, Fyffe quickly became known for his rhythmic sound and became responsible for some of Hip-Hop’s greatest hits. With a discography boasting the likes of Eric Sermon, Cam’Ron, Nas, Ja Rule, Red Man, Fat Joe, MC Lyte, Foxy Brown, Beanie Seagal, Bone Thugz & Harmony, MIMS and the first single from 50 Cent’s Curtis album. More recently you will find Ty adding his name to the credits on tracks for Snoop Dogg, Rakim Plus Canadian hot shot Drake on his debut album. Now as the president of TYBU Productions, Inc., a full service production company which provides production for various genres including Hip-Hop, R&B, Pop, Rock and more. Fyffe also owns and operates The Music Factory Recording Studio in West Hempstead, N.Y. where all his hits are made.

For more info on Ty check out tyfyffe.com

William Dawson was born in 1899 in Anniston, Alabama, in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.

Dawson was drawn to music at a young age. At age 13 he ran away from home, against his father’s wishes, to pursue an education at the Tuskagee Institute, the revolutionary boy’s school, founded by Booker T. Washington, where he worked on the school’s farms to pay for his education.

For the complete, fascinating, history of this groundbreaking composer, see his full biography at Emory.edu