Holly Gleason

Last updated
Holly Gleason
Book portrait tight.jpg
Photo by Allistar Ann
Born Shaker Heights, Ohio, U.S.
OccupationMusic journalist, songwriter, music industry consultant
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater University of Miami
Spalding University
Period1991- present
Website
hollygleason.com

Holly Gleason is an American music critic, songwriter, and music industry consultant. Focused primarily on country and roots music, she has written for Rolling Stone , the New York Times , and Spin , among others. [1] As a publicist, Gleason has worked with artists including Kenny Chesney, Brooks & Dunn, Emmylou Harris, John Prine, and Rodney Crowell. [2] Under the name Lady Goodman, she co-wrote "Better as a Memory," a #1 hit on the Billboard Hot Country charts for Chesney in 2008. [3] [4]

Contents

Early life and education

Gleason grew up in Shaker Heights, Ohio. She earned a BA in communications from the University of Miami and an MFA in writing from Spalding University. [2] In 2016, she received the Distinguished Alumnae Award from Laurel in recognition of her career in the music business, [5]

Career

Music critic, publicist

While still in college, Gleason began her career as a music critic for the Miami Herald. [2] From 1990 through 1993, she worked as a publicist for Sony Music Nashville, and subsequently founded Joe's Garage, a Nashville-based public relations and artist development agency. While the company was active (1993–2008), she additionally served as the features editor for Hits (1998–2000), and founded a blog, The Yummy List. [6]

Gleason has freelanced as a music critic and journalist since 1993. She was nominated for Best Cultural Reporting for her 2015 essay, “The Impossible Lightness of Being Taylor Swift,” by the International Network of Street Papers. In 2016, she was awarded a fellowship by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s CWRU Center for Pop Music Studies. [1]

Gleason edited Woman Walk the Line: How the Women in Country Music Changed Our Lives, a collection of essays by female music writers on the artists that inspired them. It was published in September 2017 by the University of Texas Press as part of their American Music Series. [7] The book received the 2018 Belmont Book Award, presented for the best book on country music that year at the International Country Music Conference, considered to be "the foremost academic gathering devoted to country, roots and bluegrass music in the nation." [8] [9] Gleason made appearances for the book at the Southern Festival of Books, Miami Book Fair, South by Southwest, Country Music Hall of Fame and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. [9]

Lady Goodman

Gleason writes songs under the pen name Lady Goodman, a character in the film Almost Famous. She has collaborated with Guy Clark, Rodney Crowell, Bill Deasy, Matchbox 20's Kyle Cook, Restless Heart's Larry Stewart, Marc Lee Shannon and Andrea Zonn. [10] After working as Chesney's publicist, she co-wrote "Better as a Memory" with Travis Hill (credited as Scooter Carusoe). Chesney recorded the song unaware that Gleason had written it, and included it on his 2007 album Just Who I Am: Poets and Pirates. [2] [3]

Y'ALL EAT YET? Welcome to the Pretty B*tchin' Kitchen

Having interviewed Miranda Lambert extensively, when the Texas songwriter signed a book deal with HarperCollins to create a lifestyle/entertaining book. she enlisted Gleason as collaborator. It debuted at #3 on The New York Times Bestseller List, and appeared on Amazon's Country, Celebrity Cookbooks. [11] It was #2 on Amazon's overall best sellers list upon release. [12]

A hybrid take on music, memoir, cooking, and female friends, Y'ALL EAT YET? was nominated for Best Book, Non-Fiction at the National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards. [13] It also received an ANDY Nomination for Best Memoir and Narrative Nonfiction at the 2024 Gathering of the Ghosts. [14]

Additional awards

In 2018, Brenda Lee and Jeannie Seely inducted Gleason into the SOURCE Hall of Fame. Created in 1991, it's the longest running organization dedicated to recognizing women in the music industry. [15] Held at the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum at Nashville's Municipal Auditorium, the class included mentors Ronna Rubin, Cathy Gurley, JoAnne Berry, along with Anita Hogan, Tammy Genovese, and Barbara Baker. [16]

In 2019, Miranda Lambert presented Gleason the Country Music Association's Media Achievement Award, recognizing impact beyond the mere execution of covering the genre. [17] Among the stories Gleason, who's written extensively about women in country, was recognized for was her cover package for POLLSTAR that included the cover profile of Underwood, Miranda Lambert's All-Female our and an overview of A Woman's Place is on the Road. [17]

In 2023, Gleason was won Entertainment Journalist of the Year by the Los Angeles Press Club at the Southern California Media Awards. The committee wrote of their decision: “With her experience in writing about the music industry, particularly country music, Gleason combines that vast knowledge with incisive interview questions and revealing profiles of musicians." [18] She also won the top award for music criticism for her essay on why Dolly Parton belongs in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. [18]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dolly Parton</span> American country musician (born 1946)

Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, actress, and philanthropist, known primarily for her decades-long career in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album debut in 1967 with Hello, I'm Dolly, which led to success during the remainder of the 1960s, before her sales and chart peak arrived during the 1970s and continued into the 1980s. Some of Parton's albums in the 1990s did not sell as well, but she achieved commercial success again in the new millennium and has released albums on various independent labels since 2000, including her own label, Dolly Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loretta Lynn</span> American country singer (1932–2022)

Loretta Lynn was an American country music singer and songwriter. In a career spanning six decades, Lynn released multiple gold albums. She had numerous hits such as "Hey Loretta", "The Pill", "Blue Kentucky Girl", "Love Is the Foundation", "You're Lookin' at Country", "You Ain't Woman Enough", "I'm a Honky Tonk Girl", "Don't Come Home A-Drinkin' ", "One's on the Way", "Fist City", and "Coal Miner's Daughter". The 1980 musical film Coal Miner's Daughter was based on her life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blake Shelton</span> American country singer (born 1976)

Blake Tollison Shelton is an American country music singer and television personality. In 2001, he made his debut with the single "Austin" from his first album, Blake Shelton. "Austin" spent five weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. The now Platinum-certified debut album also produced two more top 20 entries.

This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matraca Berg</span> American singer-songwriter

Matraca Maria Berg Hanna is an American country music singer and songwriter. She has released five albums: three for RCA Records, one for Rising Tide Records and one for Dualtone Records, and has charted in the top 40 of the U.S. Billboard country charts with "Baby, Walk On" and "The Things You Left Undone," both at No. 36. Besides most of her own material, Berg has written hits for T.G. Sheppard, Karen Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Deana Carter, Patty Loveless, Kenny Chesney and others. In 2008 she was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and in 2018 she received the Poet's Award from the Academy of Country Music Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miranda Lambert</span> American country singer (born 1983)

Miranda Leigh Lambert is an American country singer, songwriter and guitarist. Born in Longview, Texas, she started out in early 2001 when she released her self-titled debut album independently. In 2003, she finished in third place on the television program Nashville Star, a singing competition which aired on the USA Network. Outside her solo career, she is a member of the Pistol Annies, a group she formed in 2011 alongside Ashley Monroe and Angaleena Presley. Lambert has been honored by the Grammy Awards, the Academy of Country Music Awards and the Country Music Association Awards. Lambert has been honored with more Academy of Country Music Awards than any artist in history and was named by the Chicago Tribune as the "greatest country music artist of all time" in 2019.

This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allison Moorer</span> American singer-songwriter (born 1972)

Allison Moorer is an American country singer-songwriter. She signed with MCA Nashville in 1997 and made her debut on the U.S. Billboard Country Chart with the release of her debut single, "A Soft Place to Fall", which she co-wrote with Gwil Owen. The song was featured in Robert Redford's The Horse Whisperer and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1999. Moorer performed at the Oscars ceremony the same year. She has made ten albums and her songs have been recorded by Trisha Yearwood, Kenny Chesney, Miranda Lambert, Steve Earle, and Hayes Carll.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coal Miner's Daughter (song)</span> 1970 single by Loretta Lynn

"Coal Miner's Daughter" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Loretta Lynn. Considered Lynn's signature song, it was originally released as a single in 1970 and became a number one hit on the Billboard country chart. It was later released on an album of the same name. Produced by Owen Bradley, the song tells the story of Lynn's coal-mining father in rural Kentucky during the Great Depression. Lynn, who was born in 1932 and experienced the Great Depression as a child, also describes her childhood and the circumstances she was raised in during those years.

This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 2007.

<i>Crazy Ex-Girlfriend</i> (album) 2007 studio album by Miranda Lambert

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is the second studio album by American country music artist, Miranda Lambert, released May 1, 2007, by Columbia Nashville. It was produced by Frank Liddell and Mike Wrucke.

Norris Denton "Norro" Wilson was an American country music singer-songwriter, producer, and member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Better as a Memory</span> 2008 single by Kenny Chesney

"Better as a Memory" is a song written by Scooter Carusoe and Lady Goodman and recorded by American country music artist Kenny Chesney. It was released in March 2008 as the fourth and final single from Chesney's 2007 album Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates. With a two-week stay, it became Chesney's fourteenth number one hit on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for the week of June 28, 2008.

Thomas Stevenson Douglas is an American country music songwriter. He has written Top 10 Billboard Country hits for John Michael Montgomery, Martina McBride, Tim McGraw, Collin Raye, Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Kenny Chesney and others.

This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Josh Osborne</span> American singer-songwriter

Josh Osborne is an American songwriter with several number-one singles to his credit.

This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in 2016.

Jon Nite is an American singer/songwriter. He is Grammy-nominated, and has won CMA and ACM awards. He has written over 30 Billboard Airplay hits including 18 No.1's with billions of streams in multiple genres.

Nicolle Anne Galyon is a singer, songwriter, producer, record label executive, and publishing executive based in Nashville. She gained national exposure early in her career after a 2012 appearance as a contestant on NBC's The Voice. She co-wrote the song "Automatic" sung by Miranda Lambert which was named the 2015 ACM's 'Song of the Year' and the 2014 CMA's single of the year. As of 2023, she is credited for writing nine No. 1 hits. Galyon has written songs for Lady A, Keith Urban, Kenny Chesney, Dan + Shay, Florida Georgia Line, and others.

References

  1. 1 2 Zarling, John (May 24, 2016). "HOLLY DECKS THE HALL, HOOKS UP WITH THE 'HORNS". Hits. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Heaton, Michael (May 20, 2016). "Cleveland-bred music writer Holly Gleason is in her glory Comment". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  3. 1 2 Morris, Edward (November 25, 2008). "Kenny Chesney Celebrates His Former Publicist's First Hit". CMT. Archived from the original on August 12, 2017. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  4. "Best of 2008: Country Songs". Billboard . Prometheus Global Media. 2008. Retrieved August 10, 2017.
  5. Michael Heaton, The Plain Dealer (2016-05-20). "Cleveland-bred music writer Holly Gleason is in her glory". cleveland. Retrieved 2024-03-03.
  6. Price, Holly Cara (June 17, 2011). "A Baker's Dozen of Essential Blogs More Than Worth Your Time". Huffington Post. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  7. "Woman Walk the Line". utpress.utexas.edu. University of Texas Press. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  8. "Holly Gleason". Museum of Pop Culture. Retrieved 2024-03-03.
  9. 1 2 Hollabaugh, Lorie (2018-05-17). "'Woman Walk The Line' Earns Belmont Book Award". MusicRow.com. Retrieved 2024-03-03.
  10. Hight, Jewly (December 8, 2016). "Songs We Love: Guy Clark, 'Just To Watch Maria Dance'". NPR.
  11. Abbey, Alison (2023-04-26). "'Pretty Bitchin' Kitchen': Miranda Lambert Unveils New Country Cookbook". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2024-03-03.
  12. "MIRANDA AND HOLLY BRING THE HEAT (UPDATE)". HITS Daily Double. Retrieved 2024-03-03.
  13. "Miranda Lambert's 'Y'all Eat Yet?' scores award nomination - COUNTRY 107.1". www.country1071.com. Retrieved 2024-03-03.
  14. fiona (2023-11-29). "Andy Awards Finalists Announced". American Society of Journalists and Authors. Retrieved 2024-03-03.
  15. "HOLLY'S A HALL OF FAMER". HITS Daily Double. Retrieved 2024-03-03.
  16. Holthouse, Jerry (2018-09-27). "2018 SOURCE Hall of Fame Awards Held at Musicians Hall of Fame". Nashville.com. Retrieved 2024-03-03.
  17. 1 2 "Pollstar Contributor Holly Gleason Wins CMA Media Achievement Award - Pollstar News". 2019-11-14. Retrieved 2024-03-03.
  18. 1 2 "Holly Gleason Wins LA Press Club's Entertainment Journalist of the Year Award - Pollstar News". 2023-06-26. Retrieved 2024-03-03.