Michael Knox, Producer for Jason Aldean, Spotlights Music Row’s Writers in New Podcast

Variety Staff

Nashville producer and publisher Michael Knox, the man behind the Jason Aldean throne, has started a biweekly “Knox Country Podcast” with a focus on having the songwriters of Music Row tell the stories behind their hits. Shalacy Griffin acts as co-host for the podcast, the outgrowth of a syndicated radio show, “Knox Country 360,” they started last year.

The podcast arrives at a time when there are growing opportunities for the public to meet hit tunesmiths, as with the about-to-premiere TV series “Songland.” The songwriters Knox has lined up to sit for interviews include Nicolle Galyon, David Lee Murphy, Rhett Akins, Ashley Gorley, Rodney Clawson and Jessi Alexander. “My guests will show you why Nashville is one of the most creative places in the world,” Knox said in a statement.

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Knox has been the producer of 23 No. 1 country hits, most of them for the superstar with whom he’s most associated, Aldean, with the R&B-flavored “Girl Like You” being the latest to top the airplay rankings. It followed “Drowns the Whiskey” (Aldean’s duet with Miranda Lambert) and “You Make It Easy” as the third straight No. 1 radio song off the singer’s latest album, “Rearview Town.” That release helped Knox get another producer of the year nomination at the most recent ACM Awards, where Aldean was honored as artist of the decade for the catalog he’s amassed with Knox. “Rearview Town” won country album of the year at the recent iHeartMedia Awards.

Besides being a producer, Knox was promoted in March to the position of senior VP at Peermusic Publishing. He heads his own company, Music Knox, where his cohost Griffin serves as senior VP of operations. The podcast is produced by Knox along with Donny Walker, a former exec at Cumulus Media and Westwood One.

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