Newly signed Arista Nashville recording artist Carlton Anderson is pictured here with Sony Music Nashville staff in Key West (left to right): Sony Music Nashville’s A&R Manager Margaret Tomlin, A&R Representative Jillian Whitefield, EVP/COO Ken Robold, Director Digital Sales and Streaming Alaina Vehec, SVP A&R Jim Catino, VP Sales and Streaming Caryl Healey Atwood, EVP Promotion and Artist Development Steve Hodges, Carlton Anderson, VP Arista Nashville Promotion Josh Easler, Sony Music Nashville’s Chairman and CEO Randy Goodman, Senior Director Partnership Marketing Nicole Marinake, VP A&R Taylor Lindsey, Director’s National Promotion Lauren Thomas and EVP Marketing/New Business John Zarling. Photo credit: Adam Davis
Sony Music Nashville has announced the signing of artist and songwriter Carlton Anderson to Arista Nashville.
Anderson is spending time with the Sony Music Nashville team as he prepares to launch his debut single soon. He deftly balances traditional sounds and contemporary themes and was signed as a songwriter at Warner Chappell Music, where he has written with some of the most sought-after songwriters in Nashville.
Anderson grew up in Cypress, Texas, a town northwest of Houston where sports dominated daily conversation and Friday night, but Anderson focused on the other Texas pastime: Music.
Anderson’s musical awakening started with Willie Nelson, who he refers to as “his drug” and quickly advanced to George Strait and a long line of musical mavericks. Styles varied, but the common denominator was that even though they were born in Texas their music transcended borders.
Anderson started working in the oil fields at 16 – two years before it was legal – and worked at a grocery store after school to put away enough money to buy a guitar and small PA so he could play the honky tonks and dancehalls around his hometown after graduation. But the goal was always Nashville.
After three tries he cobbled enough money and the necessary co-sign from his grandparents to attend Nashville’s Belmont University. He moved to Music City and immediately started looking for ways to pay the bills. He dropped off his bag and headed downtown to find a gig. He parked on Fourth Avenue across from the Swingin’ Doors Saloon and heard the band playing “In Color.” He walked in, asked to play a few songs, and the manager offered him a job. He went on to play there five more years.
Anderson was the first to graduate college in his family, which had a firmly grounded “go to work or go to war” mentality, but he learned the ropes through hard work, practice, paying his dues in Texas, and playing for tourists and bachelorette parties in Nashville. He focused on “connecting” with his audience, no matter how distracted or inebriated they were. It wasn’t long before more than tourists were taking notice.
Sony Music Nashville includes is three country label operations – Arista Nashville, Columbia Nashville, and RCA Nashville – and Provident Music Group, one of the world’s leading Christian Music Companies. Sony Music Nashville is a division of Sony Music Entertainment.
Follow Carlton Anderson on…
Website: www.carltonandersonmusic.com
Facebook: facebook.com/carltonanderson
Instagram: instagram.com/carltonanderson
Twitter: twitter.com/carltonanderson
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