Al Priest
I was introduced to music production as a staff member of the legendary music venue Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin Texas. Directly out of college was hired by Showco Sound and did the “Torture Tours” with Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1976 then the Steve Miller Band in 77. Many years and tours followed including Waylon, Eddie Money, Miles Davis, and the Vaughan Brothers to name a few. Retired from the road and created a boutique audio recording equipment sales and service company,Studio Tech. Was a charter member of the “Dirty Dozen” top audio sales companies in the United States and represented Dolby Labs Professional Audio Products, Sony and Otari for over twenty years. Studio Tech specialized in audio for music, video, film and broadcast post-production recording technology and integration. For the last fifteen years I have stayed active offering acoustical consulting as well as audio system troubleshooting, training, repair, and design for churches and started doing live sound engineering again.
Chad Mauldin
Chad Mauldin is a record producer and mixing engineer based in Texas, working primarily out of the historic KSIJ studio which was frequented by Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and others in the 1950’s. Over the years, Chad has worked with artists such as: Kolton Moore, Brandon Rhyder, Ryan Wilcox, Shea Abshier, Slade Coulter, Fritz Hager and many others. His work has produced many radio charting songs along with a top 10 and multi-week number 1 on the ITunes Chart.
Brandi Warden
Brandi Warden comes from a long line of music industry veterans. Her grandparents, father, uncles, and cousins are all award-winning songwriters, producers, record executives, and publishers, with the family’s record sales in excess of 100 million. She began her own music career in the mid 90’s at historic Decca Records in the A&R Department. While there, she served as a liaison between the publishing community and department heads, screened songs for artists, coordinated all recording sessions for the label (booking all musicians, studios, engineers), was point person interfacing with artist managers, as well as managed the day-to-day business of the department. In 1998, she moved to Austin, TX to marry songwriter / recording artist, Monte Warden. There, she managed Willie Nelson’s 2 world-renowned recording studios, Arlyn & Pedernales, overseeing all aspects of the day-to-day business, including studio bookings, billing, scheduling studio personnel. Since founding her own publishing company, Moonkiss Music, in 2002, she has achieved record sales in excess of 15 million, earning Gold & Platinum Records in both country & rock genres, song placements in film & TV, advertising, and several charted singles, including most notably George Strait’s “Desperately”, which earned a BMI Award in 2005 and a BMI Million-Air Award in 2007. Moonkiss Music stands out as one of the few independent publishers to ever achieve this honor. She has served in various capacities on recording projects including songwriter, publisher, A&R; Artist Development, Executive Producer, and Producer in genres from Americana, Jazz, Country, and Rock. As a songwriter, she co-wrote the entire album, Monte Warden and The Dangerous Few, which was recognized on the 1st ballot of the 2021 Grammy Awards in six categories as well as the album, and two singles, charting on Billboards Americana Charts. She landed a cut on Asleep At The Wheels 50th anniversary album in 2021 and has had several songs featured in television shows worldwide. With the recent passage of The Music Modernization Act as well as the overall landscape of royalties changing, Moonkiss Music has expanded its services to include consulting artists, labels, writers, publishers, & managers regarding music licensing issues & collections.
Mitch Ballard
Mitch Ballard is BMI’s Executive Director, Creative in Austin. He is responsible for signing and developing new talent and supporting BMI’s extensive family of Texas songwriters and publishers within the country and rock genres, among others. In addition, Ballard assists BMI songwriters with creative and administrative tasks and helps coordinate showcases, educational seminars and other events that support BMI’s creative community, including BMI’s Songwriter Series at the famed Saxon Pub. Ballard joined BMI in 2019 as Director, Creative, Austin, and was instrumental in opening the BMI Austin office that year, working closely with the Texas Governor’s Office to create awareness throughout the state. Ballard was promoted to his current role in 2022 and continues to liaise with the Texas Music Office supporting the shared mission of creating opportunities for artists and songwriters in Texas and helping connect them with music business executives in the state.
john Arthur martinez
Marble Falls native, Co-Songwriter on the Grammy-Winning Recording, Flaco Jimenez, Best Mexican-American Performance, 2006 & 2010 Texas Music Awards Song of the Year, 2004 Billboard Charting Album (Lone Starry Night), and 2003 Nashville Star Runner-up, Songs recorded by Alan Jackson, Flaco Jimenez (with Raul Malo of the Mavericks). Performed with Keith Urban, Elton John, Miranda Lambert, Dwight Yoakum, Mark Chesnutt, Asleep at the Wheel, Carrie Underwood, John Prine, Joe Ely, Todd Snider.