Veteran A&R execs Katie Vinten and Zach Lund have announced the launch of a new Nashville-based management company called Wild Child Music. Launched in partnership with Eclipse Music Group and founded last year, the new company already has a robust roster of artists and producers, including Delacey, Hayden Blount, Valley James, Wells Ferrari, Cece Coakley, Logan Turner, Brett Truitt, Willie Breeding, Cameron Neal, SXSSY, and others.
The two bring decades of experience to the company. Vinten, who is Wild Child’s founder and CEO, previously served as a senior vice president of A&R at Columbia Records in New York, where she worked with and/or signed artists such as Leon Bridges, Dove Cameron, Alana Springsteen and Tanner Adell. Previously, she was co-head of A&R at Warner Chappell Music publishing in Los Angeles, signing Shaboozey, Julia Michaels, Hailee Steinfeld, Kygo, Christina Aguilera and Bishop Briggs, among others. She also launched the Facet House label and publishing company with hit songwriter Justin Tranter, and was the first female to hold the executive in residence role at New York University’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music.
Lund, who is Wild Child’s senior partner and principal, was previously a director of A&R at Universal Music Publishing Group, where he signed and/or worked with acclaimed artists such as Stephen Sanchez, Morgan Wade, Matt Shultz (Cage the Elephant), Natalie Hemby and Carter Faith.
Kurt Locher, Eclipse Music Group founder and principal says, “At Eclipse, our foundation has always been a deep dedication to artists and their songs. Wild Child’s vision perfectly aligns with our mission, and we couldn’t ask for a more passionate and innovative partnership than with Katie and Zach.” Penny Gattis, Eclipse Music Group partner, adds, “Their drive, authenticity, and commitment to artistic integrity are unmatched. We’re thrilled to join forces with Wild Child as they create an inspiring home for their roster to thrive.”
Variety got on the phone with Vinten and Lund last week; the conversation follows below.
What led you guys to work together?
We’ve always had very similar passions in what we listen to. Zach was really embedded in the Americana-alternative scene, and that’s a lot of what I listen to as an individual but my career took off more in the pop music landscape, But after I parted ways very amicably with Justin, during COVID I just felt like I needed a change after I’dtruit
co-run A&R for Warner Chappell under Jon Platt. So I took a job at Columbia Records, where I got to learn a lot about making records and got to work with a diverse roster, which was also very valuable. And over the years people would say ‘You’d be great at managing artists,’ and I won’t speak for Zach but people have always said that to him too. And I was at a point in my career where it was like, it’s now or never, let’s give this a go. Zach and I have always aligned and have the same general outlook on artists and putting them first, which to be honest is not always the case in the music industry.
Over the years I’d spent a ton of time in Nashville and I grew up in North Carolina, so it wasn’t going to be jarring culturally, and it just felt like the right place to launch this, and Zach has worked in the alternative and Americana scenes for years and has great relationships.
How did you connect with your investors?
Kurt Locher has an independent country publishing company called Eclipse, and he and his business partner, Penny Gattis, are really passionate about music and we got to know each other really well. They really respect what we do, which was very different than what Eclipse does, and love that we want to work in different genres and not be exclusive to just one. He took a bet on us, so it gives us the grace to grow without feeling like we’re in a chokehold financially. We’re so appreciative of them, because it really does make this possible and we get to take a lot of chances and provide a foundation for artists to grow.
Zach, how long have you been in Nashville, and how did you get your start?
Almost 12 years, yeah. I’m originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma. My first gig was an internship in A&R at Universal in London. Then I moved to Nashville and went to law school, spent about three and a half years at a music law firm in town, Marcus & Colvin. I decided I didn’t want to do that as my profession, but the firm was super ingrained in the changing scene in Nashville, like the rock scene and Kings of Leon and all that, and I started noticing that most companies were adding someone to cover music in Nashville outside of mainstream country, and that was what I did at Universal, starting in 2017: I started as the non-country A&R guy and then as the more alt-country and Americana stuff got big, that became a big part of my role as well. So I got to grow that side of things for almost seven years Universal.
Why were you in London at such a young age?
(Laughing) Uh, well, I was technically studying abroad. I took one class so I could get over there, but the main point was to do that internship. I’d actually met with Mike Sammis, who was an CFO at Universal Publlshing at the time, through a friend. And I just lied and told him that I was going to be living in London, and he hooked me up and then I had to retroactively, like, scramble to figure out how the hell I was gonna live there! But I did, and it was such an awesome experience, too. I was 20 years old, running around, seeing shows in London.
Let’s have a quick 411 on some of your top artists — there are a lot of them!
Well, we started with an indie artist named Delacey, who’s had a lot of success in the pop songwriting world, from hits with Halsey and Jenny and Dua Lipa. I’ve been working with her for almost four years — I had a carve-out at Columbia and we’ve established an amazing relationship. I guess you could say she’s our official flagship artist for the new venture because she’s such a light and a big ambassador for us.
We’ve got Valley James, who Zach worked with She calls herself a “goth country” artist and has this a sort of ethereal voice and plays these like dark country songs. She’s on the road with Stephen Wilson Jr. right now and is going to be playing the Orville Peck Rodeo later this year.
Hayden Blount, who is 22 years old, had a top five viral song with “Heaven on Earth.” He’s opening for the Castellows in the fall and he did a run with Baker Blankenship, his opportunities have been happening really fast. And we have an incredible band-slash-duo called Wells Ferrari who are signed to Atlantic Records. They’re like SoCal folk rock, very Laurel Canyon with a modern indie vibe. And we have Cece Coakley an indie-folk artist with pop melodies who’s based here in East Nashville.