MEDIA ADVISORY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 12, 2008 Re-submitting FURTHER INFORMATION: Patricia Harris-Morehead, (615) 880-3943 Wendy Smith, (615) 862-6194

Music City Central BIG GIG jingle contest judges well-known in music industry

NASHVILLE – Key entertainers and music executives, including those who work on Music Row, have agreed to judge the Music City Central BIG GIG jingle contest.

This talented celebrity panel includes Kirk Whalum (Grammy-nominated musician); Beverly Keel (Tennessean columnist); Tim Fink (Vice President Writer/Publisher Relations for SESAC, Inc.); Paul Kwami (Musical Director for Fisk Jubilee Singers); Woody Wood and Jim Chandler (Woody & Jim, 107.5 The River); Karen Leipziger (KBA Award-Winning Publicist); Deen Entsminger (Belmont University music professor and bus rider); Thomas F. "Freddie" O'Connell (MTA Board member and bus rider ); and Otho Webster (Division Vice President Balfour Beatty Construction, corporate sponsor for the contest.)

Below is brief biographical information on the judges.

Kirk Whalum Kirk Whalum grew up in Memphis in a musical family and began his career on the drums before switching to saxophone in junior high school. He has earned eight Grammy nominations for his work and has recorded with artists such as Whitney Houston, Nancy Wilson, Al Jarreau, Luther Vandross, Barbra Streisand, Quincy Jones and others. Whalum has recorded songs for movie soundtracks including Boys in the Hood, Grand Canyon, The Prince of Tides and The Bodyguard. He has released nearly 20 albums, and is completing his recent live recording Gospel According to Jazz Chapter lll that will be released later this year.

Beverly Keel Beverly Keel is the celebrity columnist at The Tennessean and a recording industry professor at Middle Tennessee State University, where she serves as director of the Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence in First Amendment Studies. She served as a Nashville correspondent for People for a decade, and spent three years as an editor of American Profile magazine, for which she wrote cover stories on Billy Graham, Laura Bush, Andy Griffith, John Grisham, Joe Namath and many more. She also was the editor-in-chief of CMT magazine.

Tim Fink Tim Fink is Associate Vice-President Writer/Publisher Relations for SESAC, Inc., the nation's fastest growing performing rights organization. He has been with SESAC since 1990, and has had the opportunity to work closely with SESAC songwriters and publishers from a wide range of genres. Appointed the head of the Nashville Writer/Publisher Relations team in 2002, he has been instrumental in building the company's burgeoning roster of top songwriters resulting in the company's unprecedented growth.

Karen Leipziger Karen Leipziger is a KBA Award winning publicist (2007) and W.C. Handy Award-nominated songwriter (2001 - "Winds Of Change"/Eddy 'The Chief' Clearwater's "Reservation Blues"). She has been actively supporting and promoting her artists for more than a decade. Leipziger formed her own publicity company KL Productions in the 1990s. Prior to launching her own company, she worked with Concerted Efforts booking agency in Boston and the band Aerosmith's management team Collins Associates in the publicity department.

Paul T. Kwami Paul T. Kwami is the Musical Director and Curb-Beaman Chair of The Fisk University Jubilee Singers. He became the first African to become Musical Director when he was named to the position in 1994. Under his leadership, the Fisk Jubilee Singers have received numerous awards, including induction into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, a Grammy Nomination and a Dove Award. Kwami also served as Executive Producer of the recording entitled Rise, Shine! Fisk Jubilee Singers Live In Concert and Co-Executive Producer of In Bright Mansions. Born in Ghana, West Africa, Kwami is a graduate of Mawuli Secondary School, Ho, Akropong Presbyterian Teacher's Training College and the National Academy of Music, Winneba. He taught music in Ghana before migrating to the United States in 1983.

Deen Entsminger Deen Entsminger has been a music educator for 36 years. He currently coordinates the undergraduate music education program at Belmont University, directs the chamber singers, teaches music theory, private composition, secondary choral methods, undergraduate and graduate classes in choral conducting, and mentors students in the undergraduate honors and graduate music education program. He has many published compositions with Colla Voce and the Musical Source Publishing.

Woody Wood and Jim Chandler Better known as "Woody & Jim," Woody Wood and Jim Chandler have been hosting a morning show on Nashville’s 107-5 The River for 10 years. Their unique take on current events, prank phone calls, daily games such as Gender Wars, and community service have made them fixtures in Nashville radio.

Thomas F. "Freddie" O'Connell Freddie O’Connell was named to the MTA board in May 2008. He is the internet strategist for SouthComm Communications, the parent company of NashvillePost.com and The City Paper. He also co-hosts a political talk radio show called Liberadio(!), which airs locally on WRVU-FM. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in music and a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science from Brown University in 2000.

Otho Webster Otho Webster is the division vice president of Balfour Beatty Construction, the company overseeing the construction of MTA's Music City Central. He has 33 years of construction experience, including 18 with Balfour Beatty Construction. In addition to Music City Central, Otho has overseen the construction of some of Nashville's other landmark buildings including Monroe Carell, Jr., Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

The site where Music City Central (MCC) is being built is near what was once home to world-class music and entertainment, and the MTA is sponsoring this jingle contest to highlight the rich musical history of the area.

The jingle contest, whose corporate sponsor is Balfour Beatty Construction, is open to anyone ages 15 and older who live in the Nashville Metro Services Area. This includes Davidson, Robertson, Sumner, Macon, Trousdale, Smith, Wilson, Cannon, Rutherford, Williamson, Hickman, Dickson and Cheatham counties.

Each entry must be an original, 60-second jingle in any genre promoting MCC and the many benefits of public transportation. Entries should be submitted on a CD beginning Aug. 1. Celebrity judges and industry experts, including those who work on Music Row, will choose the winner. The winner will receive $1,500 cash (donated by corporate sponsor Balfour Beatty Construction), special recognition, and a chance to perform at the Grand Opening. Deadline to enter is Sept. 15.

When completed, MCC will be a multi-level indoor facility that will serve as the central hub for MTA buses. It will replace the outdoor transit mall on Deaderick Street and will create a centralized transit facility within the Central Business District (CBD) of Nashville.

It will feature climate-controlled waiting areas, an information and ticket sales center, ticket vending machines and small retail businesses such as a donut shop or newsstand. It is expected to serve 16,000 passengers each weekday.

MCC is being built with mostly federal funds (80 percent) and the remaining are state and local dollars. Nashville-based architect Gary Everton of Everton Oglesby Architects is the architect of the project. He leads the TranSystems/EOA team in Nashville. Balfour Beatty Construction is the construction manager for the project.

To learn more about the Music City Central Jingle Contest, please visit www.nashvillemta.org/jinglecontest for the official rules on the contest.

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Editor's Note: To request this information in an alternative format, please call 862-5950 and ask to speak with MTA's ADA Coordinator.