<<

ArtistMax 2015 Mentors*

COLBIE CAILLAT GRAMMY® Award-winning, multiplatinum songstress. Has sold over 6 million worldwide and over 10 million singles to date. She has also written songs with , OneRepublic’s , as well as written songs on ’s “Fearless."

KEN CAILLAT GRAMMY® Award Winning Producer. Ken is best known for engineering the albums Rumours, Tusk, Mirage, Live, and Box Set, as well as working with artists such as , , and Paul McCartney.

ANTHONY FRANCO Anthony Franco is a self-taught designer whose professional experience ranges from commercials, music videos, live stage shows, personal styling, movie design, and also showing collections of his own. In 2007 he earned the Mercedes-Benz presents Designer of the Year award, for his Fall 2007 collection.

AISHA FRANCIS Aisha Francis toured the world as Beyonce’s right hand dancer and dance captain, formerly serving as assistant choreographer and co-creator of the “Crazy in Love” Booty Dance. Other movement clients include Christina Aguilera, Rita Ora, , EnVogue, Rihanna, and Kelly Rowland, just to name a few. More recently, Aisha has been featured on such prominent television shows as , Dancing With the Stars, The Oprah Winfrey Show, The View, Good Morning America, Ellen, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Late Show with David Letterman, This past season of So You Think You Can Dance?

JODI VANESSA WATLEY American singer, and , whose music crosses genres including pop, R&B, , dance and electronic soul.[ In 1987, she won the GRAMMY® Award for "Best New Artist."Along with Janet Jackson and Madonna, she ranks as one of MTV Video Music Awards most nominated female artists ever, with six nominations for her ‘Real Love’ video. In 2008, she the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from Billboard magazine, and was also prominently featured in the historic black issue of Vogue Italia in 2008.

ED CHERENY GRAMMY® and TEC award-winning producer/engineer. One of the great rock engineers of all time, with credits that include the Rolling Stones, , Jackson Browne, Bob Dylan, , and now, Spinal Tap. Cherney has already amassed six GRAMMY® nominations and three wins. Most notably, he garnered a statue for engineering Eric Clapton's 1992 Record of the Year, "Tears in Heaven." In 1994, he took home the coveted Best Engineered Album award for Bonnie Raitt's Longing in Their Hearts, a year in which he, remarkably, recorded and mixed three out of the five albums nominated in that category.

JOHN ALAGIA Three time GRAMMY® nominated, American record producer, composer, mixer and co- founder of Drive Music. Alagia has worked with artists including , , Jason Mraz, , , , Brett Dennen, , and many others. In his early years, Alagia honed his recording and production skills with friend, Douglas Derryberry at Rutabaga Studios in Arlington, VA. Derryberry and Alagia were also an acoustic rock duo, having released three albums and done extensive touring along the East Coast. Together, they recorded and produced many Mid- Atlantic acts ranging from DMB, Vertical Horizon, Edwin McCain to Ben Folds Five and others. Today, John resides at the Village Recorder in West while maintaining a second, fully equipped studio on the eastern shore of Maryland.

BRIDGET BENEATE American songwriter who first found success with the song "Permission to Shine.” In 2001 she wrote "Hold On" for the girl group Bewitched. In 2004 Benenate found her biggest success to date by penning the number single, "Breakaway," for Kelly Clarkson. "Breakaway" spent a record twenty consecutive weeks at number one on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. Benenate’s most recent successes includes the title cut on JoJo's second album The High Road and the song "Still There For Me" on fame, Corbin Bleu’s debut album.

TAI BABILONIA American former pair skater. Together with Randy Gardner, she won the 1979 World Figure Skating Championships and five U.S. Figure Skating Championships (1976– 1980). The pair became five-time U.S. national champions and won the gold medal at the 1979 World Championships. Babilonia appeared in the 2006 Fox television program Skating with Celebrities, partnered with Olympic decathlon gold medalist Caitlyn Jenner (then Bruce). Tai currently appears as a "co-host" with host Ken Boxer on the television interview talk show, "Ken Boxer Live." The show originates in Santa Barbara, on TVSB Channel 17.

NEIL STUBENHAUS Since 1979, Stubenhaus performed on more than 600 albums (of which 70 + have been GRAMMY® Award-nominated), over 20 GRAMMY® -winning songs and 60 + Gold and/or Platinum records. He has also recorded over 150 movie soundtracks as well as countless jingles and commercials. For over 20 years, Neil has been 's and ' main bass player.

STEVE FERRONE Drummer of the Average White Band, and has recorded and performed with numerous other high-profile acts, including Slash, , Eric Clapton, and the Heartbreakers, Duran Duran, Scritti Politti and Johnny Cash.

MICHELE GRUSKA Acclaimed professional vocal coach. She has recorded with singing legends such as Barbara Streisand, , and renowned producer David Foster. Recent Top Ten recording artist Colbie Callait thanked Michele for her vocal coaching, saying “You trained my voice to sound like it does today. You taught me to sing and make it look effortless, and to believe in what I sing.” Respected and well-liked, Michele is both mentor and inspiration to many artists.

ADRIANNA MCPHEE American Idol vocal coach, Adriana McPhee, is one of the most in demand vocal and performance coaches in the business. With students spanning all over the globe, Adriana is committed to inspiring each student to reach their full potential. She has guided the contestants as they embark onto the biggest platform any singer could wish for. Last summer Adriana served as a preliminary judge on Idol, traveling from city to city, auditioning thousands of Idol hopefuls.

*Mentors are subject to change.