Love for music clears career path for Albany’s Kinney

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Even as she completed requirements for her double major in public relations and fashion merchandising at the University of Georgia, music called to Mary Catherine Kinney.

A 2006 Deerfield-Windsor School graduate who had dreams of taking the New York fashion world by storm, Kinney said that her lack of musical talent did not diminish the impact music had on her life. In fact, she declared in an interview from her home in Nashville, Tenn., all of Kinney’s memories of growing up in Albany came with a “soundtrack.”

“Since I have zero musical ability, you’d think that music doesn’t matter that much to me,” the 27-year-old Kinney said. “But I grew up in a music-loving household. My dad (chiropractor Davis Kinney, whose musical ventures include singing lead for popular area band Relapse) was always a rock and roll guy — Tower of Power, the Eagles — and my mom (Angel Kinney) was always playing John Prine.

“I really can’t think of a memory that defines me that doesn’t have its own musical soundtrack. From grilling out on the patio, spending time on the beach, visiting grandparents, music was a part of everything we did. I can’t tell you how many nights I’d fall asleep hearing my dad playing music through the air vents. Music’s always been part of my story.”

There’s a sense of inevitability, then, that Mary Catherine Kinney found herself in Music City in between sessions at UGA, interning for Capitol Records Nashville. That internship, and her brazen insistence that the company hire her when she graduated, led to an entry-level receptionist’s job with Capitol and eventually a position as coordinator of media marketing for Universal Music Group Nashville.

Kinney’s move up the country music management ladder continued recently when she was hired by Sony Music Nashville as that company’s media manager.

“This was just one of those opportunities that was too good not to take,” Kinney said of the position with Sony. “I’ll work with a team developing brand strategy for a number of the label’s artists. As the media landscape changes, my job changes as well. I will be working with the more traditional media but also with the new social media to find the strategy that best suits each artist.

“The key is finding the best way to expose an artist and his music to as many new fans as possible.”

And while Kinney will be working with a number of rising artists who are looking to move to the next level in Nashville’s musical pecking order — artists such as Maren Morris, who Kinney calls “amazing” and “one to watch ” — her roster of artists includes names that are some of the biggest in country music and beyond. Among them are Kenny Chesney, Tyler Farr, Miranda Lambert, Old Dominion, Jake Owen, Chase Rice and Chris Young.

Being from Albany, the formative stomping grounds of the likes of superstar Luke Bryan, award-winning songwriter Dallas Davidson, reigning Best New Artist CMA winner Cole Swindell and a gaggle of others at various stages in their careers, Kinney had an idea her ties to country royalty might help her get her foot in the door in Nashville.

“I did an internship in New York, and while I loved living in the big city, it was just too far away from Albany,” she said. “The Southern lifestyle is so strong, it drew me back to the South. So before my senior year, I literally went to Target in Albany and checked out the music of all my favorite country artists: Luke, Darius Rucker, Lady Antebellum, Keith Urban. I looked at the labels of their records, and all of them were on Capitol.

“I Googled Capitol to find a phone number, called and was transferred to their HR department. I told them I wanted to do an internship and I was willing to do anything. I went up for an interview, and they pretty much hired me right there. That first exposure to the music business made it clear to me that I wanted to go to Nashville.”

After Kinney graduated UGA, she made a decision that the likes of Bryan, Swindell, Davidson and thousands of others would clearly understand. Taking the accepted wisdom “if you want to make it in Nashville, you have to be in Nashville” to heart, she moved to the Music City.

“That was a big step for me, but I knew I had to be there if I was serious about a career in music,” she said.

Kinney took a job in sales that kept her on the road 28 days of each month. Every opportunity she had, though, she called Capitol and asked the question that would become her calling card: “Have you got a job for me yet?”

Finally, in 2011, Kinney got the answer she was waiting for. Capitol had a job for her, but it was at the bottom of the totem poll, as receptionist.

“I jumped at the chance,” she said. “It was a smaller company then, with about 40 employees, and while my job title was receptionist, it was pretty much all hands on deck all the time. Everybody did everything. I tell people now, the best job you can have in a smaller company is receptionist because you interact with everyone who comes through the doors.”

Capitol was absorbed by EMI, which was in turn acquired by Universal Music Group in 2012. Kinney advanced to coordinator of media marketing, helping promote such artists as CMA winners Chris Stapleton and Sam Hunt.

“I am proud of the work I did at UMG, especially being part of the promotion of Chris and his album (‘Traveller’),” she said. “Chris is one of the most genuine people I ever worked with, and I believe ‘Traveller’ is going to be one of those generational albums that people will be listening to decades from now.”

Kinney traveled home to Albany for the Christmas holidays, but she’s definitely now equally at home in Music City.

“Nashville is absolutely the best place to live,” she said. “I think it’s a hidden gem, growing faster than anyone can keep up with. But it still has the feel of a small town. I love the fact that at 11 o’clock, the traffic lights turn to flashing lights.

“But I am thankful that I grew up in Albany. I think the camaraderie that has developed among the Albany area artists in Nashville is because of the kind of place Albany is. I love Nashville and want to continue my career here. But I still call Albany home.”