OS ANGELES, Sept. 18, 2017 — The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) hosts its ninth annual “Women Behind the Music” event on October 5th at 7:00 PM at Bardot in Los Angeles. This year’s honorees are singer/songwriter Kirby Lauryen and music executives Ashley Calhoun and Ericka Coulter.
Photo: Kirby Lauryen (l) and Ericka Coulter (r)
Produced by the ASCAP Rhythm & Soul membership team, ASCAP’s “Women Behind the Music” is created to encourage and recognize women in the music community. It honors not only singers and songwriters but also female executives in all facets of the entertainment business, including managers, attorneys, label executives and music publishers. The honorees for 2017 are:
Kirby Lauryen – Kirby Lauryen is a singer-songwriter from Southaven, Mississippi and a graduate of Berklee College of Music. She jumpstarted her songwriting career on YouTube by writing a song a day for 275 days and on the 302nd day she was signed by Roc Nation. Some of her most prominent writing work includes, “Die With You” by Beyoncé, “Only One” by Kanye West, “FourFiveSeconds” by Rihanna, Kanye West, and Paul McCartney and “Break Your Heart Right Back” by Ariana Grande.
Ashley Calhoun – Ashley Calhoun is the Vice President of A&R at Pulse Music Group. She handles artist relations for DJ Esco, Dave East, Starrah and several others. Ashley previously served as Creative Director at Rondor Music Publishing and has consulted on projects for Epic Records and Warner Music Group. In 2016, she was named to Billboard Magazine’s Power A&R Players list. Ashley was promoted to VP of A&R at Pulse earlier this year.
Ericka Coulter – Ericka Coulter is the Senior Director of A&R at Epic Records. Throughout her career she has worked with top music executives such as LA Reid, Vincent Herbert and Rodney Jerkins. She also founded Instor3 Inc., a management and branding company that connects clients with brands to create groundbreaking signature experiences. Artists she has collaborated with include: Ciara, Fifth Harmony, Tamar Braxton, Faith Evans and many more.
Previous ASCAP “Women Behind the Music” honorees have included: Hip-hop legends Salt-N-Pepa; musician/ singer Sheila E; Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Jazmine Sullivan; celebrity deejay DJ Kiss; singer-songwriter K. Michelle; Billboard Senior Editor Gail Mitchell; Motown Records’ Vice President of Creative Relations Myisha Brooks; General Manager of Tree Sound Studios Mali Hunter and CEO of Mizay Entertainment Debra Antney.
ASCAP’s Cristina Chavez will host this year’s event, to be followed by a cocktail reception with music by DJ Niena Drake. Bardot is located at 1737 Vine Street in Los Angeles, CA. ASCAP “Women Behind the Music” 2017 is sponsored by MAC Cosmetics.
About ASCAP
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) is a professional membership organization of songwriters, composers and music publishers of every kind of music. ASCAP’s mission is to license and promote the music of its members and foreign affiliates, obtain fair compensation for the public performance of their works and to distribute the royalties that it collects based upon those performances. ASCAP members write the world’s best-loved music and ASCAP has pioneered the efficient licensing of that music to hundreds of thousands of enterprises who use it to add value to their business – from bars, restaurants and retail, to radio, TV and cable, to Internet, mobile services and more. The ASCAP license offers an efficient solution for businesses to legally perform ASCAP music while respecting the right of songwriters and composers to be paid fairly. With more than 625,000 members representing more than 10 million copyrighted works, ASCAP is the worldwide leader in performance royalties, service and advocacy for songwriters and composers, and the only American performing rights organization (PRO) owned and governed by its writer and publisher members. Learn more and stay in touch at www.ascap.com, on Twitter and Instagram @ASCAP and on Facebook.