Stacy's Music Row Report- About Stacy Harris

A former publicist for several Grand Ole Opry stars, Stacy has done tour press for MCA, RCA and Con Brio Records. Mercury Records commissioned her to photograph "publicity shots" of its artists and to do liner notes and she supplied CBS Records with archival audio of interviews with its artists.

Stacy has also written scripts for The Nashville Network (TNN), The NASCAR Country Radio Network, MJI Broadcasting’s nationally-syndicated Country Quiz program, Biff Collie, Gerry House and Nashville International.

She has written for several entertainment trade and special interest publications, including Billboard, Cash Box, Record World, Amusement Business, Performance, CMA Close Up, Satellite Business, Goldmine and Music Row.

A former editor of Country Song Roundup, Country Spirit, Spotlight on Country, Trading Posts, Prairie Country News and the Upper Midwest Country & Western News-Scene magazines, Stacy's writing has also appeared in Business Week, US, Look, McCall's, Entertainment Weekly, New Woman, Music City News, Country Music, Country Music People, The Journal of Country Music, Tune-In, Dell Horoscope, Hit Parader, Country News, Overdrive, Country Style, Entertainment Express, Take One, Music Galore, Chicago Country, Country Fever, The Current, That's Country, The Nashville Gazette, The Fan Letter, Country Rhythms, The Nashville Scene, Music City Loafer, Don Fitzpatrick's Shop Talk and in North-Central Connecticut's Journal Inquirer.

She has been a columnist for the Nashville Banner ("Community Voices") and The Tennessean ("Nashville Eye").

Stacy Harris' published books include Classic Country (2005, hardcover); The Best of Country: The Essential CD Guide (1993, paperback); Comedians of Country Music (1978, hardcover); and The Carter Family (1978, hardcover), while her credits as a contributing author include entries in The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture (1998, hardcover), You Are So Nashville If... (1998, paperback) and chapters in Country Music Stars and the Supernatural (1979, paperback).

Stacy's contributions have been acknowledged in books written by Ivan Tribe, Steve Eng, Alanna Nash, Tom C. Armstrong, Cliff Linedecker, Stephen Miller, Anne Fletcher, Staff Sgt. Barry (Ballad of the Green Beret) Sadler, Warren B. Causey and Rick Marschall and by Adam Compton in The Texas State Historical Association's The Handbook of Texas Online.

Further, authors Karen Breen and Judith Silverman acknowledged Stacy's children's books in the Index to Collective Biographies for Young Readers (1988) while author Hao Huang cited Stacy Harris' oeuvre in Music in the 20th Century, Volume 2 (1999).

Ryan Carlson Bernard cited Stacy Harris' work in the footnotes to The Rise and Fall of the Hillbilly Music Genre: A History, 1922-1939, a thesis presented to the faculty of East Tennessee State University's Department of Liberal Studies, "in partial fulfillment of the requirements" for obtaining a 2006 Master's Degree in Liberal Studies at ETSU.

She has been a production consultant for Nashville's WLAC-TV's Digest '79 and Nashvillle's WNGE-TV's Brian Christie's Starflash. She has also served as an Insider's Viewpoint guest commentator for the Nashville Network (TNN's Country Notes) and for Nashville's WSM-TV.

Formerly a Grand Marshal for Nashville Gas' Christmas Parade (on December 7, 1980), Stacy Harris hosted Nashville Channel 2's Night Owl Theatre. Her other TV credits include the syndicated Donahue,The Maury Povich Show, Inside Edition (hosted by Bill O'Reilly) and American Journal programs, local Nashville television's Mornings on Five, Noon and Morningwatch, PBS's A Word on Words and A & E's cable television series City Confidential: Murder in Music City. She also contributed to PBS affiliate WNPT-Nashville's production of Memories of Nashville.

Profiled in publications ranging from The Yearbook of Experts, Authorities and Spokespersons (16th Edition) to National Property Law Digests, Stacy has been interviewed, most recently, by such national and international news organizations as the Associated Press, BBC World Services, BBC 4 Scotland, CBS Radio News, WKRN-TV News (Nashville), WLAC Radio and WTN Radio (Nashville). Locally, she has been interviewed by Jerry Dahmen, for WSM Radio's I Love Life!, Phil Williams and Andy Cordan for WKRN-TV News, LaTonya Turner for WSMV-TV News and Miranda Cohen, Skye Arnold and Liane Jackson for Fox 17 News.

Stacy Harris' movie, TV-movie and stage acting credits include Hank Williams: The Man and His Music, Against the Wall, The Cradle Will Fall, Children of the Winner, Country Gold, The Concrete Cowboys and the annual SPJ Gridiron Show, as well as an unsold pilot, The Hatfields and the McCoys.

She has appeared in national commercials for Old Style Beer and White Rain and in a regional ad for the Southern Olds Family automobile dealerships. She modeled for the Backstage hair salons chain.

A Nashville Banner book reviewer for 22 years, Stacy Harris was the last person to interview Hee Haw/Grand Ole Opry star David "Stringbean* Akeman within hours of Akeman's murder. That now-famous interview became the front-page lead story for the Banner's November 12, 1973 edition and the tape of the historic event- which famed producer/session player Fred Carter, Jr.. (a/k/a Deana Carter's father) wanted to buy from Stacy- is available at no charge to researchers at the Country Music Hall of Fame's Foundation Library in Nashville.

Stacy has been interviewed by abcnews.com, Poz Magazine, Glenn Whipp, a staff writer for the Los Angeles Daily News,, Chad Dougatz, of launch.com and the Launch.com Radio Network’s New York bureau, Dave Retseck, a reporter for Crystal Lake, Illinois’ Northwest Herald, BBC Business News reporter Kate Noble, WMAQ-TV (Chicago) weekend co-anchor/reporter Anna Davlantes, by Steve Penbrook, arts and entertainment editor for the (Fort Wayne, Indiana) Journal Gazette and by Family Chronicles' contributor Barbara Krasner-Khait.

A sidekick and permanent guest host for- WLAC-Radio's The Bill Karlson Show (later The Bill Karlson Show, with Stacy Harris), for two years Stacy assisted Bill in conveying his message of how listeners in 28 states and three countries can Get Top $$ In A Job You Love.

A past-president of the National Entertainment Journalists Association (NEJA), Stacy's other professional memberships include/have included American Women in Radio and Television (AWRT), The Country Music Association (CMA), The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), Mensa, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, (NATAS) and the National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE).

Stacy Harris is a graduate of the University of Maryland and Vanderbilt University, having also taken college prep courses at the College of Emporia (earning college credit while still in high school) and songwriting classes at Middle Tennessee State University. (Songwriting credits include Permanent Record, based on a Newsweek essay, copyright 1996)

She is a graduate of Nashville's Citizen's Police Academy and am a member of its alumni association.

On June 17, 1998 Stacy Harris was sworn in as a member of the Davidson County Democratic Executive Committee, representing the voters of Nashville's 25th council district (a position to which she was re-elected).

That same year Stacy moderated Jews in Country Music, a panel discussion featuring performers/songwriters Jen Cohen and Andie Jennings, music video writer/producer/director Steve Goldmann, marketing executive Neal Spielberg, musicians Eric Silver and Jonathan Yudkin and attorney specializing in music business clients Ellen McDonald during the Southern Jewish Historical Society's 23rd Annual Conference (at Nashville's Doubletree Hotel). This honor was followed, in 1999, by the Southern Jewish Historical Society's publishing my scholarly essay, Kosher Country: Success and Survival on Nashville's Music Row, in Volume II of Southern Jewish History, the historical society's prestigious, academic journal. (Stacy's heavily-footnoted article updated and expanded upon Charles Hirshberg's Nashville's Jewish Newcomers Assert Themselves [Softly], published in the July 22, 1994 issue of The Forward.)

March 12, 2000 Stacy Harris became a graduate of the International Bluegrass Music Association's inaugural Leadership Bluegrass class. Following graduation, Stacy is a member of IBMA's Leadership Music Alumni Association, notably serving as a mentor for members of Leadership Music's Class of 2002 and currently as a volunteer for the IBMA's annual World of Bluegrass Convention.

A member of the prestigious Committee of Concerned Journalists (CCJ), Stacy served on the Advisory Committees of the Women of Music Music of Women (WMMW) networking support group and the Christian Country Music Association.

In 2003 Stacy Harris became a contributor to the book review page of The Tennessean and resumed a public speaking career, begun before an adult education creative writing class at Nashville's Harpeth Hall, as the Woodmont Kiwanis Club's guest speaker.

In 2004 she joined a panel of respected program directors, radio personalities and other industry experts as a judge in Dave Schmidt's "The World's First Future Star" contest. The prestigious Mississippi Library Commission selected my book, Comedians of Country Music, along with Robert Krishef's The New Breed and The Grand Ole Opry (books for which she was commissioned as photo researcher), as its Summer Library Program selections. Stacy Harris was also profiled in the September-December issue of The Nashville Musician.

In 2005, Stacy reprised her role as SPJ Gridiron Show scriptwriter (with the return of the first Gridiron Cabaret in six years), continued my role as Leadership Bluegrass Alumni Association mentor and became a member of the Academy of Country Music.

She became a paid mock jury juror (following my service as a Davidson Country jury foreman) and was cast in the independent film, Two Weeks, starring Sally Field.

Rounding out 2005, Stacy Harris was Jake Wylde's guest (Cumulus’ Supertalk 99.7 FM) September 17th on WWTN’s Nashville's Nightline talk show. Next, I was interviewed and photographed for a front-page story in the October 2nd issue of USA Today written by Mindy Fetterman and Adam Shell.

On October 5, 2005 Stacy became a nominee for the Minnesota Historical Society's Minnesota 150; a showcase of 150 people, places, things and events that have sparked significant change within the state or beyond Minnesota's borders. The competition and selection process culminated in the celebration of Minnesota’s 150th birthday in 2008.

In 2006 Stacy Harris worked hard to advance Nashville's reputation for hospitality and service as one of the host-city organizers and coordinators of Hadassah's annual convention. Carlton Books published Classic Country (an updated version of Stacy's paperback, The Best of Country: The Essential CD Guide) in hardcover. Stacy assisted Arbitron (Columbia, Maryland) with the compiliation of its Spring ratings book and she participated in a three-hour interview with her fellow nationally-known HarperCollins author, Shelby Steele, that aired live on April 2nd and was repeated several times on C-SPAN throughout the month. Stacy also assisted CBS News producers Tamara Weitzman and Jay Young in the production of the 48 Hours Mystery segment titled Cheatin' Heart that aired May 13th and again on October 21st, and am featured in a TV commercial for Nashville's Rivergate Dental Care running during the summer and fall of 2006.

On October 15, 2006 Stacy Harris was a featured panelist, joining authors Michael Streissguth, Don Cusic and moderator Ronnie Pugh in a discussion of Johnny Cash's career and legacy. The public forum was a feature of the latest in a series of programs at the Nashville Public Library titled Origins: The Evolution of the Nashville Sound.

The year 2007 got off to a great start with the long-awaited Nashville premiere of Two Weeks. It was a year of transition, changes during the first half leading up to the June sale of roughstock.com, where Stacy worked with Doug Hass for the past decade. Though offered a contract by the new owner, Stacy preferred to pursue an enhanced role in a partnership with countrymusicreport.com, the opportunity to develop stacyharris.com and to accelerate her involvement in other projects.

In addition to her consulting work, Stacy was newly-listed in Bacon's Directory of Media Professional and in the Vault Service (TV Spy) Experts & Sources Directory. She assisted Edward Lewine, a frequent contributor to The New York Times, with story ideas for both the Times and for Details magazine and was interviewed by Kate Howard for a front-page story in the May 24, 2007 edition of The Tennessean.

The following month Stacy Harris was interviewed by The Tennessean's Janell Ross for an article in the newspaper's June 17, 2007 issue.

On July 29th she appeared with Naomi Soule and Terry Moses, hosts of St. Louis' 89.1 KCLC Radio’s The Acoustic Edge. During the phone interview, Stacy reflected on the highlights of my 35 years covering Music Row, sharing my observations on the current state of the country-music business Her candor was so well-received by the hosts of the Roots Music Association's Folk Show of the Year and, as reflected by their listeners' positive feedback, that the hosts booked a return appearance for August 26th. In fact, the program provided such an interesting exchange of dialog that Naomi and Terry asked her to appear with them at least once "every couple of months."

Closing out 2007, Stacy was interviewed by Clay Carey for an article that appeared in the December 17th edition of The Tennessean.

Beginning in January, 2008, Stacy Harris assisted Nariman Farvardin, the University of Maryland's Senor Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, and the campus' Strategic Planning Steering Committee (SPSC), with the university's ongoing assessment of the state of the University, as we brainstorm about new initiatives. Her selection was based upon Professor Farvardin's belief that she had a handle on the university’s main strengths and weaknesses and professor solicited Stacy's input on the changes and initiatives necessary to propel Maryland into the top echelon of public research universities.

The March 3rd Tennessean featured Vivi Hoang's interview with Stacy. Gannett news service subsequently reprinted the interview in newspapers nationwide.

On April 23rd Kitty Kelley, the best-selling biographer, interviewed Stacy Harris for Kelley's biography of Oprah Winfrey titled Oprah: A Biography, to be published April 13, 2010..

On June 2nd WKRN-TV reporter Chris Bundgaard interviewed Stacy for the station's 10 p.m. newscast.

Additionally, veteran Nashville area artist manager Tony Gottlieb, trustee of the late music arranger Lou Bush's estate and administrator trustee of Burning Bush Music, commissioned Stacy to serve as a publicist and spokesperson for the estate which is the plaintiff in a lawsuit filed December 4, 2007 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago against DDB Chicago and Capital One Financial for infringement of the world-famous work, Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah (A Letter from Camp), created by Bush and comedian Allan Sherman.

In 2009, Stacy Harris was instrumental in assisting Pepsico, the international corporation boasting revenue of more than $39 billion, with recovery from an in-house generated public relations disaster re: one of the company's products (Mountain Dew), stemming from a February 12th preview of a Diane Sawyer documentary previewed on ABC News' Good Morning America February 12.

Due to Stacy's quick action, consultation and recommendations, Pepsico was able to reposition itself prior to the February 13th telecast of the Sawyer special titled A Hidden America: Children of the Mountains. Following broadcast of the hour-long investigation, Pepsico was able to build on Stacy's recommendations during the February 17th edition of the network's flagship, daily evening newscast World News (with Sawyer substituting for anchor Charles Gibson), next when Sawyer revisited the documentary, on the February 18th edition of Good Morning America and once again during the February 20, 2009 telecast of ABC News' 20/20.

The Tennesseean featured Stacy's comments to Colin Reed at the Gaylord Entertainment Company's 2009 shareholders' meeting in its May 7th online edition and in its May 8th expanded coverage print edition.

On September 23, 2009 Stacy Harris was published in writersweekly.com, the world's "highest circulation freelance writing ezine." Youc can also check out her profile in the Boston University Theology Library archives.

In November, Stacy wrapped up filming her role as a paid extra in Angry Monkey Productions' A Pure Country Gift, starring Katrina Elam (with a cameo by George Strait). The movie is scheduled for a 2010 release.

With the online expansion of the Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture, Stacy contributed an entry on Harlan Howard that now appears online with her entries on Brenda Lee and Carl Perkins previously available from the publisher only in hardback.

In February, 2010 Stacy completed filming her role as a paid extra in the Screen Gems feature film, Love Don't Let Me Down, starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Tim McGraw.

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