Katie Gillon

Dot Records/ABC Records/MCA Records; Wrinkled Records

Katie Gillon grew up in Birmingham, Alabama. After college, she moved to Georgia to teach high school English. She married her college sweetheart who had moved to Nashville to be a songwriter. A new acquaintance passed along a tip about a seasonal shipping job at Dot Records in 1973. She was in exactly the right place at the right time and got the attention of the label president, Jim Foglesong; when his secretary left, he moved Katie to the desk outside his office. She was also made office manager and took on A&R budgets, production credits and coordinating art for releases with the LA office.

When a new regime took over in 1984, it swept out everyone in the Nashville office except Katie and one other. Under Music Row maverick producer Jimmy Bowen, who was taking over the country division and after nearly a decade at Dot/ABC/MCA, she gained her first official title: Director of Production. As part of Bruce Hinton/Tony Brown regime she was soon elevated to Senior Vice President of Creative Services and Production. She developed all the visuals for the label's marketing, promotional and PR the campaigns for a roster that included George Strait, Reba McEntire, Loretta Lynn, Trisha Yearwood, Steve Earle, George Jones, Vince Gill, Wynonna, Bill Monroe, Gary Allan, Lee Ann Womack, Lyle Lovett, The Mavericks and more. Katie left the record label in 2002 to form her own company, The Gillon Group.

She was contracted to oversee the actualization of a vision long-held by Music Row leaders: a
country music retirement community.

In that capacity, she served as Executive Director of the Crescendo Music Community Fund. In 2011 she joined Grammy nominated songwriter Sandy Knox to launch indie label Wrinkled Records breaking new ground in marketing music. Katie served two terms as president (the first and only woman president) of the Nashville NARAS Chapter; eight years as a NARAS National Trustee; was president of Leadership Music and is an alumnus of Leadership Nashville. Her most personally rewarding role has been parenting three daughters as a single, working mother.