Sandy Neese

Charlie Daniels Band/Sound Seventy Productions, The Tennessean, WMAK, MTM Records, PolyGram/Mercury Records

Sandy Neese, a native of Greenville, North Carolina, began her career in the music business in the late 60's at Nashville radio station WMAK. A copywriter, she also did on-air bits as "Sock It To Me Sandy." Joe Sullivan, the station's program director, opened concert promotion/artist management company Sound Seventy/CDB Inc. (Charlie Daniels Band) in the early 70's, and he subsequently hired Sandy as his assistant. In 1982, she joined the Tennessean as an entertainment writer while freelancing for a number of other publications. For three years, she co-hosted the weekly cable program Music Row Video with fellow reporter Robert K. Oermann.

In 1985, she joined MTM Music Group as director of media, and when that label closed, she headed the media department at Mercury Records, retiring as senior vice president in 2001 after 13 years with the company. During her tenure, Sandy was responsible for guiding the press for both the label and its artists.

She worked with such talents as Johnny Cash, The Kentucky HeadHunters, The Statler Brothers, Mark Wills, Billy Ray Cyrus, Toby Keith, Kathy Mattea, Sammy Kershaw, Alison Krauss, Terri Clark, Kim Richie and Shania Twain, and on the award-winning, critically-acclaimed soundtrack, "O Brother Where Art Thou". While at The Tennessean, she and Mr. Oermann individually received the SESAC

"Journalist of the Year" award. She was named "International Journalist of the Year" by the international journalists' association.

Married to music publisher Chuck Neese, she is the mother of two and a grandmother. Sandy makes miniature furniture and accessories for customers all across the U.S.