2016 faculty bios
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GINA BOE
Gina is a songwriter, artist, teacher, wife, mom, lover of songs, and a developer of people. She has over 25 years experience in the music business including 10 independent recordings, a Dove award, song of the year nominations, cuts by artists such as Mandisa, The Martins, The Talley Trio, Carl Cartee, Brian Free and Assurance, and many more, as well as several musicals for both children and adult choirs. As the Chief Creative Office for EnCorps Music, Gina also writes and produces a variety of projects for organizations who use music to communicate their message. She recently released the first project from Kids Corps Music whose mission is to raise up an army of songs for kids. Return to Faculty Page ANNA CLARK Anna Clark has celebrated many exciting events in 2016. From graduating high school, to the release of her first children's musical "Really, Really, Really Good News", to writing an Easter choir anthem, she has stayed busy accepting every opportunity God gives her. She is thrilled for the chance to be working with the WAJ kids this year! Anna studies music at Lipscomb University in Nashville, and can be found frequenting Chick Fil A or singing 4Him songs at the top of her lungs. Return to Faculty Page DAVE CLARK Dave’s songwriting credits include hits that cross musical boundaries from contemporary Christian music to southern gospel, including songs recorded by Larnelle Harris, Sandi Patty, Steve Green, 4HIM, Al Denson, Point of Grace, Phillips, Craig & Dean, Glen Campbell, CeCe Winans, and many others. Twenty-six of his songs have reached the #1 spot in the country on the Christian music charts, and his song "Pray Now," cut by Karen Peck and New River is his first southern gospel #1.. He is Director of Creative Development, A&R and Publishing for Lillenas Publishing Company. In 2009 Dave was awarded the prestigious ASCAP Living Legend Award. Return to Faculty Page JOE DAN CORNETT Joe Dan, a Nashville native, is currently the Assistant Creative Director at Daywind Music Publishing where he serves the staff writers and works within the film and TV market. He has worked in several different facets of the music industry, which range from major market rock and country touring to the Film and TV department at BMI. He also serves as the Worship Pastor at his church. His heart is to serve others and to help guide “creatives” towards their goals and aspirations. Return to Faculty Page BENJI COWART Songwriter and worship leader Benji Cowart is originally from Nashville, but God's path into the music business has led to Florida, Las Vegas, Georgia and Buffalo, NY. He's a writer for Word Music, where he has had cuts by Big Daddy Weave ("Redeemed" and "The Only Name - Yours Will Be), Vertical Church ("I'm Goin' Free - Jailbreak"), Ben Catelone, Joseph Habedank, and many others. Return to Faculty Page DENNIS DEARING For over 25 years, Dennis Dearing, a two-time Dove Award nominee for production, has invested his professional life in the music industry in Nashville, TN. After graduating from Belmont University with a Music Business degree (BBA), Dennis began touring as a guitar player with various Christian and country artists. His days home were filled with studio sessions where he performed on numerous #1 singles over the years that eventually led Dennis to the other side of the sound board. In 1996, Dennis opened his own recording studio, Menace Music, in Franklin, TN, becoming a sought-after producer, engineer, guitarist and performer. Working in a variety of genres, his name has appeared on dozens of projects by major labels, and he has worked and performed directly with notable artists and Grammy Award winners like Natalie Grant, Mathew West, Mandisa (American Idol), Hillary Scott (Lady Antebellum), Jay Demarcus & Gary Lavox (Rascal Flatts), Joy Williams (The Civil Wars), Sara Evans, Kathy Troccoli, Travis Cottrell, Nicol Smith Sponberg, Todd Smith (Selah), Lisa Bevill, The Martins, and David Phelps. Return to Faculty Page MARCY EACH Marcy Each is a singer/songwriter from Cedar Rapids, IA. In 2009, she won the WAJ songwriting competitition which launched her songwriting ministry. She is an Immerse artist/writer of the year winner and Dove award nominated writer/artist. Marcy writes songs, teaches kids, and cleans toilets for her local church. She also cleans toilets for her husband and three kids. Return to Faculty Page MICHAEL FARREN Texas native Michael Farren has spent 16 years as the lead vocalist of the worship band Pocket Full Rocks, leading worship at venues nation wide. Pocket full of Rocks released three albums with Word Records (Song to the King, Manifesto, and More Than Noise), garnering three Dove award nominations; Worship Album of the year, for both Song to the King and Manifesto, and New Artist of The Year. As a songwriter, Michael's work has been recorded by artist such as Michael W Smith, Natalie Grant, New Life Worship, Jackie Velazquez, Big Daddy Weave, Aaron Shust, Tricia Brock, Aaron Crabb, Brian Free & Assurance, Karen Peck & New River, and Phillips Craig and Dean. He is also the writer of Finding Favour's current single, SHAKE THE WORLD. With worship hits such as "Let It Rain" (Michael W. Smith) and "Let the Worshipers Arise" (Phillips Craig and Dean), Michael's art has found a place in congregations worldwide. With "Every Time I Breathe", co-written with Mike Weaver of Big Daddy Weave, Michael enjoyed his first #1 single on Christian radio. Michael's accomplishments have also made their way to the big screen with the song "It's About Love," recorded by Wynonna Judd for the VeggieTales movie "Lord Of The Beans." He also appears as an ear of corn singing his song "Rock On Larry Boy" in the Veggie Tales movie "Larry Boy And The Bad Apple." No joke. In addition to his writing and recording credits, Farren has produced projects for Dustin Smith, Jennie Lee Riddle (People & Songs Opus 1), Finding Favour, Shelly E. Johnson, Krissy Nordhoff (writer of YOUR GREAT NAME), John Waller, Hearts of Saints and country artist Rob Harris. During his 16 years with Pocket Full of Rocks, Farren and the band were honored with Dove Award nominations for New Artist of the Year and Worship Album of the Year, and Farren received an ASCAP Christian Music Award for EVERY TIME I BREATHE. "I love writing across all genres... CCM, country, southern gospel, etc.," says Farren, who serves as worship pastor at Gateway Church in Franklin, TN. "But writing songs for the Church is what I'm most passionate about. Throughout the writing process of every worship song, I'm constantly running every lyric and melody through the filter of, "Would I lead this song on Sunday?'." Michael and his wife of 19 years, Alisa, live just south of Nashville, TN with their two daughters. Michael works as a writer/producer, while also serving as a worship pastor for Gateway Church in Franklin, TN. Return to Faculty Page JOSEPH HABEDANK Daywind recording artist Joseph Habedank is a multi award-winning and Dove Award nominated singer/songwriter. Joseph has a unique and equally powerful testimony that has been featured on FoxNews.com's Spirited Debate, TBN’s Praise the Lord, and in such publications as Billboard Magazine, CCM Magazine, and Glenn Beck’s The Blaze. For ten years, he served first as baritone, then as the lead singer for one of Southern Gospel's favorite family groups, the Perrys, and shared his songs in some of America's greatest churches, including the Brooklyn Tabernacle and Charles Stanley’s First Baptist Atlanta. On the heels of his critically-acclaimed debut solo release, Welcome Home, he was awarded Singing News Magazine’s New Soloist of the Year in 2014. Additionally, he was awarded Young Artist of the Year in 2009 by the fans of Gospel Music and Songwriter of the Year at the Absolutely Gospel Music Awards in 2011. His songs have been recorded by such artists as: The Booth Brothers, Dailey & Vincent, The Hoppers, Jeff & Sheri Easter, The Perrys, Gold City, Brian Free & Assurance, Karen Peck & New River, Lauren Talley, The Kingsmen, Ivan Parker, and many more. He has helped write two nationally charted number one songs and in 2010, "If You Knew Him" (written with Rodney Griffin) was nominated for Southern Gospel Song of the Year at the GMA Dove Awards and won the Singing News Fan Award for Song of the Year. He was also nominated for Singing News Magazine's Male Vocalist of year, Lead Singer of the year and Songwriter of the year for three consecutive years. Joseph currently resides just outside Nashville, TN with his wife, Lindsay. Return to Faculty Page |
WAYNE HAUN
Wayne Haun—4-time GRAMMY® nominee, 29-time DOVE Award winner and 3-time BMI Music Award winner—recently garnered attention as he released his debut jazz vocal recording through StowTown Records and Provident/Sony Distribution. With fresh interpretations of timeless love songs and classic Broadway tunes, Wayne Haun's "Old Soul" CD took the number one spot on the iTunes Jazz chart for two days. In all, the project remained in the iTunes Jazz Top 10 for a full week. In spite of his fresh foray into the spotlight, Haun is best known for his behind-the-scenes expertise as a songwriter, producer, arranger, orchestrator, musical director, record label founder, publishing company owner. Notably, Haun has become increasingly busy arranging and orchestrating for artists in a variety of genres, including Celine Dion, Boyz II Men, Craig Wayne Boyd, Jessica Simpson, Ernie Haase & Signature Sound, Brian McKnight, Jill Scott and Earl Scruggs. Return to Faculty Page DONNA KING Nashville singer, songwriter, producer, and music artist, Donna King, is quickly becoming one of the most sought after producers in Nashville. She has been working full-time in the music industry for over twenty years. She was awarded Producer of the Year in 2013 by the esteemed Absolutely Gospel Music Awards. She writes and produces Christian Music, Country, Pop, and a handful of other genres. She and her husband, Zane, known as Zane and Donna King, perform around town on many writer's rounds, and in churches and concert venues across the country. It's a long way from the Motor City (Detroit), where she was born and raised. Donna is a classically trained vocalist who is now known as a demo & BGV (back ground vocals) singing "chameleon," able to perform a variety of styles on demos and for artist's projects. She has a golden ear for detail and nuance. in addition to her talents as a performer, producer, songwriter, and vocalist, she has proven to be an excellent music industry strategist who understands marketing and commercial radio. She’s worked with major labels in radio promotion as well as PR and has a solid understanding of what works as a radio single and in live performance. She is committed to keeping the songs she works on fresh and current in today's ever-shifting music world. So, if Donna's not in the songwriting room, she's in the studio doing demo work, producing a new project for an artist, singing demos or bgv overdubs, and so on. Her energy, positivity, work ethic, musical intuition, and LOVE for her calling make a difference in every endeavor she's a part of. Return to Faculty Page ZANE KING Zane King is a multi-talented instrumentalist, producer, and songwriter. He’s been called the "Man Of Steel” by the steel guitar community, playing steel guitar and dobro with grace and groove. Hailing from Bald Knob, Arkansas, Zane moved to Nashville in 1994 after attending Harding University in AR, then the renowned Berklee College of Music in Boston. He joined forces at Zion Music Group where he worked with Christian groups such as the Crabb Family, McGruders, Lesters, Ivan Parker, Anchormen, Heaven Bound and many others. Following Zion, Zane was named A&R director of Homeland Entertainment Group’s roster of artists which included The Cathedrals, the Hoppers, the Bishops and others. While there, he established a developmental label for the company, and Journey Records was born. As the president of Journey Records, he wrote songs and/or produced recordings for Terry Terrell, Jessica King, Skyline Boys, Chosen Few, Russ Lee, N’ Harmony, and many more. On the songwriting side, Zane has written hits like ”Keep Me In Your Will,” "Help Me Get Down On My Knees,” “Go Close The Windows,” and countless others. More recently he’s written songs with his wife for their duo Zane & Donna King. Their most recent cowrite to burn up the radio airwaves is “It Takes Jesus" which they wrote with the talented Sue C. Smith. These days, Zane's full-time job is as Artist Relations Manager for Compassion International, overseeing the Christian and Country Music marketing initiatives. Compassion is a ministry that helps to feed, educate, and introduce Jesus to children in extreme poverty around the world. In his off time, he and Donna write Christian and country music, produce and record, and play in churches and various events sharing hope and love with their audiences. Return to Faculty Page JOEL LINDSEY Joel Lindsey is one of Christian music's most enduring songwriters, with over 25 #1 songs, 16 Dove Awards and over 1500 songs recorded in a career spanning 25 years. He has received 4 Platinum Records, 7 Gold Records and Eleven Platinum Videos. His songs have been recorded by such artists as Selah, Point of Grace, Todd Smith, Gaither Vocal Band, Ernie Haase & Signature Sound, Cana’s Voice, Avalon, The Talley Trio, Sandi Patty and many, many others. In addition to writing songs for artists, Lindsey also writes musicals for church choirs to perform. His Christmas musical, Emmanuel: Celebrating Heaven's Child, is the highest selling musical in the history of Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing Company, selling over 100,000 books in its first year of release alone. A three-time cancer survivor, much of Joel's spare time is spent raising money for various cancer research charities and relief organizations. Conducting songwriting seminars and mentoring aspiring songwriters are some of his favorite ways to combine his passion for songs with his passion for cancer research. Joel is an exclusive songwriter for Word Entertainment, a division of Warner/Curb. Return to Faculty Page RUSSELL MAULDIN Russell Mauldin is one of Nashville's most prolific musical talents. In 2016 alone, he has contributed to numerous artist projects as producer, arranger, and orchestrator. He has also worked in the film, theater, and video game industries as orchestrator and conductor. Perhaps Russell is best known for his work in choral church music, where he is an exclusive composer for Capitol Christian Music (Brentwood-Benson) and has long remained the top-selling arranger in the market. He and wife, Janice have 3 grown children and live in nearby Brentwood. They have attended Christ Church Nashville for 25 years. Recently, Russell was ordained as a minister and continues a path to pastoral leadership through graduate studies in Religion at Lee University. Return to Faculty Page |
PHIL MEHRENS
Phil loves to lead God’s people in worship and mentor musicians, singers, and songwriters for the Kingdom. He has been a worship pastor for over 20 years and is now planting a new congregation. He has led worship at many conventions and conferences in the states and overseas. Phil is a past grand prize winner at Write About Jesus and a staff songwriter for Sunday Best Music, Nashville, TN, with over 25 songs released in musicals by Lillenas. His songs have also been cut by the Nelons, The Old Paths, Ashes to Fire, Southern Salvation, and The Dixie Melody Boys. Phil and His wife, Jodie have 4 children and an increasing number of amazing grandchildren. Return to Faculty Page DON POYTHRESS Don Poythress is originally from Clinton, MS, but at the age of 18 he moved to Nashville, TN to pursue a career in music. Since then his songs have been recorded by such artists as Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt, Cheryl Crow, Tim McGraw, Blake Shelton, Jake Owen, Karie Jobe, Philips Craig and Dean, Kellie Pickler and others including the #1 song from Easton Corbin, “A Little More Country Than That”. As well as his success in country music, he has garnered 3 Dove Awards and has released his own worship project entitled “Wash Away” with collaborations with Ricky Skaggs and Paul Baloche. As a performer he has had the privilege to perform on such stages as The Ryman Auditorium, The Grand Ole Opry and The Bluebird Café, among many others. Return to Faculty Page BELINDA SMITH A Dove Award-winning songwriter, Belinda has seen hundreds of her original songs recorded by renowned artists in the Christian and Gospel genres, including three number ones (“In Time, On Time, Every Time” by Gold City, “I Stand Redeemed” by Legacy V, “Over and Over” by Jeff & Sheri Easter) and numerous award-nominated hits. She landed the Dove Award for Bluegrass Song of the Year for “So Many Years, So Many Blessings“ by the Lewis family. Additionally, she’s penned the new Christmas musical “Once You’ve Seen the Star” along with having numerous placements in other print and productions. She’s presently signed as a staff writer for Daywind Music and owns 7th Row Music, a publishing company. Belinda also mentors aspiring songwriters through her company BelindaSmithCreative.com. Return to Faculty Page JAMES TEALY James Tealy currently teaches Commercial Songwriting in the Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business at world-renowned Belmont University in Nashville, TN, where he lives with his wife, Shera. After 12 years as a professional songwriter, James' deep list of cuts includes award winning, chart-topping songs recorded by Kari Jobe, Josh Wilson, Gold City, Lauren Daigle, Shannon Labrie, and more than 100 others. Tealy is also the Worship Development Director at Redemption City Church in Franklin, TN. Return to Faculty Page BRYAN WARD Bryan is a music business veteran of 23 years and has held positions at Sony as VP, Marketing and EMI/Capitol Christian Music Group as Director, Artist Development working with Steven Curtis Chapman, Hillsong, Third Day, Amy Grant, Mathew West, Mandisa, & TobyMac to name a few. Currently, he is an Artist & Brand Manager with Proper Management (Casting Crowns, I Am They, The Afters, Julianna Zobrist, Vertical Church Band & more). In his ‘side job’, he has performed on stage beginning at 5 years old trying to impress his elementary school teachers all the way to performing with Amy Grant in front of 60,000 people trying to impress his parents. Return to Faculty Page ALISEN WELLS Alisen loves writing songs and encouraging aspiring young songwriters. Her latest project to hit the market, a children's Christmas musical called "The Really, Really, Really Good News", was co-written with Nick Robertson and Anna Clark. Alisen enjoys writing songs for all genres including country, pop, contemporary Christian, gospel, and children's music, and teaches a songwriting class twice a year through her local church. In addition to writing songs, she also enjoys singing, serving as a worship leader at church alongside her guitar playing husband, and leading worship for area churches and youth organizations. Although a native of Texas, Alisen currently makes her home in Nashville with her husband and two boys. Return to Faculty Page KENNA WEST Kenna Turner West is a Dove Award-winning songwriter and three-time SGM/AGM "Songwriter of the Year." With twelve "Song of the Year" wins and fourteen #1's to her credit, she has co-written chart-topping hits such as "Say Amen," "Revival," and "Calvary’s Cry." For over thirty years, Kenna has blended music, devotional teaching, and humor into a ministry that has reached around the world. These days, the author and certified counselor spends much of her time writing songs that have been recorded by artists such as Jason Crabb, The Isaacs, The Booth Brothers, The Martins, Karen Peck and New River, Brian Free and Assurance, Finding Favour, Jeff and Sheri Easter, Marty Raybon, The Talleys, The Blackwood Brothers, The Oak Ridge Boys, The Collingsworth Family, Wes Hampton, Legacy Five, Tribute Quartet, Joseph Habedank, and many more. She has also penned three musicals, including the 2015 Christmas release, “Joy! Unspeakable Joy!” Kenna has been married to husband Kerry for twenty-three years. Their son, Graham, recently graduated from Trevecca Nazarene University with a bachelor’s degree in both physics and mathematics. Return to Faculty Page TONY WOOD Tony is a Dove Award nominee for Songwriter of the Year and writer of 29 #1 songs. He is a three-time Dove Award winner for Inspirational Song of the Year and has recently been on radio as writer of GOD IS ON THE MOVE by 7eventh Time Down, BREATHE by Jonny Diaz and AFTER ALL THIS TIME by the Talleys. Artists recording his songs include Matt Redman, Selah, Michael W. Smith, Francesca Battistelli, Mandisa, Chris August, Colton Dixon, Point of Grace, 4-HIM, Avalon, Jason Crabb, Hawk Nelson, Group 1 Crew, Sandi Patty, Larnelle Harris, Gaither Vocal Band, Booth Brothers, and many others. Tony is a staff writer for WORD Music Publishing. Return to Faculty Page HOLLY ZABKA Holly is Vice President of Publishing for Essential Music, working with such writers as Brandon Heath, 2009 Dove Award winning songwriter and artist, and Dove Award winners Jason Ingram, Mia Fields, and Chuck Butler. She was Creative Director for Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing for eight years, and before that the Membership Director for the Gospel Music Association. Return to Faculty Page |
