Alison Brown

I recently had the chance to interview Alison Brown and Garry West, the husband-and-wife team who run Compass Records in Nashville. I’ve known Alison since I recruited her to speak at a Harvard Business Publishing Burning Questions conference in 2003 — who could resist the story of an investment banker-turned Grammy Award-winning banjo player-turned record label founder? It was a tale of a passion for music that would not be denied and that turned not into a lark but into an ultimately more rewarding career.

I also interviewed her for Worthwhile magazine (Worthwhile A Brown interview).

I was in touch again recently because I am working on a book on leadership and wanted to get Alison and Garry’s insights into what it is like to lead people over whom you have little authority — musicians certainly fit the bill. While I have to save most of the leadership insights for the book, I did want to share part of the conversation that I found fascinating: the decision on whether to use an artist’s road band or session players when recording an album. [Read more...]