Chris Wallin Chooses ole to Cultivate Catalogue and Future Songs

ole has concluded an agreement for the acquisition of top Nashville songwriter, Chris Wallin's past catalogue and entered into a worldwide co-publishing arrangement.

A longtime fixture on the Nashville scene, Wallin's catalog includes the No. 1 hit singles Toby Keith's "Love Me If You Can," Kenny Chesney's ACM Song of the Year nominee "Don't Blink;" and Montgomery Gentry's "Something To Be Proud Of;" Top-5 hits "I'm Tryin'" (Trace Adkins) and "Speed" (Montgomery Gentry); and Top-40 singles such as: "Your In My Head" (Brian McComas), "What Brothers Do" (Confederate Railroad) and "John J. Blanchard" (Anthony Smith). The prolific writer brings more than 100 additional songs to ole.

Wallin was drawn to ole's international reach and development commitment to its writers. "It's clear that ole is a company that doesn't stay in the box," says Wallin, who attended ole's CMA week Screening Party in November, 2009. "That's one of the things I really love about them--they're unconventional."

"ole is creating an ambitious development plan for Chris both in Nashville and Internationally. He is a great talent and with our team in support we look forward to a lot of success," notes ole Chief Creative Officer Gilles Godard. "It's a testament to ole's brand and culture that Chris would choose ours as the team to make his future aspirations a reality."

Raised in White Pine, Tennessee, the 38-year-old credits Jim Croce, James Taylor, Merle Haggard--as well as his own musical family--as major influences. Writing his first song at age 12, Wallin made his way to Nashville in the 1980s. He soon landed his first songwriting deal and began establishing a consistent track record writing for such artists as Lorrie Morgan, Keith Anderson, Anthony Smith, Sammy Kershaw, Joe Diffie, Trace Adkins, Michael Peterson, Jeffrey Steele, Confederate Railroad, Neal McCoy, Brian McComas, Brad Paisley and Diamond Rio.

A strong collaborator, Wallin co-writes regularly with such hit songwriters as Jeffrey Steele, Jim Collins, Craig Wiseman, Danny Wells, Casey Beathard, Craig Monday and Keith Anderson.

Wallin is also an active advocate for songwriter's rights, and has traveled with other influential members of Nashville Songwriter's Association International to Washington, DC to help revise legislature concerning intellectual property rights.

"I'm very excited to be working with such a forward-thinking company," says Wallin. "I'm really looking forward to building my relationship with ole in a big way."

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