Our mission is broad. I don't care what your
skills are, there is probably a job here for
you, and the best way to get a job is to
volunteer. The last two or three full time staff
people I hired, came in as volunteers. I loved
their work and they already knew the
program."
BART HERBISON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR,
NSAI
By his own admission, Bart Herbison was not
blessed with musical talent. "I
learned to play really terrible trumpet, worse
drums, and you don't want to hear me
sing or pick up a guitar, but I loved it. I
love music." Whether his musical ineptitude
forced him out of the band, or he discovered
his talents were in the business side of
music, at age 15 Herbison was managing his
buddies' band. The following year, while
still in high school, he held down full-time
disc jockey positions at three Tennessee
radio stations. Over time, his radio work
evolved into news reporting which led to a
news director job over a group of stations. By
1986 he was working for NBC, and
The
Nashville Banner, as an election campaign
reporter. On the campaign trail he became
acquainted with Tennessee Governor Edward
Porter, who offered Herbison a job in
1987 as his press adviser. After serving 18
months with the governor, he moved to
Washington, D.C. to work as administrative
assistant to Congressman Bob Clement.
As the congressman from Nashville, Clement's
office was the first stop for NSAI
lobbyists, and Herbison saw the opportunity to
combine his two loves into one.
Taking over the responsibility for music
related issues, he worked closely with NSAI
over the next ten years. When the directorship
of the organization was vacated in
1998, Herbison's longstanding relationship and
legislative experience made him an
CASE STUDY:
THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT THIS
JOB:
"The most frustrating part of my job is telling
our story. A songwriter
is a unique creature, in that God has given
them a gift and that
usually equates to some wonderfully blessed
idiosyncrasies in their per-
sonality. Getting writers indoctrinated into
the facts they need to
know, and the philosophy and inspiration and
passion to fight their
own fights, whether it be legislative matters
or other issues that affect
them, can be hard."
THE BEST THING ABOUT THIS JOB:
"What I like best about my job is the music.
There is nobody that gets
in their car and loves coming to work every day
more than me."
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