From Rural Rhythm Records to The 615 Hideaway: Working With Sammy Passamano III
Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to work with a lot of people in the bluegrass business. Some relationships come and go, while others continue to grow as the music business changes.
My relationship with Sammy Passamano III is one of those that has continued to evolve.
I first got to know Sammy through Rural Rhythm Records, where he was the guy handling radio promotion for the label. Sammy built and ran the bluegrass radio promotion operation there, working the singles, staying in contact with radio people, following what was happening with the records, and continuing to work the music after it was sent to radio.
That was important because Sammy wasn’t just somebody who mailed out records and moved on to the next one. He worked the records.
I experienced that firsthand with my own music. Sammy worked my singles and albums with bluegrass radio, and that became an important part of our relationship. He understood how radio worked, he knew the people he was dealing with, and he paid attention to what was happening with the music once it got into the hands of the DJs.
Bluegrass Today — Top 66 Bluegrass Chart
Bluegrass Today — First single from Prime Tyme
As I got to know Sammy better, our working relationship expanded beyond radio.
I eventually asked him to work with me on the floor for my television recordings of Reno’s Old Time Music. Sammy became a floor manager for those productions, helping keep things moving and making sure the recording process worked the way it needed to.
That was another side of Sammy that I came to appreciate. He understood the music, but he also understood production.
From there, Sammy and I eventually went on to work together on Bluegrass Music TV.
We were both interested in finding new ways to put bluegrass artists and performances in front of people. Bluegrass Music TV gave us an opportunity to take what we knew about the music business and combine it with video and digital media.
Working with Sammy through all of those different stages gave me a chance to see something that I think is important to understand about him.
He has never been tied to just one part of the music business.
He has worked radio. He has worked with artists. He has worked in video production. He has worked on record releases. He has worked on television and digital music programming.
And through all of those experiences, he has continued looking for better ways to connect the music with the people who need to discover it.
That is what I see in what he is doing today with The 615 Hideaway.
The 615 Hideaway isn’t simply another record label or another music website. It is an industry discovery platform for bluegrass and the roots music community, built around helping new music move through the different parts of the industry.
One of the things that makes sense to me about it is that Sammy is taking what he learned from years of working records with radio and combining that experience with today’s technology.
Radio Now gives DJs a way to discover new singles before their public release. Then, when the single is released, it moves into the Music Hub and Fans Chart, giving fans another way to discover the music and follow the artist.
To me, that is a natural progression from the work Sammy was already doing years ago.
The technology has changed. The way people find music has changed. The way music is delivered has changed.
But the basic idea hasn’t changed:
You still have to get good music in front of the right people, pay attention to what happens next, and keep working it.
I’ve watched Sammy do that for a long time.
I watched him do it with Rural Rhythm.
I watched him do it with my music.
I watched him do it on television.
I watched him do it with Bluegrass Music TV.
And now I’m watching him take that experience and build something new with The 615 Hideaway.
That’s why I think the history matters.
The 615 Hideaway didn’t come out of nowhere. It’s built on years of experience in the bluegrass business, and I’ve had the opportunity to see a lot of that history firsthand.
I’m proud to have been part of it.
