Show notes
Stacey Wilbur has spent over thirty years in Nashville doing a job most music fans have never heard of — song plugging. Her role: find the right song, fight for it, and get it into the hands of the artist who will make it a hit.She helped launch Worship Together. She championed Laura Story's "Blessings" when the label wasn't sure it should make the record. She worked alongside future stars before the world knew their names. And today she heads publishing for TIM — the company founded by Chris Tomlin and Jason Ingram, two of the most recorded songwriters in Christian music history.In this conversation, Stacey takes us from a small town in Michigan — where a poster of Wynonna Judd on her bedroom wall sparked a dream — all the way to the rooms where Christian music's biggest songs are pitched, fought for, and sometimes saved from the cutting room floor.She talks about a stranger who prophesied over her in a restaurant before she was even a Christian. About losing her job, hearing God say "be still," and what happened the very next day when she wrote a name on a piece of paper.She tells us about a CEO who didn't have to say anything — and chose to anyway.This is one of the most honest, funny, and quietly remarkable conversations we've had on More Cowbell Please.Stacey Wilbur / Head of Publishing, TIM PublishingInstagram: @staceyswilburMore Cowbell Please is a podcast exploring the stories, faith, and people behind Contemporary Christian Music. Hosted by Grammy-winning mix engineer Ainslie Grosser.Topics in this episode: Christian music industry, song plugging, music publishing Nashville, CCM history, Worship Together, Chris Tomlin, Laura Story Blessings, Mandisa, TIM Publishing, Brentwood Benson, EMI Christian, Capitol Christian Music Group, Bill Hearn, Billy Ray Hearn, Sparrow Records, faith and work, Nashville music careers.Chapters0:00 The people behind the songs you love0:53 Meet Stacey Wilbur1:35 Small town girl with a big dream4:51 The prophecy at the restaurant5:34 October 2nd — getting saved7:57 615 Music Row — how she got in the door8:50 The Avalon audition11:26 Worship Together / Chris Tomlin / Matt Redman11:46 What is a song plugger?12:50 The Busby & Daughtry story15:15 "It's me" — pitching herself to Gary Overton16:41 Honky Tonk Badonkadonk17:43 Brentwood Benson — "All the writers say hire you"19:05 Chris Sligh / Rascal Flatts / Cracker Barrel22:16 Losing the job — the wilderness season24:13 Who was Bill Hearn?25:19 "I know what happened to you. You matter."25:35 Seth Mosley texts the next day26:27 The panic attack (and what happened next)27:01 TIM Publishing — Chris Tomlin's crazy idea27:52 Steffany Gretzinger walks in30:09 The Charlie Kirk Memorial30:34 iTunes Top 10 worldwide — God is moving33:32 Laura Story "Blessings"35:41 "I mixed that record"36:37 Advice — dream big37:50 Be yourself / the Brian Johnson line38:50 God's strategies > AI strategies39:25 The magnificent defeat40:47 Outro