Doyle Lawson, Jerry Salley, Keith Barnacastle, and Donna Ulisse as Jerry signs with Tall Oaks Music
Tall Oaks Music, the newly-formed music publishing company founded by bluegrass legend Doyle Lawson, longtime bluegrass artist and songwriter Donna Ulisse, and Keith Barnacastle, owner of Turnberry Records, Get It Played, and The Bluegrass Standard, have announced today the signing of highly-celebrated songwriter Jerry Salley to their roster.
It would be hard to imagine a current bluegrass songwriter with more songs recorded than Jerry, either as a co-writer or on his own. The discography on his web site lists more than 600 cuts, an astounding number that would be the envy of anyone in the business, let alone the fact that they were released by top artists like Rhonda Vincent, Del McCoury, Lonesome River Band, The Oak Ridge Boys, Dale Ann Bradley, The Osborne Brothers, Steven Curtis Chapman, Jeff & Sheri Easter, and a host of other bluegrass, gospel, and country music artists.
He will henceforth be publishing his original songs with Tall Oaks Music, which Lawson says is a big get for them.
“I’ve known Jerry Salley for at least 30 years, and once when I was needing a vocalist, I tried to hire him, but wouldn’t you know, as a songwriter, he was very much in demand and travel was not in the picture for him at the time. So goes the passing of time, and I finally have him on board as a part of the Tall Oaks Music team.
Keith, Donna, and I are extremely happy to have the talents of all of our writers.”
Jerry joins a talented roster that has expanded rapidly over the past 10 months, including Kevin Denny, Paul Williams, Tom Botkin, Gary Ferguson, Alice Shumate, Amanda Duchane Ryan, Ryland Duchane, Darren Nicholson, David Lauver, Dawn Kenney, Jack Shannon, and Adam & Amy Pope.
Ulisse also sings his praises from a long and close association.
“Jerry Salley is family to me! In fact, we call each other brother and sister. He was instrumental in several of my biggest records as a co-writer and producer. What a natural and blessed thing to have him on board as a writer for Tall Oaks Music. I speak for Keith, Doyle, and myself when I say we are proud as punch and honored to have Jerry become part of our publishing family.”
In addition to writing all these songs, Salley serves as Creative/A&R Director for Billy Blue Records, a label he co-founded in 2018 with Ed and Dottie Leonard, where he also produces a number of their releases each year.
Jerry is also a two-time recipient of the IBMA Songwriter of the Year award.
