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More than 50 years ago, my dad, Cecil Scaife, had a clear vision that a collegiate-level music business program was needed for musicians, artists, songwriters, and future music business executives to learn the industry formally.
There were college programs for those wishing to be doctors, teachers, nurses, etc., but there was no place in higher learning to study how to be in the music business. He had a vision to change that. Family friend and Belmont Baptist College President, Dr. Herbert Gabhart, asked my dad for ideas on how he, as college president, could grow Belmont College. My dad shared his dream of an educational program for the music industry, which also had the potential to bring alums back to campus with the ability to contribute significantly to the growth of the school. (The Brad Paisley Ballroom on campus is a generous example of the return of a program graduate.)
Dr. Gabhart was the most Baptist person I have ever known and perhaps the most conservative. However, Dr. Gabhart listened intently to this out- of-the-box idea of bringing Music Row to Belmont. My dad’s concept was simple: combine select classes from Belmont’s existing music and business schools and curate a curriculum focused on the music business.
With Dr. Gabhart on board, my dad suggested that his good friend and collaborator, Bob Mulloy, be moved from Belmont’s music department to head up the soon-to-be music business department. The music department resisted this suggested move because they did not want to lose the gifted Mulloy from their award-winning music department. Still, it was a forward move for Belmont.
United by a shared vision and Dr. Gabhart’s encouragement and blessings, Mulloy served as the first head of the department of music business. He took on the pivotal role of growing the dream, a testament to their commitment to the music business education program. He nurtured and cared for the program for many years until he retired due to failing health. There were no textbooks, so my dad asked friends from Music Row to teach classes on a rotating schedule based on their areas of experience: producing, songwriting, performance, A&R, and engineering while incorporating existing courses from the music and business departments into the new curriculum.
The late CMA Executive Director Jo Walker-Meador, the woman most credited with breaking the glass ceiling on Music Row, stated at a press conference in Belmont’s Studio B in 2008, “I remember in the early 1970s when Cecil was knocking on all our doors on Music Row trying to get this wonderful program started.” That first year, 1973, Music Business 101 was born and officially put into the school catalog. This program would not have been possible without the early belief and support of my dad’s vision from Belmont College President
Dr. Gabhart and Music Business Department Chairman Bob Mulloy. So, it was my delight and honor on April 13 — what would have been my dad’s 97th birthday — to present The Cecil Scaife Visionary Award posthumously to Dr. Herbert C. Gabhart and Bob Mulloy on behalf of my brother, record producer Joe Scaife, and his family, my husband, and myself. Brittany Schaffer, the dynamic Dean of The Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business, invited me to present the award at a reception, culminating a year-long celebration of the Music Business program’s 50th anniversary.
Dean Schaffer graciously accepted the awards for the honorees’ families, which will be prominently displayed on campus. The stunning Kosta Boda black and clear crystal award will remind students of the giants on whose shoulders they stand. My brother and I created the award in 2008 to honor our dad’s contributions to the music business program at Belmont and to celebrate those whose lives and work have made it possible for future generations to realize careers in the music industry.
The reception was held in the beautiful, newly expanded Vince Gill Room prior to Belmont’s Best of the Best concert at The Curb Center on Belmont University’s campus. Mike Curb was the first recipient of the Cecil Scaife Visionary Award, and he remains vital to our journey in many ways. During his acceptance speech at a Belmont Board of Trustees luncheon, he said that although Mulloy was the face of the program and nurtured it for many years, before Mulloy passed, he humbly shared how grateful he was for “Cecil, who had the vision.”
At Curb’s encouragement, The Cecil Scaife Endowed Scholarship was created, and each year, a rising junior or senior in the Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business is awarded a scholarship. We kicked off the scholarship fundraising efforts with a sold- out concert at The Ryman featuring artists, musicians, and friends of Elvis Presley since my dad was hired as the first Sales and Promotion Manager for Sam Phillips at Sun Records to promote his biggest act, Elvis. The night was magical, and it was the last time my dad attended a concert before he passed.
We are so grateful for other deserving Visionary Award recipients who have been celebrated for their contributions and for helping to grow the scholarship, enabling others to follow their dreams. In addition to the inaugural recipient, Mike Curb, honorees include Amy Grant (who shared when accepting her award, “Had it not been for your dad, I may not have had the opportunity to demo my first song. It was done in the studio on Belmont’s campus when I was still in high school.”) Brenda Lee, Ray Stevens, Tony Brown, Wynonna Judd, David Briggs, Norbert Putnam, Jo Walker-Meador, Senator Marsha Blackburn, “Sunshine” Sonny Payne, and Harold Bradley. Due to Curb’s leadership and generosity, the Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business is now one of the most prestigious music business programs in the world.