Grassroots first, and built to stay that way.
AMC is a grassroots advocacy effort. Everything below, the state partnership, the institutions, and the people leading it, exists to support that work, so every part of the region can move forward at its own hyperlocal level.
Appointed to the table where state music policy is made.
In April 2026, Governor Bill Lee formed the Tennessee Music Advisory Council, a statewide body charged with building sustainable music advocacy across seven Tennessee regions. Both of AMC's directors, Stephen Marshall and Ron Roach, were appointed by the Governor, putting this region's voice directly in the room where state music policy is made.
The council's work runs through the Tennessee Entertainment Commission, AMC's founding state partner. TEC sponsored the 2024 Northeast Tennessee Music Census, chose this region as the first pilot in its statewide initiative, and stays focused on measuring and growing Tennessee's music economies region by region. That's the same work AMC carries on the ground.
Census sponsor · Statewide pilot partner
Built inside a research university, not around one.
AMC is a d.b.a. and 501(c)(3) nonprofit innovation platform inside the ETSU Research Corporation. Three institutions carry real, ongoing roles in how it runs, alongside the state partnership above.
ETSU Research Corporation
AMC operates as an innovation platform inside the ETSU Research Corporation, the university's applied research and commercialization arm. That places AMC inside an institution built to turn regional assets into economic development, with the grants management and institutional backing to operate at scale from day one.
ETSU Department of Appalachian Studies
AMC's academic partner is the only department of its kind in the country, home to the Bluegrass, Old-Time and Roots Music Studies program and the world's first bachelor's degree in the field, with alumni including Kenny Chesney and Amythyst Kiah. Its faculty carry deep expertise in Appalachian culture and history well beyond music alone.
Sound Music Cities, Austin, Texas
Sound Music Cities conducted the 2024 Northeast Tennessee Music Census, the study that gave AMC its founding numbers. The Austin firm has supported music communities across the country, from Seattle to Washington, D.C., and remains AMC's ongoing research engine for measuring what's working as the ecosystem grows.
East Tennessee State University was founded in 1911 with a singular mission: to improve the quality of life for people in the region and beyond, the same mandate AMC carries into the regional music economy.
Led by people who've done the work, not just studied it.
Stephen W. Marshall
Founder & Director
Founder and director of AMC and CMO of the ETSU Research Corporation. He teaches brand, marketing, and media strategy at ETSU, and he's a working bassist and audio engineer with more than 1,000 live performances behind him. He also helps lead Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin, Texas.
Ron Roach
Co-Director
Department chair and professor of Appalachian Studies at ETSU, home of the Bluegrass, Old-Time and Country Music program, and director of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Center of Excellence for Appalachian Studies and Services.
Don Pitts
Thought Partner
Founder of Sound Music Cities, the Austin firm behind the 2024 Northeast Tennessee Music Census. He ran the Austin Music Office in the Live Music Capital of the World, and Spin named him one of the 30 most influential people in music.
Jimmy Wheeler
Thought Partner
Nashville born and raised, with a 30-year career at Sony Music spanning sales, marketing, radio promotion, and distribution, plus stops in music tech and artist management. Now Director of Business Development for the Tennessee Entertainment Commission.
"We asked the region what it needed instead of guessing. The answer was each other. Everything AMC builds starts from that."
· Steve Marshall, Founder
Committees are forming in every part of the region.
The shared agenda gets carried out locally. Regional committees are forming now in each part of the footprint, and they'll set the pace for what AMC builds next in their community.
Help lead a regional committee.
Regional committees are staffed by local volunteers connected through the AMC Digital Community Hub.