Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Redding.
Hi Jennifer, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Funny how you start in one place feeling really good about where you are and then one day you realize you took a wrong turn. This has happened twice in my life. The good news is that I corrected course both times.
I started college in California for TV/RADIO/FILM. After my family relocated back home to Texas, I changed my degree plan to Chemical Oceanography. 1st mistake. After working in the environmental field for a number of years and then doing the stay-at-home mom thing, I went back to film school. After one semester in school, I was working in the Houston film scene. One of my first jobs was helping run a film crew for a multi-day music festival. Some of the folks involved in that festival had ties to radio. They offered me a job so I made the transition to radio and immediately found a home.
While working in radio, I went through a divorce (2nd mistake corrected) and decided to transition from working IN radio to working TO radio. What does that mean? Did you know that records don’t just magically appear on your local stations? Record promoters like me actually work with stations to get our clients (bands) radio singles played on local radio. I started doing radio promotion in 2017 and in January 2019, hired my now husband, Ray Redding Sr. (aka TexasRedd) as a partner to help me run the radio promotion firm. Ray is a local photographer who is well known in the music scene. Ray had retired from a long career in advertising and was ready to transition to working full time in the music industry.
We formed our company – jenerayte promotion. A little play on our names… jen and ray… that sounds like generate. Our company is thriving in the world of independent country music promotion and photography. We have both really found our passions and work diligently each day to further the careers of our clients. It truely is a labor of love by two crazy cats in love.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It was a pretty smooth ride after I made the decision to take action to put my needs and dreams first. The biggest obstacle to my success was not believing I was worth it and letting that paralyze me. Once I got past that false narrative, things took off.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
jenerayte promotion provides services for independent artists and record labels wishing to promote their singles and albums within the Americana and Independent Texas Country genres. jenerayte promotion also offers a variety of photography services for artists, labels and beyond.
jenerayte – sounds like: gen-er-ate. We are known for taking a holistic approach to radio promotion with a strong focus on artist development. We are very proud to be able to work with artists and bands who want to organically grow their careers and brands via a grassroots approach.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
I definitely owe Mary Adams, who worked with the music festival I was working on. I will always be grateful for her for seeing that a career in music was right fit for me. She started this whole journey! I could never repay her for all that she has done for me. I consider her a dear friend to this day.
I would be remiss to leave out Pat Fant and Cruze, the owners of the RFC Media, my first job in radio. Pat Fant is by far the best boss I’ve ever worked under and is an extremely patient mentor. Cruze is probably the most gifted radio programmer across any genre of music that exists. He taught me all I know about how radio stations are supposed to be programmed. They are both absolute legends in both terrestrial and internet radio. I am so lucky to have worked for them.
I would also like to give credit to another radio promoter, Tami Millspaugh, who helped me navigate the world of radio promotion when I got started. Tami has been a fantastic mentor.
I am extremely fortunate to own my own company and work in my dream job with my best friend. It just doesn’t get any better than this.
Contact Info:
- Email: Jen@jenerayte.com
- Website: www.jenerayte.com
Image Credits
Ray Redding Sr. aka TexasRedd.
