Four new hires will join the ranks of agents at UTA’s Nashville office. Emily LaRose, Marissa Smith and Elisa Vazzana will join as music agents, while Amy Lynch will join the comedy touring division as an agent.
“We are honored to welcome this powerhouse group of industry professionals into our Music City headquarters,” partner and co-head of global music David Zedeck said in a release. “The collective breadth and scope of our new colleagues will be a tremendous addition as we continue to expand our footprint in Nashville and beyond.”
LaRose comes to UTA from WME and previously worked at CAA and APA. She joins the agency with close to 10 years’ experience working across multiple genres with artists including Sasha Alex Sloan, Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness, The Main Squeeze, Nightly, Leah Kate and Payday.
Smith is based in Nashville working with clients such as JP Saxe, GAYLE, JVKE, John Harvie, and Daniel Blume. She began her career at WME, where outside of her work in North America touring, she helped build and lead WME’s first virtual appearance department, booking hundreds of virtual concerts for artists such as Kehlani, Charlie Puth, Culture Club, Lindsey Stirling, Sabrina Claudio, and more. Smith also served as WME’s first-ever social action music agent, booking the department’s non-profit, political, and social action related events. Smith holds board positions with several non-profit organizations including She Is The Music, Noise for Now, Children in Conflict, Sustainable Partners, Inc., Diversify the Stage, and Tennessee Alliance for Kids.
Vazzana joins UTA as a music agent in the country fair and festival space. Most recently Vazzana worked at CAA for over 14 years where she represented country musicians, including Runaway June, Carly Pearce, Home Free, and Walker Hayes. She plays a big role in the Nashville community as a founder of the Nashville chapter of Rhythm of Hope (a partnership between The Lollipop Foundation and Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital) and is also a member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS), Country Music Association (CMA), Academy of Country Music (ACM), and International Entertainment Buyers Association (IEBA).
Lynch joins UTA from WME, where she represented the live touring careers of comedians, podcasts and influencer talent. Lynch also worked as a promoter and producer for Mills Entertainment and has worked on tours for top comedians such as Kevin Hart and Amy Schumer.
In addition to the music and comedy touring hires, UTA has also announced the hiring of Brandi Brammer as senior human resources business partner and Emily Wright as a music brand partnerships agent.
Brammer comes to UTA with more than two decades of experience and most recently served as vp of HR at WME, where she oversaw HR for the global music division. Prior to WME, she also oversaw the HR team for the southeast region of CAA.
Wright previously worked at CAA in the music brand partnerships department for nearly 10 years. She has closed deals for arists such as Cardi B, Becky G, Luke Combs, Maren Morris, Brett Young, Russell Dickerson, Kehlani, Brittney Spencer, Midland, Jimmie Allen, Clay Walker and Clint Black. She has also overseen talent negotiations for campaigns with companies such as Moet Hennessy, Gap, Ford, Bose, REVOLVE, Madewell, Anheuser-Busch, Hewlett-Packard and FedEx.
