The best part of curating this series is identifying really cool people who may not be household names...yet. That is what makes this episode so compelling. And with the career arc of both these guys, you will able to say you heard about them here first.

Jason Hollis is a Nashville creative visionary and founder of The Eighth Room, a celebrated venue recognized by Town & Country as one of the "26 Rooms Shaping Culture" worldwide. With two decades of experience in music production and artist development—including collaborations with Pharrell and Justin Timberlake—he's known for bold curation, championing new talent through his show "Hooked," and hosting standout events.

Chad Hillard is a 19-year music scouting veteran who built Hillydilly into one of the 2010s' most trusted blogs, with early discoveries including Billie Eilish and Lorde, and now runs the artist management/label company Dreams Never Die. He has channeled that instinct into Before The Data, a scouting dashboard combining automated data with his personally vetted artist picks.

This promises to be a very fast paced, entertaining discussion that will be the best hour of your week. Check it out!

The Smartest People In The Room® is a series of one-on-one conversations between music industry executives and personalities hosted by Tom Truitt, Managing Director of the Music & Live Entertainment practice. These hour long conversations draw an audience of hundreds and feature every type of global music industry executive, including agents, managers, attorneys, business managers, promoters, publishers, working musicians, songwriters. The audience is global, with strong concentration in music business centers like New York City, Los Angeles, Nashville, London, Toronto, San Francisco, Austin and more.