About Us

Joe Boyland began his musical training at a young age as a guitarist. Starting and managing his own band at age sixteen paved the way for the future management of writers and entertainers.

Boyland moved to Nashville in 1980 at the age of thirty-one, meeting Woody Bowles, a Nashville native, who at the time headed a publicity company. In 1981 Bowles signed THE JUDDS to his newly formed management company. Boyland’s experience at the company led him to the signing of rock and pop artists. He began commuting to New York on a regular basis, developing relationships with various artists and companies. Having always been a fan of the songwriters and their work. Boyland founded HIT LIST MUSIC in 1986 signing writers in Nashville and New York.

The tapes of two artists made their way to the desk of AHMET ERTEGUN, Chairman and founder of Atlantic Records. ERTEGUN signed one of the artists, DOWNES and PRICE. This signing was the first of many of Boyland’s artists; a list that included LYNYRD SKYNYRD(who Boyland co-managed from 1992 to 1999) JOHNNY VAN ZANT, DEVONSQUARE, NATASHAS BROTHER. Boyland also served as a consultant on a number of Atlantic’s recordings, including ROBERT PLANT’S Sea of Love album and Gloria by LAURA BRANNIGAN.

In 1989 HIT LIST MUSIC, the publishing company began to flourish with a number of well known recording artists releasing HIT LIST compositions. This list included, ALICE COOPER, DEEP PURPLE, BILLY SQUIER, LYNYRD SKYNYRD, VAN ZANT, PETER WOLF, .38SPECIAL, THE TEMPTATIONS, THE BEACH BOYS, SMOKEY ROBINSON, DANA DAWSON and MAIA AMADA. In 1990, London producer CHRIS NEIL told Boyland of a new singer he “needed a hit for”; a young French girl, recording in Canada by the name of CELINE DION. Boyland played the demo of her voice over the phone to Nashville writer, ROBERT WHITE JOHNSON, who had just begun working on a song with co-writer, TAYLOR RHODES. The writers finished and recorded the song in twenty-four hours and rushed it to New York. Boyland played it over the phone to NEIL, who was leaving that day to return to London. NEIL delayed his return and he and Boyland flew to Montreal to play the song for VITO LEPRANO, head of Sony Records Canada, DION, and her two managers. DION recorded the song, WHERE DOES MY HEART BEAT NOW the following week and it proved to be her first hit sung in the English language, reaching number 1 in Canada, number 4 on the Billboard U.S. charts, and number 1 in many foreign territories. Boyland then introduced DION to RIC WAKE, songwriter and producer of MARIAH CAREY’S first hit, SOMEDAY. Following DION’S first hit, WHERE DOES MY HEART BEAT NOW, Wake produced a portion of DION’S next four albums, with three of them together selling in excess of 92,000,000 copies worldwide. Boyland served as a consultant to WAKE’S production company and set up the publishing company for WAKE and DENISE RICH. WAKE followed DION’S productions with that of JENNIFER LOPEZ, co-writing and producing the worldwide hit MY LOVE DON’T COST A THING. One of his most recent works was the Grammy winning musical, CHICAGO.

In 1995 Boyland signed the legendary BAD COMPANY who he co-managed for the next three years, overseeing the making of two albums for Elektra. He then signed NAZARETH; managing them and organizing their publishing catalogues and the ownership of their twenty-three albums, which dated back to their first recording in 1970 of LOVE HURTS and HAIR OF THE DOG (NOW YOU’RE MESSIN’ WITH A SON OF A BITCH). In 1999 Boyland signed REEVES GABRELS, guitarist and co-writer with DAVID BOWIE for twelve years.

Boyland lived and worked in Manhattan from 1986 to 1999, then returning to Nashville. His work now includes projects in management, publishing, music & film production, distribution, music dvds, and film representation