Karen Conrad

BMG Songs, AMR/New Haven Music, ASCAP

Karen Conrad began her career in the music industry as a receptionist at the Hubert Long Agency. Following were stints at Mercury Records, ASCAP, Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefer Music, and Blendingwell Music, which held the Jim Croce catalog. She started her own company, AMR/New Haven Music and, together with right hand man Ron Stuve, nurtured the songwriting careers of Karen Staley, Bob Regan, Ed Hill, Aimee Mayo, Bill Luther and David Frasier. She later sold AMR to BMG Songs, becoming vice president of BMG. She continued working with her AMR writers in addition to Marcus Hummon, Hugh Prestwood, Josh Kear, Craig Wiseman, and others. Karen retired as senior vice president of BMG in 2007 after more than a decade. Some of the #1 songs she has published are "Amazed," Lonestar's eight-week #1 country and pop classic; "Bless the Broken Road," Rascal Flatts' Grammy winner for Best Country Song; the Dixie Chicks' "Cowboy Take Me Away" and "Ready to Run"; "Your Everything" and "But for the Grace of God" by Keith Urban; "The Good Stuff" and "Young" by Kenny Chesney; Tim McGraw's "How Bad Do You Want It," "Real Good Man," and "My Best Friend"; ACM Song of the Year "Keeper of the Stars" by Tracy Byrd; "Let's Make Love," Faith Hill and Tim McGraw's Grammy Award winner; and Faith Hill's first pop hit "It Matters to Me." Karen's passion is helping homeless families transition to permanent housing, which she does through the Nehemiah Project which, with God's guidance, she founded to partner with homeless agencies in Nashville.