The “Building The Community” series is a great way to get an inside look on the country music industry outside of those pursuing a career to be an artist. Over the years, we've talked to podcast hosts, publicists, managers, DJ's, photographers/videographers, creators of brands, and so many more. The journey into the country music industry may look a little different than it does as an artist, but all the same attributes apply - hard work, dedication, tenacity, and a willingness to shut out the noise and chase a dream. Peyton Heben discovered his passion for country music at an early age and as soon as he found out it was a possibility to work in the country music industry, he was on a mission to make it happen and since has found himself right at the center of the magic. Peyton now works at RiverHouse Artists as a A&R coordinator and manager. On top of that, he created a music business education podcast with Raised Rowdy called "Behind The Music Biz" and brings on guests who work in the industry to talk about their careers and experiences in the music industry. Peyton is a young and hungry professional in the country music industry who has been making a name for himself since he arrived in Nashville, and his impact and influence in Music City continues to grow.

I sat down with Peyton Heben and talked about his day-to-day and responsibilities at RiverHouse Artists, how networking and building relationships is the key to success, and his advice to individuals who want to be in the music industry but don't know where to start.

Get To Know Peyton

"I was born and raised in Fort Myers, Florida. Growing up, I played sports my entire life. I was never musically talented. My parents bought me two cheap electric guitars when I was younger, and in 2019 they bought me an acoustic guitar, a basic one from Guitar Center. I never learned how to play and could never figure it out. So for me, I just focused on sports.

My grandma used to pick me up from school everyday and she had a CD player and would play anything from Bruno Mars to George Strait. Something about the George Strait CD - we just moved her into a home and when they were cleaning out her house, they found the packet that had all of her CD's in it so I got that George Strait CD. I always said "That’s the CD that changed my life.”"Baby Blue" by George Strait was my favorite song growing up. That got me falling in love with music. My mom was always listening to Shania Twain and Reba McEntire... I grew up on the TV show “Reba” too. Country music just became a huge part of my life.

When I graduated high school in 2018, I went to Georgia Southern University where country music is HUGE. You have artists like Luke Bryan, Cole Swindell, Dylan Marlowe... If you’ve heard of them, they probably came out of there. Like you are seeing Gavin Adcock now coming through the scene from Statesboro, and Cole Goodwin another one. I was able to network with a bunch of people and ended up not doing so hot with my grades so I had to leave and come back to Florida. While I was at Southern, I met a guy named Hayden Coffman and his manager. His manager happened to be from my hometown. And I just told myself, "I want to do exactly what that guy does.” In 2019, when I left Southern and I was back in Florida, I wrote down my goals for the year. One of my goals was to create a country music brand. I wanted to create something where I could showcase my love for country music and be involved. I didn't understand how I could work in it (country music) and get my foot in the door.

Fast forward, COVID hit and my buddy said we should start a country music festival in our hometown when COVID ends. So when it started to die down, we ended up doing it and I used my connections from Georgia Southern and Hayden Coffman.Hayden ended up playing the festival. During that time, I met an artist named Carter Smith who was from Fort Myers and played baseball at Florida State, but was pursuing country music. He told me I should manage him and use him as a way to grow my network, make connections, and learn about management and the business. So he gave me a deadline, and told me "If we get some traction by this date, I will move to Nashville with you.” We did it. We moved to Nashville together. I was taking classes at Florida Gulf Coast University and moved my classes online. I started managing another artist and it progressed, and I started to grow my network and work with more artists. I graduated in December of 2023 with my Bachelor's degree in Entrepreneurship from Florida Gulf Coast. In August, when I was still in school, I got hired by RiverHouse Artists as a part time A&R scout. They wanted someone who was younger and going out to shows and seeing what was happening. I would be in the A&R meetings saying, "I'm really excited about this artist.” Then in January of this year they promoted me to A&R coordinator and manager. I was managing artists at RiverHouse and still doing my scouting and what not. I've been there full time since January of 2024 and it's been awesome.

In August of 2022, I met the guys from Raised Rowdy and I went up to Matt Burrill, kind of "cold called" him and DM'd him, and said I wanted to be involved. Raised Rowdy founder, Nicky T told me to meet him at a round they were putting on. He had me start by writing articles and doing that type of thing, and through that and the events, I started to meet a bunch of different artists, people I shouldn't have even been in the room with, and they introduced me to a bunch of business people. Fast forward, I told Nicky T that I first started networking and making connections by listening to podcasts. One was "In the Round" by Matt Burrill (it's Outside the Round now). I would listen and then look them up, see their faces, and when I was out at Live Oak or other places and I saw them, I would go introduce myself. Matt Burrill and Nick Tressler have been like family to me, they are like my two dads. They have been so supportive and they have helped raise me in this industry. I owe everything to both of those guys."

Q & A with Peyton Heben

Q: How did you get connected with RiverHouse Artists and what's been your experience like there?

A: "It kind of happened out of the blue. I was managing artists, not really looking for anything else, just doing my own management company and trying to figure out what I really wanted to do. I was young, hungry, and ready to figure things out. I was on some kind of trail, not planning to do anything, and Zebb Luster reached out to me (my boss) and Instagram DM'd me and said  "Hey, so and so reached out and recommended you for this job opening we have.”And I was all in and we linked up to talk more about it. We got breakfast and talked and that led to them hiring me to do part time A&R.

The experience has been incredible. I haven't experienced much label life elsewhere, but I'll tell you right now that RiverHouse is a family. I couldn't ask for a better situation. It's tight knit, everyone knows everyone. We are family. I feel like in the corporate world, you can't really have that "closeness,” but at RiverHouse, everyone is there to help one another and grow and help get everyone to where they want to be in life."

Q: What do you do on the day-to-day? Take us through what your job entails.

A: "I feel like when people hear A&R, the outside world thinks all you do is listen to talent and sign people. That's a very small part of the job. My day is filled mostly, and also as a manager, working on management type things for the clients that I work with. Also, on the A&R side of things, it is scouting and paying attention to what's going on and who's finding success.

But when we have these rostered clients, it's about finding the best songs. If they are putting out a project and they are looking for a single through outside pitches - publishers are pitching songs to these artists, I'm the one listening to these songs and taking the list and creating one with my favorites that I think should get cut and what I like about them, and then it's having a listening meeting to go through them together. Then, it's going through the songs that they wrote and giving feedback on what should be the next single, things like "You should record this one because it's most marketable this way," and then it's working alongside our creative and digital team and trying to figure out how to sell these songs and how to get it from point A to point B. I help move the needle."

Q: Most memorable moments with RiverHouse Artists? What's your experience overall in Nashville been like?

A: "With RiverHouse I have two memories that stand out. I went to Montreal, Quebéc, Canada with some of my co-workers. We were up in the mountains. We had a show in St. Jérome. There's a band called Emerson Drive, they have some hits I grew up on. They are from Alberta, Canada. One of the guys from Emerson Drive produces the artist I was there to see.We were all hanging out backstage, drinking and having a good time, and then the artist drove all of us back to our Airbnb. We were all in the car and cranking the song "Moments" by Emerson Drive, and all singing along. That was a song I grew up listening to and I was sitting next to the guy from Emerson Drive in Quebec. That's a moment I'll tell my kids about.

The other moment is about when you're in A&R you are looking to bring artists on to the label side. I will never forget when I brought up an artist to RiverHouse we agreed on and "Let’s offer him and sign him if we can.” We had a meeting and this kid was such a hustler, he didn't have the most normal situation for someone his age. After he went to get lunch and I got the green light to offer him, I got to go and tell him we were signing him. He freaked out and was borderline in tears. Being able to change someone's life like that is special. People move to Nashville everyday to achieve that dream and the fact that I could be that person to provide that experience and to help them check that goal off their list. That was the first time I was able to do that, and I feel like it will never get old.

And with my experiences overall being in Nashville, it's just the people. When I watched the TV show “Nashville” back in 2019, I got an idea what Nashville is like and it's everything like that. Being here it's like high school. You can go 5 minutes out of town and see 5 people that you know. You can go hang out in Hendersonville or Franklin, wherever, and see people that you know. People here are so close, especially in the country music industry, and I love that. The community here is great. I'm such a small town guy, so even though I'm in a big city it still has that small town feel."

Q: What advice do you have for anyone who's trying to become an entrepreneur and start their own podcast, business, service, etc.?

A: "It's a hard question to answer even though it should be easy. The most important thing... There are going to be people who tell you that you can't do it whether you are an artist or on the business side of things. Outside of the industry, a lot of people don't understand that it's possible. It's about taking the right steps to get there. There's no "wrong" steps I guess, it's just making sure you don't let anyone tell you "no.” If you listen to those people who say you can't do it, you've already lost. Keep your head down and your goal in mind, and you can get there. There's a lot of people I think who want to be in Nashville and in country music, and anyone can do it. That's exactly why I started my country music podcast. I felt like there are a lot of people that want to and just don't know how. I created a podcast so someone can learn about the different parts about the industry with people who do different things like tour management and A&R. It's hard calling what I do work because I love what I do. It's work, it's hard, and I get paid for it, but I love it and it's enjoyable.I love waking up and getting to do what I do everyday. I think that's good advice for anyone in life."

If you are just discovering Peyton follow him on Instagram, Facebook and Tik Tok. Also follow Peyton's podcast with Raised Rowdy - "Behind The Music Biz" on Spotify and Apple Music Podcasts