ABOUT East Music Row

East Music Row Records emerged from the minds of Robkin, Johnny Gates, and Austin Luther, the latter two of whom cut their teeth as Nashville songwriters, artists, and producers, with a goal of blending the hip, innovative sides of Nashville’s new indie rock and alt-country music with the musicianship, professionalism, and ingenuity of Music Row classists. East Music Row has already signed its first artist, Nashville-based Australian alt-pop artist, Felicity.

The idea for East Music Row was nothing more than a coincidence, with Gates being in the right place at the right time. Shortly after he returned to Nashville in 2019 after a stint in L.A. on The Voice, he ran into an old friend at a restaurant, who happened to be having lunch with an A&R rep from Deluge Music. “She remembered my old band, Runaway Saints,” Gates explains. “She brought me in for a meeting with David, Mark Friedman (with Deluge Music’s LA office), and the company, and they set me up on a few sessions. Then I played my own stuff for David, and we started working together.” Both were looking for a home where they could honor Nashville’s tradition while relentlessly pushing it forward, in new and