Jeff Hanson is an artist / producer manager, having founded JHMP in 1997. Record company executive & A&R consultant, and founder and chief of the
Silent Majority Group
Silent Majority Group is a record label founded in 2006 by former Creed, Alter Bridge, and Sevendust artist manager Jeff Hanson that concentrates on finding and developing up-and-coming alternative, rock and pop acts such as Framing Hanley, Para ...
label. He got his start as a classic alternative DJ, club owner, and concert promoter. He is the former manager of
Creed
A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) in a form which is structured by subjects which summarize its core tenets.
The ea ...
,
Paramore
Paramore is an American rock band from Franklin, Tennessee, formed in 2004. The band currently consists of lead vocalist Hayley Williams, guitarist Taylor York and drummer Zac Farro. Williams and Farro are founding members of the group, whil ...
,
Alter Bridge
Alter Bridge is an American rock band from Orlando, Florida. The band was formed in 2004 by vocalist and rhythm guitarist Myles Kennedy, lead guitarist Mark Tremonti, bassist Brian Marshall and drummer Scott Phillips. After their former band Cr ...
and
Sevendust
Sevendust is an American rock band from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in 1994 by bassist Vince Hornsby, drummer Morgan Rose and rhythm guitarist John Connolly. After their first demo, lead vocalist Lajon Witherspoon and lead guitarist Clint Lowery ...
, and the company JHMP currently manages Veio, Lotus Crush, and Terry McDermott(Runner up on The Voice) and producer Peter Klett(Candlebox). The new Nashville office, under the name RCKSTRS INC. manages Cordell Winter, Lucid Illusion, Scotty Austin (ex Saving Abel) and Producer Malcolm Springer. In 2006 he set up the independent
Orlando, Florida
Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...
-based label Silent Majority Group, which has released albums from
Framing Hanley
Framing Hanley is an American rock band formed in Nashville, Tennessee in 2005. They released their first studio album in August 2007, titled ''The Moment''.
History Formation and ''The Moment'' (2005–2009)
Lead singer & songwriter Kenn ...
,
Candlebox
Candlebox is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington. Since its formation in 1990, the group has released seven studio albums, several charting singles, a compilation, and a CD+DVD.
Candlebox found immediate success with the release of ...
,
Tantric,
Brother Sundance
Rylan Talerico, known professionally as Brother Sundance, is an American singer, songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist and Warner Bros. Records recording artist.
He first gained recognition following the release of debut self-produced EP ...
,
Blacklite District and
Veio
Veii (also Veius; it, Veio) was an important ancient Etruscan city situated on the southern limits of Etruria and north-northwest of Rome, Italy. It now lies in Isola Farnese, in the comune of Rome. Many other sites associated with and in the ...
.
Career
Hanson discovered Creed in December 1996 when they played live at Floyd's Music Store in Tallahassee, Florida.
At the time the band was unknown and their set-list contained mostly covers and two original songs. Jeff signed Creed to his artist management company, and A&R'd and managed Creed from that point on. Soon after he asked friend
John Kurzweg
John Kurzweg (born September 5, 1960) is an American record producer and musician who first became known for his work with successful post-grunge bands Creed and Puddle of Mudd in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Other artists he has worked with ...
, to produce the band's first record and according to Jeff, in an interview with
HitQuarters
HitQuarters was an international music industry publication and contact database founded in 1999. It was noted for its in-depth interviews with industry figures, as well as its A&R and manager contact directory, free artist promo pages and song ...
, the album cost only $6,000 to make and eventually sold around 6 million copies.
Creed went on to sell over 35 million records and millions of tickets worldwide. During this time, Jeff Hanson served as executive producer of both The
Scorpion King and
Scream 3
''Scream 3'' is a 2000 American slasher film directed by Wes Craven and written by Ehren Kruger. It stars Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Courteney Cox, Parker Posey, Patrick Dempsey, Scott Foley, Lance Henriksen, Matt Keeslar, Jenny McCarthy ...
soundtracks. Jeff also served as A&R consultant for Island Def Jam during Lyor Cohen’s tenure in the early 2000s.
Shortly after forming JHMP Jeff also took on artists: Sevendust, Alterbridge, Virgos Merlot and Full Devil Jacket.
Jeff Hanson formed JHMP in 1996 and founded, funded, developed, did the A&R, and managed Creed on Wind Up records, as well as Virgos Merlot on Atlantic records, Mile on Columbia records,
Full Devil Jacket
Full Devil Jacket is an American alternative metal/nu metal band from Jackson, Tennessee.
Formation and success
Musicians Josh Brown (musician), Josh Brown, Mike Reaves, Kevin Bebout, and Keith Foster all met at Josh Brown's brother's tattoo shop ...
on Island records and SR71 on RCA records. He then released his first independent label release in 2002 under his newly formed Silent Majority Group label with artist Storyside B in a partnership with Gotee / EMI and subsequently Big Dismal on in a partnership with Wind-Up records, both artists were faith based and achieved multiple Christian Rock top 10 hits including #1 songs with both artists. As part of his SMG label venture he did A&R for
Island / Def Jam and also did A&R for Wind Up records where he signed the bands Breaking Point and Dust For Life. In 2003, Jeff's JHMP management company was asked to manage the, then, 14-year-old
Hayley Williams
Hayley Nichole Williams (born December 27, 1988) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and businesswoman who is best known as the lead vocalist, primary songwriter, and keyboardist of the rock band Paramore.
Born and raised in Missi ...
Williams was then taken to Atlantic Records and signed to the label by
Jason Flom
Jason Flom (born c. 1961) is an American music industry executive, podcaster and philanthropist. He is the founder of Lava Records, and was previously the chairman of Atlantic Records and Virgin Records/Capitol Music Group. He is also an advocate ...
.Jeff Hanson created the first new artist
360 deal together with entertainment lawyers Kent Marcus and Jim Zumwalt between Paramore and Atlantic Records.
Paramore
Paramore is an American rock band from Franklin, Tennessee, formed in 2004. The band currently consists of lead vocalist Hayley Williams, guitarist Taylor York and drummer Zac Farro. Williams and Farro are founding members of the group, whil ...
.
Paramore went on to sell over 5 million records worldwide. His next signings to the company were
Mute Math and
Family Force 5
FF5 (formerly known as Family Force 5, The Phamily, Ground Noise and The Brothers) is an American Christian rock band from Atlanta, Georgia. The band formed in 2005 by brothers Solomon "Soul Glow Activatur" Olds, Joshua "Fatty" Olds, and Jacob " ...
, both faith based artists as well. He was joined by radio program director Rick Schmidt and fiancée Rebecca Foulke.
In 2007 Silent Majority Group entered into an exclusive promotion and distribution deal with Warner Music Group’s Independent Label Group, being distributed by ADA.
Jeff Hanson negotiated a deal for Silent Majority Group to be distributed by ADA Global, a Warner Music Group company.Silent Majority Group's first signing there was Framing Hanley who received a Platinum certification for their single "Lollipop". All three of Jeff Hanson's Silent Majority Group signings under the
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...
deal,
Tantric,
Candlebox
Candlebox is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington. Since its formation in 1990, the group has released seven studio albums, several charting singles, a compilation, and a CD+DVD.
Candlebox found immediate success with the release of ...
, and
Framing Hanley
Framing Hanley is an American rock band formed in Nashville, Tennessee in 2005. They released their first studio album in August 2007, titled ''The Moment''.
History Formation and ''The Moment'' (2005–2009)
Lead singer & songwriter Kenn ...
went on to have great commercial success.
As part of Jeff's simultaneous continued association with the CCM sector of the business(Commercial Christian music business) Jeff curated the musical content for Jesus Daily Group, the most interactive Facebook page in the world www.facebook.com/Jesusdaily. At Jesus Daily he A&R'd two compilations for Jesus Daily Group... "an E-Pop Christmas" and "A Classic Christmas" that included numerous established and emerging Christian artists including Wintley Phipps, Charles Billingsley, Everlife, The Tractors, and Gary Chapman. Hanson also produced a two-hour concert special that aired on TBN's '
Praise The Lord" to support the compilations.
In 2012 Jeff and
Paramore
Paramore is an American rock band from Franklin, Tennessee, formed in 2004. The band currently consists of lead vocalist Hayley Williams, guitarist Taylor York and drummer Zac Farro. Williams and Farro are founding members of the group, whil ...
EP producer Peter Thornton opened "Plush" studios in Orlando where he recruited , recorded and developed future multi platinum artist
Chris Daughtry
Christopher Adam Daughtry (; born December 26, 1979) is an American singer, musician, and actor. He is the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the rock band Daughtry, which he formed after placing fourth on the fifth season of ''American I ...
. Chris went on to appear on American Idol where he placed 4th and went on to sign with RCA / 19 Records. Later that year Jeff Hanson signed active rock artist Farewell 2 Fear, and rock/pop solo artist Blacklite District to the SMG label and the JHMP management company. Both reached number one status on Sirius / XM's "Octane" Channel, Blacklite District with "Take me to the grave","With me now" and Farewell 2 Fear with "Fire". Farewell 2 Fear gained popularity when their cover version of
Rihanna
Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to the ...
's "Diamonds" was featured on the Howard Stern show. Blacklite District has gone on to stream over 100 million streams of different tracks mainly from their multiple associations with Asian Anime Youtube pages. JHMP then signed platinum-selling rock band,
Saving Abel
Saving Abel is an American rock band from Corinth, Mississippi, founded in 2004 by Jared Weeks and Jason Null. The band is named after the biblical story of Cain and Abel, in which a man named Cain kills his brother Abel. Band member Jason N ...
, and also helped the act to form their own label Tennessippi Whiskey Records. He next signed the Scranton, PA artist Death Valley Dreams. The first single "Words Like Fire"appeared on 25 major market alternative stations. The album "Lust In The Modern World" was selected to appear in numerous playlists on Apple Music and Spotify platforms and was listed as one of the top Rock / Alternative albums of 2016 by Apple Music.
In March of 2016 while appearing at the
Florida Music Festival as a panelist Jeff Hanson found out that he had been diagnosed with "Stage 4/B" Metastatic Tonsil cancer that spread to numerous locations and lymph nodes. He spent the remainder of 2016 having radiation, chemo and multiple surgeries to remove the Cancer and lymph nodes and was forced to take an indefinite leave of absence . Shortly after his Cancer battle Jeff Hanson while pondering his future, an old friend Trevor Fletcher who manages
Criteria Studios
Criteria Studios is a recording studio in North Miami, Florida, founded in 1958 by musician Mack Emerman. Hundreds of gold, platinum, and diamond singles and albums have been recorded, mixed or mastered at Criteria, for many notable artists and ...
in Miami, sent him a demo from 17 year old
Nashville
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...
alternative/pop artist and producer
Brother Sundance
Rylan Talerico, known professionally as Brother Sundance, is an American singer, songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist and Warner Bros. Records recording artist.
He first gained recognition following the release of debut self-produced EP ...
. Jeff fell in love with the demos and due to his post cancer limitations recruited industry veteran and former Mc Gathy Promotions EVP and Island Def Jam rock promo head Mark Fisher to assist Rebecca Hanson in the management and promotion of the artist and Brother Sundance released his debut EP 'Honey',on August 11th, 2017 through
Silent Majority Group
Silent Majority Group is a record label founded in 2006 by former Creed, Alter Bridge, and Sevendust artist manager Jeff Hanson that concentrates on finding and developing up-and-coming alternative, rock and pop acts such as Framing Hanley, Para ...
. Within two months of the signing of Brother Sundance the artist was named Apple Music's "New Artist of the Week". In June 2018 Silent Majority Group LLC entered into a partnership with Warner Brothers Records to re-release the "Honey" EP and four subsequent records. The first single from the Warner Brother's partnership,"Monsters featuring Ella Boh" was released May 10, 2019. Numerous singles were to follow however Brother Sundance ( aka Rylan Talerico) left the recording business to pursue technical opportunities related to the music business.
Silent Majority Group
Silent Majority Group is a record label founded in 2006 by former Creed, Alter Bridge, and Sevendust artist manager Jeff Hanson that concentrates on finding and developing up-and-coming alternative, rock and pop acts such as Framing Hanley, Para ...
continued to be active signing YouTube sensation
Blacklite District who has accumulated nearly 100,000,000 total streams between Apple, Spotify and Youtube and Portland's Veio a hard rock / Prog / New Metal artists. In January 2022 SMG entered into a new promotion and distribution deal for Veio and future releases with
OneRPM
ONErpm (ONE Revolution People's Music) is a digital distribution service and fan engagement platform founded in 2010 by Emmanuel Zunz and Matthew Olim, the latter one of the co-founders of CDNow, a pioneer in digital music. The company offers su ...
! In early Summer of 2022 JHMP continued to be active and signed Lotus Crush the new artist founder by Candlebox founder, writer, and guitar player Peter Klett. Lotus Crush also features "The Voice" runner up Terry McDermott from Scotland as their lead singer. JHMP also manages Peter Klett as a producer. In June 2022 JHMP signed Nashville's Cordell Winter as well as their producer industry veteran, former Island Def Jam A&R scout, and Ten Inch Records founder Malcolm Springer. JHMP has now opened a Nashville office under the name RCKSTRS INC. which is run by Malcolm Springer and Jackson Clay with the assistance of the Orlando JHMP staff. New signings there are Cordell Winter, Lucid Illusions and Scotty Austin (ex Saving Abel.
Jeff's most notable A&R credits now include "Creed My Own Prison", "Human Clay", and "Weathered". Alter Bridge "One Day Remains", Sevendust "Animosity", and all albums released on Silent Majority Group for Framing Hanley, Tantric, Blacklite District and Veio. These releases are approaching sales of 40 million including a Diamond award for "Human Clay".
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanson, Jeff
A&R people
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people