Industry Vets Cindy Watts, Leigh Ann Pigue Join Rob Beckham And Bill Simmons’ AMG Management Firm

– Cindy Watts
The AMG

The AMG, the Nashville-based management firm launched last May by former Fitzgerald-Hartley partner Bill Simmons and former WME Nashville partner and co-head Rob Beckham, has brought in Cindy Watts, longtime country music/celebrities reporter at the Tennessean, and Leigh Ann Pigue, formerly of Varnell Enterprises, Inc., Pollstar has learned. The AMG client roster includes headliners Brad Paisley and Chris Young, as well as Big Machine artist Payton Smith.

Watts joins the firm as Manager of Corporate Communications. A native of Sevierville, Tenn., and graduate of Middle Tennessee State University, Watts started her career at Murfreesboro’s Daily News Journal in 2000. She spent the last 20 years interviewing and profiling a wide range of music artists and covering local, national and global developments in the music industry that impact stakeholders in the thriving Nashville music business. Her enterprise stories at the The Tennessean included chronicling tour life with Garth Brooks and taking readers to the set of “The Voice” with Blake Shelton, and Watts won the CMA’s Media Achievement Award in 2015. Watts will serve as community liaison for the AMG in addition to handling corporate communications and providing in-house media support for all AMG artists.

Paisley and Young will continue to be represented by Bieber Public Relations and Monarch Publicity, respectively.

– Leigh Ann Pigue
The AMG

Leigh Ann Pigue joins the AMG as Manager of Tour Marketing. For the past 20 years, she has handled tour marketing at successful Nashville independent concert promotion company Varnell Enterprises for clients including Paisley, Young, Rascal Flatts, Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert and Toby Keith. Pique also worked on advertising and promotion for multiple Garth Brooks and George Strait tours. Prior to her time at Varnell, Pigue was the Promotions and Marketing Director for WVLK AM-FM/HMH Broadcasting in Lexington, Ky.

“We are so excited and humbled to have these two amazingly talented women by our sides as we continue to grow this business into a new breed of artist management,” said Rob Beckham, President and CEO of the AMG.

“Cindy and Leigh Ann have been great partners in the development of the careers of both Brad Paisley and Chris Young, and we could not be happier to welcome them to our new team,” said AMG partner Bill Simmons.

Beckham, who exited WME Nashville in 2018 following a hugely successful run with the agency, and respected manager Simmons, who has played a critical role in steering the award-winning Paisley to international arena-level headlining and multi-platinum, chart-topping status on Arista Nashville, joined forces in May 2019 to form the AMG (Pollstar.com, May 6).

Singer/songwriter Young has also enjoyed multiple hits, platinum RCA Nashville albums, and awards, and has developed into a successful large venue headliner. With staff now at 14, the AMG roster also includes developing talent Payton Smith, signed to Big Machine, in addition to Paisley and Young, and is expected to grow in the coming months.

“When Bill and I launched the AMG, our goal was to create a full- service management company that offers the broad spectrum of skill sets found at a larger firm, with the attention to detail and close client relationships of a boutique agency,” Beckham told Pollstar. “We are focused on both growing established artists’ careers and nurturing developing talent. And, we look forward to many more exciting announcements to come!”

Cindy Watts can be reached at [email protected]. Leigh Ann Pigue can be reached at [email protected].