Earl Powell is a Grammy, Billboard & Gold acclaimed American Songwriter and Music Producer from Chicago, IL, whose love for music began in elementary school. As a minor, Earl earned many music accolades & placements, including 1st chair (Trumpet), Band President, Musician of the Year, Chicago’s All City Band, and national acknowledgment in Who’s Who In Music. Earl has been both at the helm & behind the scenes of MANY rhythmic & historic things in music and in the entertainment culture, having collaborated with some of music entertainment’s biggest names, including Jennifer Hudson, Snoop Dogg, Keyshia Cole, Ashanti, The Jacksons, and many more. His Grammy & Gold recognition came from his work with Jennifer Hudson on the song “Stand Up” from her debut album. He is also honored to have co-written and produced several songs on the historic 1st solo release of the legendary Music Hall of Famer Tito Jackson of the Jackson 5, which hit top 20 on Billboard, and features hip hop legend Big Daddy Kane.

Throughout his career, Earl has been a college educator of Music Production & Music Business, a speaker on panels, an advisor & consultant of many artists, students & colleagues. Earl continues to blaze the trail as a hitmaker, staying true to his 1st love ~ MUSIC ~ as he is EXCITED to have a lot currently brewing, inclusive of the release his very own debut album next year, which was kicked off with the 1st single called “The One” that was released in June of this year!

Outside of music, Earl is a devoted husband, a proud father of 4, and a trusted leader in several other areas of involvement. He is a community activist, philanthropist by nature, and an advocate of truth and justice. Earl’s mindset is to add more than you take and bring value to every encounter.

Influenced deeply throughout his formative years by legendary songwriter/producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Dallas Austin, DJ Eddie F, Quincy Jones and L.A. Reid and Babyface, Emile Ghantous has developed a rep over the past two decades as a multi-talented force in the studio –  songwriter, producer, mixer, engineer, and “sometime therapist” – that artists and label heads circle back to over and over again to create collaborative hits from scratch and take “almost there” songs over the finish line. The Grammy nominated and NAACP Award winning hit maker’s keen instincts, impeccable taste and innate ability to create sonic magic and amazing vocals while assembling top flight ensembles of studio musicians have made him one of today’s most in demand, ready to deliver creatives. 

Though Emile’s ever expanding discography seems like an endless flow of referrals, dynamic sessions, legendary and upcoming artists and multiple success stories, there are several distinct eras of his career since his breakthrough first placement with the bonus track “Get It Poppin’” from teen sensation JoJo’s 2006 album The High Road. As part of the Chicago based songwriting/production duo The Insomniax with his friend Erik Nelson, Emile created tracks with Boyz II Men, Bobby Valentino, B5, Fat Joe, Jon B and Australian singer Che’Nelle. 

Starting with British boy band JLS’ “Take A Chance on Me” in 2011 – which reached #2 on the UK singles chart – Emile, post-Insomniax, launched a decade of dynamic sessions, collaborations, prominent album placements and/or chart hits with the likes of Pitbull, TI, Frankie J, Prince Royce. Jason Derulo, Chris Brown, Snoop Dogg, Johnny Gill,  Babyface, Deniece Williams and New District, whose single “Ain’t Got Money” Emile wrote and co-produced with Randy Jackson. 

Two of his most significant long term creative associations have been with R&B legend Charlie Wilson (onetime lead vocalist of The Gap Band) and Now United, the a global pop vocal group formed in Los Angeles in 2017 by Idols creator Simon Fuller. In 2015, Emile received a Grammy nomination for his writing and production work on Wilson’s Forever Charlie album, which included “Unforgettable” (featuring Shaggy), “Infectious” (featuring Snoop Dogg” Ghantous was nominated for a Grammy Award for his writing and production work on Charlie Wilson’s Billboard #2 R&B album Forever Charlie,[1] which included the songs “Unforgettable” (featuring Shaggy), “Infectious” (featuring Snoop Dogg), and the #6 Billboard Adult R&B hit “Goodnight Kisses.” The album also received an NAACP nomination for Outstanding Album. 

Emile also wrote and produced three songs on Wilson’s 2017 follow-up collection In It To Win It, which also received an NAACP nomination (Best Duo or Group) and spawned the hit single “I’m Blessed” (featuring T.I.), which hit #1 on the Billboard R&B chart and Hot Gospel chart and won an ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Award for Most Airplay on the R&B and Gospel charts. Emile also co-wrote and produced the follow-up single “Good Time” featuring Pitbull, Teddy Riley and Ray Parker, Jr.  

Emile has been working very closely with prominent music executive Iain Pirie since early 2020 to create music for Now United and other XIX Entertainment projects. When the world shut down due to Covid, he came up with the idea of recording the group members remotely using their iPhones as microphones.  He would send loops of the sections of the song he wanted each member to sing via email, and then have the artist playback using headphones on their laptop and record their vocal part directly into their iPhones.  The singer would then send the voice note via text message to Emile for him to edit the vocals. One of the recordings was “Feel It Now” which led to a major sync with Pepsi. 

For all the high profile artists who dominate his discography, Emile is most excited and creatively energized by a parallel phase of his career, developing – from the ground floor up – emerging young artists whose genres range from underground indie pop soul (Ava Maybee) and edgy, progressive pop (Haven). Another young singer-songwriter he’s been working with, Australian pop/R&B singer Celina Sharma, is currently enjoying her biggest hit ever with the Emile co-written and co-produced “24/7,” which has over 38 million Spotify streams, nearly 6 million YouTube views and millions more views on TikTok. 

“At this stage of my career” Emile says, “I get the most joy and satisfaction from watching the unsigned indie artists I work with blow up and become sensations on all these platforms. If I place a song with Rihanna or Beyonce, it’s a great credit but it doesn’t change my life – and I would have to deal with major label politics. If I do a song like Ava’s ‘Lay Low,’ I’m excited that hundreds of thousands of listeners are streaming it and I didn’t have a million people from label and management dictating the sound. I am helping these artists follow their instincts to create a unique vibe that can be its own thing rather than simply following the trend of what’s hot at the moment.”

Whether he’s working with established superstars or emerging talent, Emile’s process is the same. He’s all about building friendships and chemistry, which is important because each artist is different. Some are not songwriters and want great songs to sing. Others who are songwriters may come in with an idea they may want to build out, or Emile will spark an idea by talking about what’s going on in their lives. 

“Anytime I work with an artist, I usually like to do several sessions,” he says. “Some people just take a single session, but I don’t think that is enough time to really get to know the person you are working with. The longer I can work with an artist, the more ideas I will have for them and the better the songs will be. In this regard, I’m inspired by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who helped shape and craft the sound for Janet Jackson. That is my goal when I find artists who I feel really have something.”

Welcome everyone! I’m Nomad, composer, music producer, music director, and session/touring guitarist who has been active in the industry since the 1990s. I’ve toured the world many times over, and have been featured on countless GRAMMY-winning records. I’ve shared the stage with celebrity artists including David Foster, Stevie Wonder, Natalie Cole, Kirk Whalum, Dave Koz, Kat Graham, Jewel, India Arie, and Carrie Underwood. In the studio, I’ve worked with Justin Beiber, Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion, Aretha Franklin, Sting, Lalah Hathaway, Josh Groban, Colbie Caillat, and Leslie Odom Jr. – just to name a few. I’ve also served as Music Director for Donny Osmond, Scott Patterson, and Babyface – with whom I served for 12 years.

I also record often for television and film – having worked with composers Danny Elfman, John Powell, Elvin Ross, Tim Davies, and A.R. Rahman. You can hear my featured guitar on movie soundtracks such as Ferdinand, Men In Black 3, The Lorax, Happy Feet, Happy Feet Two, Knight and Day, MacGruber, Pineapple Express, Kung Fu Panda, Stop-Loss, P.S. I Love You, The Game Plan, The Grudge 2, The Departed, Chicken Little, Into The Blue, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Open Range, Terminator 3: Rise of The Machines, The Lizzie McGuire Movie, What Women Want, The Prince of Egypt, The X Files, and People Like Us – to which I also lent my singing voice! Additionally, you can also hear my fret work on the upcoming Netflix show Maya and The Three, and the 2021 reboot of Fraggle Rock. In 2020, I produced a cover of the classic bolero Sabor A Mi for the Netflix series, Gentefied, and composed an original song, AfroCuBrazil, for the Netflix movie, Beats. 

As a composer and producer, I have my hands in all types of multimedia music. In 2020, I composed the jingle for the Jam City video game, Cookie Jam entitled Taste The Sweet Life. The jingle was first premiered nationally on Wheel of Fortune. I also co-produced the song You’ve Got A Friend for the Super Bowl 2020 In Memoriam performed by Leslie Odom Jr. I am credited as a co-producer on records such as Lose My Soul by TobyMac feat. Kirk Franklin & Mandisa, and Who’s Been Loving You, Sing A Love Song, When Was The Last Time, and All I Want Is You by After 7. I also co-produced Friend Today by Kem – You can catch me performing the song alongside Kem on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts. In 2018, I composed the score for the off-Broadway musical, I’m not a Comedian, I’m Lenny Bruce. As a self-published artist, I released over 45 songs between October 2019 to October 2020 with my wife Lola as the duo known as Nomad & Lola.

My resume would not be complete without the title of Educator and Podcaster. In 2015, I started The Career Musician Podcast, which is a member of the Pantheon Podcast network – the first of its kind, all-music-based podcast collective. Since its inception, The Career Musician (TCM) has published over 130 episodes on all major platforms (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, etc.), and is still going strong. TCM’s mission is to empower musicians around the globe with strategies for a sustainable career. The podcast features eye-opening conversations with music industry professionals such as Harvey Mason, Jr. Rickey Minor, Nathan East, John Powell, Nicole Row, Doug E. Fresh, Lucy Woodward, Adam Blackstone, Maysa Leak, Norwood Fisher, Chloe Flower, Kevin Martin, Daryl Simmons, Kirk Whalum, Dave Koz, Low Cut Connie, Fil Eisler, and over 100 more! As an extension of the TCM brand, My team and I are currently developing an online master class for aspiring music professionals entitled The Career Musician: Pro Series (coming soon).

Spencer Galbreath is an American marketing music executive with roots in
Interscope Records. He is noteworthy for increasing their market share
impelling artists such as 2Pac, 50cent, Game, Sting, Keshia Cole, Robin
Thicke, and Snoop Dogg.
Spencer’s power to take an opportunity and elevate it –there’s no limits or
boundaries to his ability as a marketing guru infusing his experience to
mastermind deals with Fortune 500 Companies.
With decades of marketing experience and a creative lifestyle navigating the
world of advertising, marketing, and branding, has made a significant impact
on the entertainment business. Whether his role is with venture capitalbacked
startup, or a publicly traded company he enlightens as a musical
innovator. A dreamer, risk-taker & innovator he takes that aspect of his
persona and manifests it into his day to day lifestyle—in other words it’s
his mantra.