Tim DuBois


James Timothy DuBois is a Nashville-based songwriter and recording industry executive who has headed both Arista Records and Universal South Records. As a songwriter he wrote five No. 1 country hits. His most successful song was the world-wide hit "Love in the First Degree" recorded by the group Alabama.
DuBois' early career path had nothing to do with music. He received three academic scholarships to Oklahoma State University to study accounting; he earned two advanced degrees and became a senior financial analyst for the Texas Federal Reserve Bank. While living in Texas, he became interested in country music and began writing songs, eventually leading him to move to Nashville to pursue music. Writing successful songs led to his becoming a record producer, creating over 20 No. 1 and top five singles and more than a dozen gold, platinum, and double-platinum country albums. In 1984, he created the musical group Restless Heart. He was tapped by Clive Davis to create a Nashville office of Arista Records in 1989. He discovered and signed country artists Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn, Brad Paisley, Blackhawk, Pam Tillis and Diamond Rio, all within an 18 month period.
DuBois was recognized as the "most powerful person in the music industry" by Business Nashville in 1996, "Record Executive of the year" in 1992 by Pollstar, and was included in Entertainment Weekly’s list of the "101 Most Powerful People in Entertainment" in 1994 and 1995. He is a member of the Oklahoma State University's Hall of Fame and was the school's Accounting Alumnus of the year.

Early career

Born in Southwest City, Missouri, Dubois played guitar in rock bands as a youth. His senior year in high school a camp roommate wrote a song; DuBois was fascinated with song lyrics and felt he could write a song himself. His interest in songs continued for the rest of his life, but his academic studies were his immediate goal. He attended Oklahoma State University and studied accounting, winning three scholarships: an Arthur Andersen Scholarship, an Atlantic Richfield Scholarship and an Oklahoma State Regents Scholarship. He received a bachelor's in accounting in 1971 and a master's in 1972, and became a CPA. He married and had two children. He worked for the Arthur Andersen Firm for about a year then took a job in Dallas as a Financial Analyst for the Texas Federal Reserve Bank. During his time in Texas, he became interested in country music, and pursued songwriting in his spare time. Attending an accounting convention in Dallas he met up with some of his former professors who convinced him to return to Oklahoma State to enter the PhD program at OSU's Spears School of Business. While in the PhD program, music fascinated him and consumed his time. He said, "I'm a true left brain, right brain conflict but it has served me very well". He made trips to Nashville on weekends and he read every book he could find to learn about the business of songwriting. In 1975, he met Scott Hendricks, another Oklahoma State student. Dubois and Hendricks, along with DuBois' younger brother headed for Nashville.
DuBois wrote letters to many Nashville music industry people and a few agreed to meet with him. Among those was John Ragsdale, brother of Ray Stevens, and they became friends. DuBois stayed at Ragsdale's house on many occasions. They co-wrote "A Good Old Fashioned Saturday Night Honky Tonk Barroom Brawl" recorded by Vernon Oxford and the song went to No. 55 on the Billboard country charts. Energized by this success, DuBois took a leave of absence from His PhD studies and secured a job in Nashville teaching accounting at the University of Tennessee.
He taught night school, leaving the daytime free to knock on doors of music producers and publishers. In 1979, he was given his first job as a publishing company staff songwriter by Bob Montgomery for $75 a week. From 1979 to 1985, DuBois worked as both a publishing company staff writer and as an accounting professor. Throughout that period, DuBois composed over 20 country singles. A pivotal year for him was 1980: that year he got a job teaching at Vanderbilt's Owen Graduate School of Management and he had three hit songs on the country charts. These were: "Midnight Hauler" ; "Love in the First Degree" ; and "She Got the Goldmine ";
DuBois opened the Nashville branch of Los Angeles-based artist management firm Fitzgerald-Hartley in 1986. Country artist Vince Gill soon joined the company's inaugural client, Restless Heart. DuBois and Gill collaborated on some songwriting projects including the Country Music Association's 1990 Song of the Year, "When I Call Your Name".
In 1989, Clive Davis, founder of Arista Records, appointed DuBois to open the Nashville division of the label. Arista Nashville sold 80 million albums in its first eleven years of business, breaking acts like Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn, Pam Tillis, Diamond Rio, Steve Wariner, and Brad Paisley. DuBois later joined producer Tony Brown to operate Universal South Records, launching the careers of Joe Nichols, Cross Canadian Ragweed, and Shooter Jennings.
In 1991, DuBois married Pamela Smith from Dallas, Texas, a friend he had known for fifteen years. Their daughter, Jamie Grace DuBois, was born in 1994.

Career today

In 2007, DuBois returned to the faculty of Vanderbilt's Owen Graduate School of Management, where he is developing courses related to the music business. He has also joined forces with Marc Dottore to form Dottore-DuBois Artist Management. DuBois resides in Nashville, Tennessee.
In February 2010, ASCAP announced they would elevate their Nashville outlet to a Regional Office, led by DuBois. DuBois holds the position of Vice President and Managing Executive. After restructuring ASCAP, DuBois was asked to join London Broadcast Company in January 2012, based in Dallas, Texas. He started
a joint-venture called AMP which he is still managing.

Organizations

DuBois serves on the boards of the Country Music Association, Academy of Country Music, Americana Music Association, and SunTrust Bank, and as chairman of the Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau. He is a past board member of Leadership Music, Country Music Foundation, National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Nashville Songwriters Foundation, and Nashville Songwriters Association International.

Awards and recognition

Tim DuBois has been recognized as "Record Executive of the Year" by Pollstar, and as one of the entertainment industry's "101 Most Powerful People" by Entertainment Weekly. He was inducted into Oklahoma State University's Hall of Fame in 1996. Throughout his songwriting career, DuBois has earned five number-1 singles, 24 top-ten singles, six ASCAP Awards, nine BMI Country Awards, two BMI Pop Awards and a number of other songwriting accolades.

Songwriting awards

OrganizationAwardSongDate
Country Music AssociationSong of the Year"When I Call Your Name"1991
Academy of Country MusicSong of the Year Nomination"When I Call Your Name"1991
Grammy AwardsSong of the Year Nomination"When I Call Your Name"1991
Music City News AwardsSingle of the Year"When I Call Your Name"1991
Nashville Songwriters Association InternationalAward of Merit"When I Call Your Name"1991
Academy of Country MusicSong of the Year Nomination"She Got the Goldmine "1982
Grammy AwardsSong of the Year Nomination"She Got the Goldmine "1982
Nashville Songwriters Association InternationalAward of Merit"She Got the Goldmine "1982
Academy of Country MusicSong of the Year Nomination"Love in the First Degree"1982
Music City News AwardsTop Country Hits Awards"Love in the First Degree"1982
Nashville Songwriters Association InternationalSongwriter of the Year Finalist1982

Discography

TitleArtist
A Good Nights LoveTammy Wynette
A Good Old Fashioned Saturday Night HonkyVernon Oxford
Tonk Barroom BrawlVernon Oxford
Back To The Heartbreak KidKathy Mattea
Back To The Heartbreak KidRestless Heart
Big Dreams In A Small TownRestless Heart
Blind Faith And The Naked TruthRazzy Bailey
Blue RendevouzLloyd David Foster
Crazy BlueBilly Montana
Dancys DreamRestless Heart
Don't Ask The Reason WhySecret Of My Success
D-R-U-N-KDavid Allen Coe
Few And Far BetweenRestless Heart
Gone AwaySteve Ripley
Hard TimesRestless Heart
Have Your Memory Come AgainKenny Dale
Heartbreak KidJuice Newton
Heaven SentSylvia
Heaven SentBryan White
HummingbirdRicky Skaggs
HummingbirdRestless Heart
I Forgot How Bad My Good Woman Can BeRazzy Bailey
I Love The Way She Keeps Me In The DarkConway Twitty
I Was Meant To Be With YouDiamond Rio
It's Been One Of Those DaysBobby Vinton
It's Been One Of Those DaysLang Scott
I've Never Been So SureRestless Heart
Jenny Come BackRestless Heart
Jesse's SoulRadney Foster
Julie Do I Ever Cross Your MindWood Newton
Let The Heartache RideRestless Heart
Love In The First DegreeAlabama
Love The Hurt AwayWood Newton
Love Will Get Your Through Time With No MoneyThe Girls Next Door
Midnight HaulerRazzy Bailey
Oklahoma SwingVince Gill & Reba McEntire
Quittin' TimeAsleep At The Wheel
Restless HeartJuice Newton
Restless HeartRestless Heart
Say You'll StayWayne Massey
She Got The GoldmineJohnny Paycheck
She Got The GoldmineJerry Reed
She's Got A Drinkin' ProblemGary Stewart
She's Got A Drinkin' ProblemJohnny Paycheck
Somewhere There's A Love SongCharlie Rich
Southern ComfortJoe Stampley
Straight For Your LoveTerri Heart
Sweet TemptationThe Kendalls
Sweet Red WineGary Morris
Tell Your Dream To MeMarty Robbins
The Bluest Eyes In TexasRestless Heart
The Boys On A RollRestless Heart
The Truth HurtsRestless Heart
This RoadMike Reid
This TimeRestless Heart
Too Many Hearts In The FireBobby Smith
Tryin To Get To New OrleansThe Tractors
Unconditional LoveGlen Campbell
Victim Of The GameRestless Heart
We Owned This TownRestless Heart
When I Call Your NameVince Gill
Who Better Than an AngelJanie Frickie
Working WomanRob Crosby
You Seen One You Seen 'em AllBettye Lovette
You Seen One You Seen 'em AllRuth Ann
You've Got The TouchLloyd David Foster

Record production credits

ArtistTitleRecord labelDateAward or recognition
BlackhawkStrong EnoughArista Records1996Certified Gold
Diamond RioIVArista Records1995Certified Gold
BlackhawkBlackhawkArista Records1994Certified Double Platinum
Diamond RioLove A Little StrongerArista Records1994Certified Platinum
Diamond RioClose to the EdgeArista Records1993Certified Gold
Steve WarinerDriveArista Records1993
Diamond RioDiamond RioArista Records1991Certified Platinum
ExileJusticeArista Records1991
Steve WarinerI Am ReadyArista Records1991Certified Gold
Restless HeartThe Best of Restless HeartRCA Records1991
ExileStill StandingArista Records1990
Restless HeartFast Movin’ TrainRCA Records1990Certified Gold
Restless HeartBig Dreams In A Small TownRCA Records1988Certified Gold
Restless HeartWheelsRCA Records1986Certified Gold
Restless HeartRestless HeartRCA Records1985

Song production credits

TitleArtist
Heartbreak Kid
Big Dreams In A Small Town
Gone Away
Heaven Sent
HummingbirdRestless Heart
HummingbirdRicky Skaggs
I Was Meant To Be With You
Jesse's Soul
Love In the First Degree
Midnight Hauler
Oklahoma Swing
Quittin’ Time
She Got the Goldmine
She's Got A Drinking Problem
The Bluest Eyes In Texas