
Tuesday night Belmont’s Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business and industry partner ASCAP honored alumnus Rusty Gaston (’98) as the first recipient of the Music City Milestone Award (MCMA), which celebrates Belmont’s connection to Music Row. The award recognizes a young Belmont graduate who has achieved truly superlative success in the entertainment & music industry.
Partner and general manager of This Music, Gaston was raised in Texas and moved to Nashville 16 years ago to pursue a career in the music industry and attend Belmont University. Gaston partnered with hit writers Tim Nichols (“Live Like You Were Dying”) and Connie Harrington (“Girls Lie Too”) to form This Music, a joint venture with Warner Chappell. In only a few years of operation he has built the company into a powerhouse. Today, Gaston is a passionate and committed music publisher who fills his time promoting the songs that his nine seasoned songwriters produce, including 14 award-winning songs and number one hits with artists such as Blake Shelton, Josh Turner, Chris Young and Luke Bryan.
Belmont Instructor of Music Business and creative force behind the MCMA award, Dan Keen, said, “One of the most rewarding facets of nurturing young people is celebrating their growth and successes. Rusty Gaston was a stand out student in my music publishing class at Belmont and is already one of the most successful independent publishers on Music Row. He has a huge servant’s heart as well. He is the type of person that Belmont and ASCAP want to encourage students and young executives to emulate.”
“ASCAP is honored to be partnering with Belmont in inspiring students to achieve greatness in their careers. It is fitting that Rusty Gaston receives the very first Music City Milestone Award as he has been a trendsetter throughout his career. Everybody loves and respects Rusty and writers love writing for him. They know him as a champion. Rusty is passionate about his songs—very passionate about his songwriters and music in general,” explains LeAnn Phelan, ASCAP senior creative director.









