Indie Connect Team

Vinny Ribas – Founder, CEO

Vinny Ribas has 40 years experience in the music industry as a musician, artist, artist manager, producer, booking agent and songwriter. He also served as the Entertainment Director for the Nevada State Fair for three years. He has toured much of the US and Europe as a professional musician on both drums and keyboards, and has shared the stage with such superstars as Garth Brooks, John Connelly, Johnny Lee and many others. Before launching Indie Connect, he served on the boards of two music start-ups, Indie Extreme LLC and American Music Channel.

Vinny is also a successful business coach, a serial entrepreneur and the author of “CEO Secrets – What They Know About Business That Every Entrepreneur Should”. As State Director of CEO Space in Tennessee for 5 years, he worked with hundreds of companies at various stages of development to prepare them to accelerate their launch or growth. He also has 10 years experience working in and managing nonprofit organizations. His extensive music industry, management and business development experience are key to the growth of Indie Connect.

For more information, see www.VinnyRibas.com

Connie Ribas - VP of Administration

Connie has been with Indie Connect since the first day. Her responsibilities include running the office, the marketing, bookkeeping, training Meeting Coordinators and more. Her past experience includes many years as executive assistant and university lab manager. She is married to Vinny Ribas and has worked alongside him in his numerous business ventures for almost 20 years.

Debra Welsh – Chief Financial Officer

Debra is the founder and CEO of New Way CFO Services. She has over 20 years experience as a CFO, working with both start-ups and established businesses. She helped take one company from $2m to $28M annual revenues. She has held senior financial management positions at several large health care organizations for over 20 years.

Judy Rodman - Music Industry Advisor

Judy is a a world-renowned vocal coach, a former county star with one #1 hit (Until I Met You), and seven top 10 singles. She is a hit songwriter (“One Way Ticket” by LeAnn Rimes and dozens of othe cuts), respected producer, vocal producer, session singer, keyboard/piano player and much more. In addition, she is a strong businesswoman who is very active and respected in the music industry on every level. See www.JudyRodman.com for a complete list of her credits.

Nancy Moran – Educational Advisor

Artist / Keynote Speaker / Music Industry Consultant

Nancy has been singing professionally for over 20 years. She performs her own folk/acoustic shows and is a member of popular national act, ‘The Four Bitchin’ Babes’’. She is also an established and respected session singer.

Nancy is also a frequent keynote speaker at music conferences and events. She is an NSAI-endorsed music business instructor, a SongU.com online instructor, the former Assistant Editor of American Songwriter Magazine and the author of several books, audio series, and live or online courses including, “The Songwriter’s Survival Kit,” “The Professional Songwriter’s Code of Conduct,” and “Making and Releasing Your Own CD.” She also offers private coaching and consultations to artists and songwriters regarding their careers.

Tony Bodoh – Operations and Technical Advisor

Tony Bodoh is the CEO and founder of ‘Profit Tornado’, a program for increasing employee effectiveness and retention in large companies. Tony spent 10 years in corporate America applying a unique analytical methodology to companies in a variety of sectors. His measurable portfolio of business optimization and process improvement projects exceeds $5.3 billion and his non-financial results are even more impressive. He now coaches organizations to higher profitability in spite of the economic situation.

Tony has experience working directly with people in all levels of the organization in the hospitality, health and wellness, technology, education, financial services, and marketing sectors. His recent efforts involve helping startup companies and expanding companies leverage the abundance they have to reduce costs and ensure a maximum return on their investment. Tony is also an inventor, professional educator, published author and dynamic speaker.

Dan Tracey - Industry Marketing Advisor; E-Magazine Editor

Dan is a veteran live and session singer and guitar player. As an independent artist he has traveled for many years throughout the northeast and now southeast US. He has over 10 years music retail experience, and is a licensed Smart Lighting technician. Dan is also a talented graphic designer.

Steve Bloch – Publisher and Independent A&R Rep

Steve is the owner/publisher for Southern Cow Music, and has formed a new publishing company, Writer Zone Music, with songwriter partner Rand Bishop. Writer Zone has published cuts for Tracy Byrd, Steve Holy, and Billy Currington, to name a few. He is a frequent guest of the West Coast Songwriters Assoc., the Arizona Songwriters Assoc, TAXI, and numerous NSAI and SGA critique sessions. In the late 90′s, he was tapped by Doug Johnson at Giant records to do independent A&R for the label where he secured cuts with Clay Walker, Keith Harling and Blake Shelton. He continures in that role today.

Doug Farrar - Multimedia Director

Doug is the owner/producer for RockStep Creative, an independent production company. Doug has produced his own television shows, but currently spends most of his time working with independent bands on live performance videos and DVDs. Doug also recently completed “Buy-In,” a feature-length, music documentary, that specifically dealt with an indie band that is doing everything on their own. He holds an MBA from DePaul University.

Indie Connect Team

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