The Orchard has hired Heather Vassar as senior vp, Nashville, the company announced Tuesday (March 24). Vassar previously served as senior vp at EMPIRE, where she helped launch the company’s Nashville office. She will now spearhead and strategically guide The Orchard’s Nashville division, reporting to Colleen Theis, The Orchard’s president and COO.
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At EMPIRE, Vassar helped sign and develop acts including Shaboozey, CeCe and Wyatt Flores. Following her Orchard appointment, she will maintain ownership of Casual Media Partners, a music and media company blending record label services, artist management, content creation and innovation initiatives spanning AI, tech and cross-media storytelling.
“We are excited to welcome Heather to The Orchard,” Theis said in a statement. “Heather brings an invaluable level of expertise to our organization, given her deep-rooted relationships within the Nashville market and significant connections throughout the wider music industry. Her proven ability to strategically cultivate opportunities for artists spanning an array of genres will be instrumental in helping us further our mission: to connect our diverse roster of clients with exponentially growing global audiences. Her appointment also represents a pivotal step in our ongoing commitment to elevating and empowering women in high-visibility leadership roles across our company.”
Vassar was named to Billboard’s 40 Under 40, Country Power Players and Women In Music lists in 2025. She joined EMPIRE in 2019 and left the company in May 2025. Among her successes there was the successful launch of Shaboozey, whose track “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” tied the record for most weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, at 19. The song also made history by going top 10 on Billboard‘s Country Airplay, Pop Airplay, Adult Pop Airplay and Rhythmic Airplay charts.
“I’m honored to join The Orchard as SVP, Nashville, at an exciting time as genre lines blur and independent artists scale globally,” Vassar said in a statement. “I look forward to elevating our footprint to support this momentum while maintaining the vision and integrity established by Brad, Colleen and The Orchard team.”
