Brad Paisley Signs With New Record Label After 20 Years On Sony

After over twenty years, Brad Paisley has left Sony Music/Arista for Universal Music Group Nashville. The signing reunites Paisley with UMGN Chairman, CEO Mike Dungan, and President Cindy Mabe. Dungan was instrumental in signing Paisley to his first deal at Arista. Mabe served as Paisley's marketing point person early in his career

Brad said in a statement, "There were two people that should get the credit that you even know my name - Mike Dungan and Cindy Mabe. I ran into Mike at the fishing department at Walmart after having met with several labels, and he talked me into signing my first deal with Arista. They assigned this woman named Cindy Mabe to me - we graduated the same day at Belmont. I got to work with her on my first few albums, and now I get to work with her at UMG."

He added, "Cindy's a genius and terrific human being. She heard what I was up to with the new music, and she pointed me further into the direction I was headed. I've never had this kind of enthusiasm and empowerment. She said, 'Make music that matters.' It's an amazing thing to work with Mike and Cindy again. It's great to know they believe in this music as much as I do."

Paisley is finishing his next studio album, the first for UMG Nashville, expected later this year. This Friday (2/24), he is set to release a new song from the forthcoming album - "Same Here."

Brad posted to Instagram, "I am thrilled to be with @umgnashville and back with Cindy Mabe. Cindy and I graduated the same day from Belmont, where she was an honor student, and I got a "D" in guitar. Now for the last year or so, I've been pouring my heart and soul into a new project with this team, and I cannot wait for the world to hear it. Also, Cindy says my guitar playing is at least a B now. So there's that."