Sole survivor of Murder on Music Row
Sammy Sadler was an emerging artist in the late 1980s on the brink of a successful career with a record deal at Evergreen Records. He was full of optimism and high hopes when he and his friend Kevin Hughes were walking along Music Row in Nashville on March 9, 1989.
Hughes was a chart researcher at Cash Box magazine. While still a student at Belmont University, he had worked as an unpaid intern before being put on the magazine’s payroll by Richard “Tony” D’Antonio, Cash Box’s director of Nashville operations.
Hughes had become suspicious that money was changing hands in order to push certain records up the charts. He had voiced his concerns to friends and family and was considering leaving Music City and returning home to Illinois.
Deadly attack
As Hughes and Sadler walked along Music Row at around 10:20 pm, a masked gunman stepped out of the shadows and shot both men. Hughes was killed in the attack; Sadler was seriously wounded but survived. The assailant escaped and the crime went unsolved for many years. Eventually, in 2003, D’Antonio was tried and convicted of Hughes’ murder and the attempted murder of Sadler.
The attack and resulting injuries put a halt to Sadler’s promising career, in addition to depriving him of his friend. It has been a hard road back for Sadler, putting the pieces of his life and his career together as he deals with PTSD related to the attack.
But two aspects of Sadler’s life have remained unchanged: his innate talent and his remarkable determination. Despite the odds, between 2012 and 2016, on his own, he put together two successful tours, both aptly titled “Taking the Country Back.” Handling the project himself, the tours played more than 200 dates with co-headliners such as Jeff Carson, Ken Mellons and Buddy Jewell.
Sadler signs management, agent deals
Now, thirty years after that murderous attack, Sadler’s career is entering a new phase. He has been working quietly to assemble a team to work with him on several projects that are already taking shape.
Sadler secured CN Productions for exclusive management by industry veteran Cathy Nakos, whose clients have included Andy Griggs, Dave Gibson, Hal Bynum, Elizabeth Eckert, Buddy Jewell, Beatlemania 64 Live, and The Ultimate Garth Brooks Tribute, just to name a few.
“Sammy is an amazingly gifted country singer whose career was literally stolen at gunpoint. Despite his horrendous ordeal, he has NEVER given up on himself, Nashville, the industry, or his dream. Most people would have walked away. That says a great deal about his character. This business requires not only talent, but resilience…he has both.” – Cathy Nakos, CN Productions.
Nakos made it one of her first orders of business to secure a booking agency for Sadler. She tapped WBA Entertainment (Larry Carlton, Paul Brown, Remembering Hee Haw, The Highwaymen Live Brothers Brown, Mark Newman, etc.) to represent him.
“Sammy brings a lot to the table,” stated his agent, Whitney Crabtree. “Not only were we extremely impressed by his talent and his story, but his sheer determination. Not everyone can put together a tour like he did, enlist the talent that he did, and manage all the pieces and parts that go into it,” she explains. “With all he did on his own, it’s exciting to think what he could do with a great agency behind him. He certainly deserves that chance.”
Back in the studio
Sadler’s ongoing tenacity has allowed him to continue his career in the music industry despite his tragic past. He is currently putting the finishing touches on projects that he hopes will capture the country world’s attention once again.
Sadler says he is excited about these projects, some of which he has been working on for more than a decade. “The business has changed a great deal since the late 80s and it’s taken me some time to wrap my head around it,” he admitted. “But, there’s a lot of opportunity for guys like me to reach my audience more than ever before. It will be interesting to see how the country community reacts.”
On November 10 of last year, Sammy Sadler provided a free copy of his single, “In America” on his website to honor American veterans. Sammy is reportedly continuing to work on his biography and is back in the studio working on a project. Details of this upcoming project will be announced soon. Music, videos and more at Sammy Sadler’s website. Follow Sadler at Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
You can find an extensive article about the murder, the background and the conviction of D’Antonio in this article published by the Nashville Scene.
Preshias Harris is a music journalist and music career development consultant with the emphasis on new and aspiring artists and songwriters. Her book, ‘The College of Songology 101: The Singer/Songwriter’s Need to Know Reference Handbook’ is available at www.collegeofsongology.com Follow her blog at www.nashvillemusicline.com