Executive Director, SONA

Songwriter and artist advocate Erin McAnally has always been a part of the music business. Born in Muscle Shoals, AL, and raised in Nashville, she has extensive experience in A&R, production, music supervision and scoring for film and tv, publishing, and concerts and festivals. Now living in Los Angeles, she has been serving as Songwriters of North America’s Co-Executive Director and Vice-Chair since 2023. She co-owns a publishing company with her husband, Mick Utley. They were frequent co-writers with Jimmy Buffett, landing two songs on his most recent and posthumous album. She also works as a consultant and prose writer, helping artists, brands, and non-profits with marketing and communications, fundraising, education, events, and operations. In the past few years, one of her focuses was developing and teaching an education program with Artist Rights Alliance to empower artists and music creators and aiding the organization with strategic growth initiatives. She has extensive public speaking experience, having presented at conferences like Folk Alliance, SXSW, Americana Fest, and the US Copyright Office’s Unclaimed Royalties Study Kickoff Symposium.