Dwight D. Heckelman
Rainmaker
Inspiring our clients to become the next generation of leaders in the music industry is the guiding principle of The Grooveworks. Nowhere is this principle more evident than in our founder - Dwight D. Heckelman.
Dwight has over fifteen years experience in several areas of the music industry. While attending Belmont University in Nashville, he worked as a Field Marketing Representative at Capitol Records (Everclear, Jimmy Eat World, Butthole Surfers) and later as an engineer/songplugger at Texana Sound Studio/Isham Music (Lee Ann Womack, Jars of Clay). He also wrote the technical column for Music Row Magazine. These combined experiences led him to Gate to Gate Music Publishing, where he served as Creative Director and produced Jill King - Music Row’s Independent Artist of the Year in 2004. Later, Dwight went on to become President of AudioStream, an independent label.
After over a decade in the music industry, he left the corporate world for academia, where in 2005 he designed and implemented the entire Music Production, Performance, and Business Management program at Hocking College, including: constructing two state-of-the-art recording studios and a DAW computer lab, instructing the curriculum in the classroom and the labs, and coordinating the internship program. Most recently, Dwight served the Career Development and Job Recruitment Coordinator at Berklee College of Music where he established partnerships with employers (EMI, Cirque du Soleil, Sonicbids) who recruited Berklee students and alumni, coordinated audition events (Disneyland, Holland America Lines), and developed workshops with his colleagues. Additionally, he frequently participates in speaking engagements around the country (Hersheypark, The Ohio State University, Otterbein College).
In June 2009, Dwight returned to Columbus, Ohio for the sole purpose of giving back to the Ohio music community. This commitment is maintained through The Grooveworks and through Groove U, a music industry school opening in Ohio in fall 2011.
If you would like to arrange for a career advising session with Dwight, please fill out the info request form.
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