Grammy Winner Named Artist-in-Residence at Kennesaw State University

Coy Bowles, guitarist for the Grammy Award-winning Zac Brown Band, has joined Kennesaw State’s Joel A. Katz Music and Entertainment Business (MEBUS) program in the Michael J. Coles College of Business as an artist-in-residence.

Bowles will work with students on songwriting and production, and give lectures on recording, touring and protocol in the music and entertainment business. 

Students will also help Bowles in promoting his children’s book, “Amy Giggles,” and learn about publishing and income streams in the music and entertainment business.

“This is an amazing opportunity for our students to work with and learn from a first-rate songwriter, musician, book author and entertainer from Georgia,” said Keith Perissi, director of the MEBUS program. 

“With Coy’s background in music, the entertainment business and now publishing, he will bring extraordinary expertise to Kennesaw State this semester. His willingness to share his experiences in the industry will be invaluable to our students.” 

Bowles is the second artist-in-residence for the MEBUS program. Fellow band member John Driskell Hopkins has been an artist-in-residence since January 2013.

A Thomaston, Ga. native, Bowles joined the Zac Brown Band in 2006. The Band’s album, “Uncaged,” won for best country album of the year in 2013. Bowles met Zac Brown during their college days, but they became friends when both were playing jazz and blues clubs in Atlanta. 

In 2008, Bowles began writing a regular blog for coybowles.com and zacbrownband.com and published “Amy Giggles, Laugh Out Loud,” an anti-bullying children’s book.  

The Joel A. Katz Music and Entertainment Business program in the Coles College of Business at Kennesaw State is a multi-disciplinary program designed to provide a foundation of practical experiences, on-the-job training and exploration of career opportunities in the music and entertainment industry.