Firm folds in Nashville PR shakeup

By ADAM SANDLER

At a time when many publicity firms are headed to Nashville to open branch offices, vet publicist Cathy Gurley is folding her PR firm to head the newly created publicity department at Liberty Records.

Gurley, who started her firm in 1985 following a three-year stint as director of public information for the Country Music Assn., will assume her new post Dec. 1.

The town's best-known agencies, Evelyn Shriver Public Relations and Network Inc., are being challenged by offices recently established by New York-based Shock Inc. and L.A.-based Press Network.

The demise of Gurley & Co. -- considered by many to be the No. 2 agency behind Shriver -- gives the newcomers a jump in the marketplace.

Liberty Records, the country music arm of Capitol Records, is home to Garth Brooks, Tanya Tucker and Suzy Bogguss.

Rogers & Cowan has been trying to open an office on Music Row for over six months, but has been unsuccessful in its overtures to the town's publicity execs and its own staffers.

Several Rogers & Cowan veeps have passed on the opportunity, and attempts to buy Nashville-based boutique operations have also failed.