8 years after stepping down at Sony, Joe Galante continues to make his mark on country music

December 26, 2018

“I basically went into a meeting and wasn’t very prepared,” Smythe said. “He basically knew more about what I was talking about than I knew. So he did me a big favor because I got better at my job, but I was kind of embarrassed about it.

“I don’t want to say scary is the right word, but he’s very intimidating because he’s always so calm and collected and always has his stuff together.”

Last year Smythe co-chaired one of Galante’s post-Sony passions, the CMA Foundation, which has raised over $20 million since 2011 for music education in public schools.