PHOTO COURTESY OF THE RECORDING ACADEMY
Newly elected Recording Academy Trustees Dani Deahl, Taylor Hanson, Torae Carr, and Sara Gazerak have a history of advocacy for music people. Get to know them below.
The Recording Academy’s Board of Trustees has a history of being filled with members that are both passionate about making music and advocating for music creators. The newly elected slate of trustees is no exception and four of the new members continuously show their dedication to advocacy.
Those Trustees are Dani Deahl, Taylor Hanson, Torae Carr, and Sara Gazerak. They’re four of a total of 19 leaders of diverse backgrounds and disciplines who have assumed their position on the 2024-2025 Board of Trustees.
Effective June 1, the newly elected Trustees joined the Academy’s midterm Trustees, including National Officers Tammy Hurt (Chair), Dr. Chelsey Green (Vice Chair), Gebre Waddell (Secretary/Treasurer), and Christine Albert (Chair Emeritus).
Their mission is to uphold the Academy’s core values: to serve and represent the music community at-large through its commitment to promote diversity, equity and inclusion, fight for creators’ rights, protect music people in need, preserve music’s history, and invest in its future.
About that fight for creator’s rights, specifically: read on for these four Trustees’ advocacy bona fides.
Taylor Hanson
You know that surname: he’s a former Texas Chapter President, three-time GRAMMY nominated artist and member of the band Hanson.
Last August, Recording Academy members of the Texas Chapter, including Taylor Hanson, headed to Oklahoma City to meet with state government officials to build up the relationship between the Oklahoma music community and state leaders.
Throughout the day, the group met with Lieutenant Governor Matt Pinnell and the Deputy Director of the Oklahoma Film and Music Office, Jeanette Stanton, at the state’s Capitol before heading to the Governor’s Mansion.
During the meeting, they discussed the importance of the music community in Oklahoma, ways the state can continue to be involved in supporting the music community, and how the Recording Academy can be a resource for ensuring artists’ voices are heard.
At the Governor’s Mansion, Hanson participated in a panel with other Texas Chapter members on the Recording Academy and how Oklahoma Academy members and music creators can get involved. Specifically, the group highlighted the Recording Academy’s District Advocate Day, which Hanson has been a vocal supporter of.
Taylor Hanson has participated in numerous District Advocate meetings, attended the 2024 GRAMMY Advocacy Brunch, and has also used his social platform to spread awareness about the Recording Academy’s grassroots advocacy movements.