Lynne Sheridan’s almost 20-year-long career at the Grammy Museum started at ground zero. Her interest in music started with listening to Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan on the radio, as recommended by her brother. When she first came to NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study, Sheridan thought she wanted a career in theater and briefly worked at a casting company. But through meeting people and networking, she got the opportunity to intern at the Bob Dylan Music Company as a sophomore in college.

Now the senior vice president of public programming and artist relations at the Grammy Museum, Sheridan has helped the organization’s public programs gain industry rapport, hosting performances open to the public, featuring artists such as Billie Eilish, Ed Sheeran and Barbra Streisand. She believes her job is the “best of both worlds” — getting to immerse in music while facilitating public arts sharing and education.

In an interview with WSN, Sheridan talked about her rise in the music industry and how she helped establish the Grammy Museum’s public programs.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

WSN: What brought you to the industry?

Sheridan: Nonprofit and music were really things I just found when I was in Gallatin. Gallatin programs are probably different now, but a lot of the credits that we got were from internships in the music industry. That got me started interning at a management company, and that led me to the next person I met, which led me to the next job I got. 

After graduating Gallatin with a degree in humanities and classic literature in 1993, she went on to work at Columbia Records, Epic Records and Tommy Boy Music for eight years before returning to the Bob Dylan Music Company in 2001 as a “much older person.”

She received an offer from Gallatin to pursue a graduate degree in arts administration, but turned it down after receiving another offer to work as a project manager at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles in 2007. 

Sheridan described that the initial process of getting artists to perform at the museum’s nighttime programs “took a while,” as she made numerous cold calls and proactively pitched to artists and publicists to secure one performance. One of the first artists Sheridan invited was the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson, whom she described as a “big deal” that helped to establish the museum’s position as a prominent platform to promote artists. 

She now oversees public programs such as the Los Angeles chapter of “An Evening With…,” which features a series of interviews, discussions and live performances with award-winning musicians. 

The Grammy Museum also hosts “A New York Evening With…” in New York City, which Sheridan said is part of the museum’s effort to expand its presence on the East Coast. 

WSN: How did you get started at the Grammy Museum?

Sheridan: It just kind of happened. I took the summer of 2001 off to kind of figure out if I could get a foot in the door with the nonprofit arts world. Through people I met through the industry, my old executive director of the Grammy Museum was working there and he had curated a Bob Dylan exhibit. I ran into him at the opening, and he’s like, ‘I’m moving to LA to open up a Grammy museum.’ And I said, ‘I’m moving to LA.’

It wasn’t even built yet when I started there, and then when we opened, I was asked ‘What role do you think I’d be most interested in doing?’ I had a lot of music industry experience, and I’ve worked in labels and in management previously, so I thought that sounded really great. Afterwards, when I got the job, I realized I get to do this as my job with music, and it’s been so amazing.  

The museum has hosted over 1,500 live events that provide public music education and preserve the legacy of musicians since 2008. Sheridan helps with hosting the “Spotlight” and “The Drop” series to highlight new artists and album releases, which are ticket events open to the public and available on YouTube. During the Obama administration, her team also cultivated a strong relationship with the White House, which established cross-collaboration music education programs and led to former First Lady Michelle Obama’s participation at a Grammy Museum event in 2014. 

Today, a performance at the museum has become a tradition before Grammy season begins, featuring artists who later take home major accolades at the ceremony.

WSN: What do you hope to achieve with these performances?

Sheridan: I want the audience to learn something that they wouldn’t learn just reading an article about the artists or listening to them on a radio interview, or one of the morning or late-night shows. We dive deeper in our interviews. We ask different questions. I hear that all the time from the artists, like, ‘Wow, that was one of the best interviews I’ve ever had. It went to a different place than I ever expected it to go to.’

I did a program last week with Lola Young, and I didn’t know much about her. I was behind the scenes, but her voice was unreal. And to hear her singing these songs in such a small space with an acoustic set was mesmerizing. 

Sheridan established a philosophy of intimacy between performers and audiences in “An Evening With…” events. The museum dedicates small venues with 200 to 300 seats to the program, encouraging deeper questions for artists to share their perspectives and creative processes during the Q&A sessions. She also emphasized the museum’s goal to invite artists across all genres to perform, giving visitors the ability to hear different stories. 

WSN: What do you love about this program?

Sheridan: I get to be around music, be around these amazing artists and hear amazing music. I also get to feel like I’m helping people, which is very key at this point in my life. I worked at a label company, but the nonprofit work just makes me feel like I’m giving back. I feel like that’s really what’s important in this world. And it’s kinda like a dream come true because I got to grow up listening to these amazing artists and now I get to work with them.

Contact Kaitlyn Sze Tu at [email protected].