On this day (February 12) in 1911, Stephen H. Sholes was born in Washington, D.C. He started working for the Victor Talking Machine Company, which would later become RCA Records, as a messenger boy as a teenager. After years with the company, he became a powerful music industry executive who helped shape the future of Nashville, Tennessee. He also had a hand in forging the future of country music by signing the likes of Chet Atkins and Jim Reeves.
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Sholes was a longtime employee of RCA Records. After working for a time as a messenger, he moved to the radio department. However, his experience playing saxophone and clarinet in dance bands landed him a spot in the label’s record division. There, he produced sessions for a wide variety of artists. Then, during World War II, he moved to the United States Army’s V-disc operation, which produced records for troops…