Susan E. Hamilton is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Recording Industry at Middle Tennessee State University and a music publicist specializing in heritage country, Americana, and artist-driven storytelling. 

At MTSU, Hamilton teaches courses including Publicity in the Recording Industry and Marketing of Recordings guiding students through real-world campaign strategy, branding, and contemporary media practices. Her classroom emphasizes project-based learning and critical thinking, preparing students to navigate a rapidly evolving music and media landscape while developing creative and professional confidence.

In addition to her academic role, she serves as Communications Director and Senior Publicist for Brooklyn Basement/Brooklyn Basement Records, where she leads national publicity campaigns for recording artists, festivals, events, and historic music spaces. Her work focuses on storytelling, audience development within roots music communities, and nonprofit work.

A self-described lifelong band nerd and strong advocate for proper grammar, Hamilton began her musical journey at age nine at a piano keyboard. Although she briefly detoured into science at North Carolina State University, where she admits she spent nearly as much time in the music department as in the chemistry lab, she eventually earned her Juris Doctor from Texas A&M University School of Law (formerly Texas Wesleyan University School of Law) and established a law practice in Tennessee before transitioning into public relations in the music industry.

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