Podcast with Brad Parker

[00:00:00] Want to welcome to the Blue Sky Studios Podcast. I'm here today with Brad Parker. Brad. Thanks so much for being with me. Thanks for having me, man. I'm excited. Absolutely. Absolutely. There's no way to start off an interview on the wrong foot than introduce somebody. With the wrong, last name of . I said your last name wrong.

[00:00:25] So I'm so sorry for that. But they excited about this interview kick us off with Brandi Carlile at the moon river festival in Chattanooga, which if I'm not mistaken, you put on, is that right? Yeah. So I I've been working with that festival in Chattanooga since 2018. So it's been around before that it was in Memphis actually.

[00:00:44] And then the company that I worked for. We partnered with drew Holcomb, who is the artist partner for that festival and moved it to Chattanooga in 2018. And in 2019, we had Jason Isbell and Brandy Carlisle as the headliners. And there's this little the site where we have [00:01:00] the festival, there's this old, like performing arts theater center that we kind of take over for our artists like green rooms and dressing rooms.

[00:01:09] And. Out in the hallway, outside the green rooms, there was an old piano. It looked like that thing had not been tuned since like the seventies. It's just sitting out against this wall and this old, old hallway. And I'm walking out of my office and I hear someone, I hear someone like messing around with that piano.

[00:01:27] And I'm like, wonder is, wonder who is out here trying to mess with this piano. And I walk around and then I start, I hear, I immediately recognized it's Brandy Carlisle and she's sitting down. With one of her guitar players, and she's just warming up on this piano and she's singing, go tell it on the mountain.

[00:01:44] And I just get like this full chill over my body. Cause I'm like, I'm like, man, no one else is here to witness this. But this is like the most angelic voice and like moment that I've ever heard. And I'm the only person here to experience it. And she, my radio made a noise and she [00:02:00] looked at me and I felt so bad.

[00:02:01] Cause I had like ruined this beautiful moment. And she was like, yeah, I was like, I am so sorry. And she was like, no, no, no. Like keep doing whatever you're doing, but I don't know why that moment is just always like stuck in my head because you get to. Part of what's special of working in the music industry is to see those like real moments that artists have.

[00:02:19] That a lot of times you don't see on Instagram or on YouTube or wherever it is that you interact with, like your favorite artists. It's cool to know that they're just like to see those human moments of, oh, this is just someone that's just like me, you know, they have flaws and they have, you know, bad days and all of that stuff.

[00:02:36] So I always think back to that moment as like a little humble moment of that was something cool to, to witness. Yeah. Too bad, too bad. You can't make an NFT out of that. I feel like cool reality scan of my brain or that memory of just like, yeah, it's a million dollars. Do you want to look through it? I feel like somebody would pay for it.

[00:02:55] That's pretty special, man. Well, let's rewind a little bit, Brad, tell us a little bit about how you got [00:03:00] started in the music business. Yeah, so I grew up in east Tennessee in Knoxville. I grew up listening to country music. I always loved when I was in middle school and high school. I didn't have the most fun.

[00:03:11] Childhood and music was always something that was like a free therapist for me. And so I always liked music, but I never really thought of like, oh, is there something I can do with music? That's a job. I was like, oh, if I want to be a music, I've gotta be like, Alan Jackson. Like I've got to be an artist.

[00:03:28] There's no other way to do it. Which I mean, that's not a terrible idea to be Alan Jackson must be, I mean, don't get me wrong. I would love yes, sir. But it's no easy feat to be Alan Jackson, but there's a company called AC entertainment based out of Knoxville, Tennessee. They found that they were a regional Southeast promoter.

[00:03:47] The guy who started that company is one of the founding people around Bonneroo music and arts festival. So throughout the nineties and early two thousands, they got a lot of pot. They gained a lot of attention from putting on all these festivals and shows in [00:04:00] the Southeast. And they're kind of hidden away in Knoxville.

[00:04:02] Right? There's a music scene in Knoxville, but as far as the music business, there's like, it's just them. There's nothing else. So when I was in college, I was working at a radio station. AC entertainment was booking, was buying ads on there, on the station for shows they were doing in town. So I got introduced to their team.

[00:04:19] Long story short. I was like, oh, these, these are some cool ways that I can be involved in creating these special moments that fans have with artists, but it doesn't involve me having to be an artist or write songs or sing or anything. So I started working at AC in 2014 and then in 2018, I took on a little bit bigger role with Bonneroo and moved to Nashville.

[00:04:41] And also at the end of 2018, I just, I love Nashville, but I saw this non-country. Seeing that was bubbling with rock artists and pop artists and all of these things, but the infrastructure from the business side, wasn't really there to like, support, like the fans were here, but like supporting these artists there [00:05:00] weren't like big management companies or labels or publishers.

[00:05:03] Yeah. So I decided I wanted to start getting into management on the side and working with non-country acts in Nashville. And that's how I found it. What is the band gold park. Now I found those guys into 2018, started managing them beginning of 2019. And then we basically went through a whole rebranding and like revisioning what the band was through 2020, which was great because obviously there were no festivals going on last year.

[00:05:30] So I was taking time off from that job. Being able to focus on management and working with the band. Now it's like zero to a hundred, you know, everything's coming back and shows are happening and people are going on tour and festivals are happening. And so it's like it's been, it, it feels great to be working again, but it's been a process like adapting to it.

[00:05:51] Basically not being busy for a year and now being like the busiest ever. But that's the short version of [00:06:00] like how I got to, I guess, here talking to you from and where I started. Yeah. Yeah. And if you guys haven't had a chance to listen to our episode with gold park, please go back and check that out.

[00:06:08] Great episode. Great guys. Great band. Oh, bread for you. I think when you. As an artist or a band is listening to this podcast and they're seeing what you do. What's something they might not understand about the festival world and how that works. I want to talk about management a little bit later, but let's start with the festival side, because I think for so many bands, you look at a large festival like Bonneroo or something like that.

[00:06:35] And you say, wow, that's what we want to do. We want to be on that stage. Headlining it being the main band. Well, what's something that people might not realize about that process and festivals in general. I think that it's not necessarily a misconception, but festivals are looked at as like, this is a great way for me to potentially get exposure in front of a larger audience that I haven't had exposure to, but you [00:07:00] have to have.

[00:07:01] In my opinion, a strategy on the touring side is that you don't want as a baby band or a band that's just starting touring as cool as it seems to go and start directly doing something like that off the bat and doing a big summer of playing festivals you need from the festival side, like they need artists who.

[00:07:21] Have started telling that story already, whether it's small, like local regional touring, or you've been able to, you know, do support on a small national tour. If you're like an opening band on a tour, it's important to be able to say, here's what we've done from a touring standpoint already to be able to get good looks at those festivals because they can be great tools of cross pollination for.

[00:07:50] You as an artist to get in front of the fans of other artists who might have similar tastes, but it's so competitive. Like there's so many [00:08:00] artists and there's so many festivals and it's like, I guess it can be overwhelming of like, well, where do I go? And, and, and what I say is like, you gotta start. Small like a dream big, but realistically start small play in your hometown as much as you can.

[00:08:16] And then go two hours outside that and then go four hours outside that and build that fan base. Because as an artist, touring is what's going to be, you know, 85% of your income as a, as an artist for your whole career. That is a matter of how big you are. If you're Billie Eilish. If you're, you know, just playing at your local bars, like touring is how artists make their money.

[00:08:38] It's not, you know, merge is probably second streaming is last, you know, that's just the sad reality of how it is. So it's such an important part of building. Your business as an artist is figuring out that touring piece on the front end. And then once you've built a nice base there, then it's like, okay, but let's do some regional festivals too, to just add fuel on the fire [00:09:00] for these markets that we've already been able to go and have 50 people or a hundred people come out and watch us play.

[00:09:06] So hopefully I answered your question. In a roundabout way. Yeah, it was great. A lot of value bombs there. And this is less of a question and more of, I'd love to just know your thoughts on this. But one of the things I try to talk to the artists we work with and the bands we work with a lot about is empathy is probably not the right word, but being able to put yourself in the place of a bar owner, a venue, Booker a festival Booker, like what would help them do their job either easier or better?

[00:09:33] I think so many times, it's like, I want to play that festival. I'll just call the person who organizes it and they'll let me on because they're a nice person, right? And it's like, well, no, you need to be able to bring some value. You need to be able to say like, Hey, we've played there. We've booked solid gigs.

[00:09:47] There. We can bring two, 300 people out or whatever that number is. Any thoughts with kind of how, how the artists should look at someone who's booking a festival or a venue owner. This is just me speaking from. [00:10:00] The festivals that I've worked on and been around the, so first of all, if you're an artist that has a festival that you would consider in your hometown or in your region, that's something that I think festivals put a lot of.

[00:10:15] Or are starting to put a lot of thought into and moon river. And Chattanooga is a great example. Like we have national acts that headline, but we want to make a point to set, to have local artists on the bill to support to, for that, to be part of us being like, we want to support the scene in this city.

[00:10:33] So I think not even necessarily being able to say. You can bring X amount of fans that that's great. And yes, that is part of the politics of like, you know, people that are doing festivals. They have to make money, you know, at the end of the day, it's great to a lot of this industry is, is built and drives on relationships, but people are trying to pay their bills.

[00:10:54] So it's got to, it's a delicate balance of like what's reasonable and what's not. [00:11:00] Being able to go to that promoter and say, Hey, this is, you know, we're we're, so-and-so, we're, we've, we've been in this market for five years, 10 years, whatever. We're a big, we're connected very much into the scene of this city.

[00:11:12] We love to have the opportunity to come out and play with you guys. I think that goes a long way because a lot of overall in the music industry or in the festival landscape, I should say. You know, you've got huge festivals, like Bonnaroo Lollapalooza, Coachella that has been around forever. And I don't think they're going anywhere, but what's really hot right now from a fan perspective.

[00:11:33] Are these more niche boutique festivals that really like over-serve a certain audience, like a very specific audience, moon river. Is that for like America? People. Right. Whereas with Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza, you've got every genre on the planet and you've got every fan on the planet, but promoters are now starting to see that what the fans really want is I want to come.

[00:11:57] I don't need four days. I don't need three days. [00:12:00] I might not even need two days, but I want one day. Of just being overserved and hyper-focused on like what music I like and I'll pay whatever I'll pay, whatever the ticket price is for that. So if you can cater to that need with a certain festival that you're reaching out to, I think that's a big piece of it.

[00:12:16] Yeah. That's great insight. I didn't realize that was a trend or something that folks were looking at at the super bowl over the past. I would say over the past, like three years, I would say 2018 and 19, there were a lot of boutique festivals that popped up over the U S that were really hot, heading into 2020.

[00:12:35] And then obviously they weren't able to happen, but they are coming back. In 20, 21 or early next year. And they're doing well, like just as we thought they would, before we do another one in Charleston, South Carolina called high water. And it's a partnership with a band called shovels and rope who are kind of like an Americana, a husband and wife, but they.

[00:12:58] Like that, that's the whole thing [00:13:00] with that festival. Like we're hyper we're, overserving their fans with music that they like, and we're not trying to do anything outside of that. We know what we want, we know what they want. Like let's just do that and let's not try to get crazy. And that's the formula that seems to be working right now.

[00:13:17] That's awesome. So you're saying my K-pop band that I'm in. Like, we have a chance, if we can find the K-pop festival for us, if you find the K-pop festival, then I promise you not in the K-pop band. Just, just for clarity for any first time listeners. Oh, well that's awesome, man. Well, I would love this transition a little bit over to you as a manager.

[00:13:36]Just break it down to us in the most simplest form. What is the role of a good manager for an artist or a band man? The analogy that I like to give is management. It changes with every artist, right? Like the need that an artist has for their manager is different. Every time every artist you talk to, but the best way I can explain it.

[00:14:00] [00:14:00] An artist's career is the white house. And the artist is the president. And as a manager, I'm the chief of staff. I like that. Yeah. Any conversation, regardless of what it is, comes to me before it gets to them, I am like the gatekeeper and it's not even necessarily a gatekeeper from like a standpoint. My artist is too cool for you to be communicating with directly.

[00:14:24] It's just, there are so many things going on with an artist at one time, you have to have like an air traffic control per se of all of that. And that's what a manager does now with each artist, those conversations can be completely different, but they all are funneling to this one. Person who is navigating all of those at once.

[00:14:45] So I think that's the chief of staff thing has always stuck with me. A mentor of mine used that. And it's that that's just been the, always the thing that it just makes so much sense. Yeah. That's great. That's so good. And for you, what's been one of your favorite moments [00:15:00] of being a manager so far. Man with these gold part guys.

[00:15:05] Honestly, I think my favorite moment just just happened. So we were out and we were out doing some shows in Texas and Louisiana this past weekend. And we woke up in Houston, left the hotel, stopped at a thrift store to show. Came out. And someone had broken into our van and stolen all of our backpacks.

[00:15:27] They luckily weren't able to get in the back of the van where our gear was, but they had busted in the side door and taken our backpacks, which had all of our laptops and like stuff like that. And it, it, it, it sucked. I'm not going to lie. It really sucked, but to see a band that's young and just getting started.

[00:15:47] And had been stuck in their home the past year and all they wanted to do was play. And then we get out and this horrible thing happens to see them. Like, from that point, we were driving six more hours to Russ and [00:16:00] Louisiana to do a show that night and to see them like come to terms with it and rally, and then go out and just be like, you know, what we came to do was play some rock and roll and we're going to do that and have fun regardless of what life threw at us, you know, five hours ago, that was.

[00:16:17] Those are the moments that I like live for as a manager is like nothing beats the music like that. That's what we're all here for. Whether you're a fan or you're an artist, or you're the manager like we're here because these songs speak to us on certain issues or things that we're dealing with at the end of the day.

[00:16:34] There's not much that can stop that from happening. So a good word. Yeah, that's probably one, that's probably one of my favorite things that I've had and that's fresh, fresh on my mind. So hence the new Mac book I would imagine. Yeah. Hence the brand new Mac book catchy. Well, cool. Brad is, we're kind of wrapping up and moving into the final stage of our interview for artists and bands who are listening right now.

[00:16:57] And they're wanting to build this career. They're wanting to do [00:17:00] this thing that they love either in a more part-time. Manner that supports maybe their family, or maybe even full-time or they are doing it full-time and they just want to do it better. What do you feel like separates those bands and artists that are successful from those who quit are just kind of never really get to that next level of success?

[00:17:18] Yes. It's a great question. I am a genius. I'm just kidding. You're I can tell, I can feel it. I can feel it. Well, the first one is as a piece of advice, but also answers part of the question. I think, as an artist, when you're starting out in your, looking at putting a team together and usually a managers, the first thing that makes sense to have in your corner, I think what's more important than anything is making sure.

[00:17:48] As much as you can, that you know who you are as an artist and what you want to be about because the farther you get down the road and the more people that you add to your team, that's more opinions [00:18:00] and more people that are going to want or have influence on your music and your career. So the more you can have that solidified before you start that process is the better.

[00:18:12] And I'm not saying you have to have all those answers. Sometimes a manager can be a great person to help you figure that out. But I think that's super important. And I think that any artists I've ever interacted with that's been successful. Like they understand that the fans come first. Like if that's really what you want to do, like if you can focus on the fans and making that real, tangible connection, even if it's five people at a time, like I, I told, I tell the gold part guys, like, listen, I don't care if it's 10 people a night or it's 50 people a night.

[00:18:43] If we leave and that's 10 more people, we're going to go listen to you or buy a ticket to a show, then it's a victory. It doesn't matter where we drove to or where we played or whatever. Those are the people that are going to support you for the rest of your career. They're going to spend their extra money on buying a t-shirt or [00:19:00] buying a ticket to a show when you come to town.

[00:19:02] And that's the most important thing. Cause that, that goes back to the whole, like touring is how you're going to make your money. For the most part, you know, there are people that are fortunate enough to make a living as being a songwriter. But if you're going to be an artist, then touring is where you're going to make your money at.

[00:19:17] And that comes from the fans. It's 100% from the fans. It doesn't matter what any label or agency or anybody tells you about what a hit is. Like none of us get to decide what a hit is. The fans get to decide what a hit is. And so that should be your priority is making that, making those connections and prioritizing the relationship with your fans over any other relationship that you have.

[00:19:43] Yeah. And give, give our artist a little tip. Like what's something that simple that they can do at a, at a show. To connect with fans. Yeah, I think, you know, I would always encourage any artists that I work with. Be it be at your merged booth, like after shows, [00:20:00] no matter how big or small the venue, like take time to go.

[00:20:03] And even if it's five people that come like take time to go and take a picture and shake a hand and say hello, because I mean, they will remember that forever. It might seem like a small inconvenient thing in your day. And maybe you drove 12 hours to do a show and you're losing money and all of this.

[00:20:20] Take it like those people came because of something that you did spoke to them. And to have that moment, even if it's two minutes to shake your hand, it's gonna make it's gonna last forever in their mind. And so I just think never led it. I think artists sometimes forget the power that they have. And the power that their music has.

[00:20:38] And I get it. It's a, it's easy to forget when you're doing that day in and day out, but just never forget the power that it has with your fans, because that's the magic thing that is music, you know, and I, and I love what you said a moment ago about. Those five fans you might talk to are the ones who are going to continue to come back.

[00:20:58] I love that perspective on [00:21:00] the loan game. You know, the, the game that is built over a years of hard work, and it is the those gigs that you go to. And it's just like, man, this wasn't great are a lot of people didn't show up or we did lose money, but that long-term perspective does seem to separate those who are successful in the music industry, from those who are not.

[00:21:18] Yeah, man. It's like, I see it all the time with big, big artists. Like I'll never forget the first time I ever. I met. I did a show with Chris Stapleton in 2013. It was one of the first big artists I ever had a chance to interact with. It was right. Whenever Tennessee whiskey was like blowing up and I was like, man, this guy's a superstar and I'll never forget.

[00:21:40] I went to his meet and greet. He shook my hand. He said, it's good to see you again, buddy. And I, I had never met him in my life. And I know that he knows that he had never met me, but that's how he approached the conversation is like, like, man, it's good to see you again. I really appreciate you coming out to the shows and that stuck with me forever, you know?

[00:21:58] And he didn't have to do that. He [00:22:00] could easily play walked back to the bus and left, made his money and drove home. But, you know, I watched him probably go through a line of a hundred people and shake everybody's hand and take a picture with everybody. And you know what? Next time he comes back to town, those hundred people are going to buy a ticket to buy a t-shirt they're going to buy everything.

[00:22:18] And so that's the that's, that's where the longevity as a touring artist comes from is, is building those. Interactions and those, those kinds of loyal fans, it's, it's absurd every time I think about it. And even as a fan of music, it's like, it's crazy to think that there are people out there that have, you know, they worked honest, hard 40 hour a week job.

[00:22:43] And the little bit of extra money they have leftover, they'd spend that 30 bucks or 60 bucks or a hundred bucks to come listen to one of my artists play for an hour. You know, it's no, it's nothing to like, just look away from. It's like, that's crazy. Yeah, no doubt of all the things they could [00:23:00] do. They they've chosen to be there.

[00:23:01] All the things they could do. Like they barely paid their electric bill last month, but they're paying 35 bucks to come to your show and that that's the spirit of it, man. That's, that's just. If you lose touch with that, then you might as well just hang it up and, and, you know, call it quits because that's what keeps the engine moving.

[00:23:19] That's right. And, and final question, Brad kind of looking forward in the future of the music business, the next three to five years what's something that artists and bands should be on the lookout for or something that even has you excited, man, I think in general, just coming out as. Of the pandemic as a society globally, not just in the us.

[00:23:41] I think there's going to be a Renaissance of a Renaissance in the music industry, as far as. Live music and fans engaging with, with bands in the live space. Live music has always been about this exchange of energy between the fan and the artists. And all of that [00:24:00] energy has been kept up for, you know, 14, 16 months at this point.

[00:24:03] And so I think that there's just going to be every single show for the next five years. It's going to be just magic, pure magic. And I think that on the artist side, If you're an artist that's trying to get out and tour, you know, it's not going to be easy because as much as everyone wants to go to shows, there's only a limited amount of venues that can hold artists in this country.

[00:24:28] And so I think the whole DIY touring scene is going to be a huge thing for small independent artists over the next three to five years, it's going to be back to. Playing house shows and playing in people's backyards and asking the local barbershop. If you can do a show after, you know, after they close, if you can clear out the room and do a show inside, like that's where all these shows are going to be taking place.

[00:24:51] I mean, we just did it in Louisiana and we played a coffee shop. We, we, we shut down a coffee shop in Houston and played inside, had probably [00:25:00] 75 people in there. And it was like, that's just the option because all the venues are over like, The venues are overrun with requests from big artists and touring artists.

[00:25:10] And so it's not like before where you can go to your local venue on a Tuesday, Wednesday night and see a small indie band. Like every night of the week is going to be major bands that are playing. And so you got to get creative. And if you've got fans in a city, They can find, they'll find you a place to play.

[00:25:28] That's the only advice that I'll get that, but that's how we got the show in Rustin. We, we put out on, on gold Park's Instagram story. Hey, where are you? And where can we like, can we come play a show for you? This girl re shot us back and said, Hey, I'm in Russ and Louisiana. We don't have any venues here, but we got a bar.

[00:25:47] Our friend knows a barbershop that he lets us do stuff out on, on the weekends. And so we were like Mustang and it was, it was fun, man. It was fun, man. Maybe my K-pop band can [00:26:00] play at the barbershop and scale. Now we're talking about reference the K I'm not in a K-pop band. I don't know why I keep going back to this.

[00:26:06] You say K-pop you mean? Kentuck that? Okay. Okay. I like that, man. No, it didn't didn't mean that I wouldn't get Kentucky power to think on that. Brad man, I could talk to you all day. I appreciate you sharing your wisdom. It is certainly helpful for artists and bands who are listening give her one a last piece of advice and where they can find find you.

[00:26:27] Yeah, well you mentioned it earlier, but my last piece of advice is always like empathy is the thing I preach day in and day out. It doesn't matter what you do in your life. Empathy is like the greatest tool that we can have as humans to like exist with other humans. So that's always, my parting words is like practice empathy as much as possible.

[00:26:47] And yeah, I'm just, I'm Brad Parker on all my socials. And then if you're interested, Bonneroo is my my thing that I love the most and that I worked very hard on. So I always ask people if you've never been to Bonneroo try it out at [00:27:00] least once. So, yeah, man, that's all I got. I appreciate you having me, man.

[00:27:03] This has been fun and I appreciate you. Listening to me, and also talking about the gold part guys, and believe that I believe that. Well, thank you Brad for your time. And thank you guys so much for listening to another episode of the blue sky studios podcast. Have a great day, everyone.