datamusicata

As all of us want to hone our craft and the only true place to do that is on stage. Consequently, I have asked some of my friends in the industry who have been in the artist booking agency for years a series of questions that I thought would be most instructive for all of us. Mike Kappus is the first to step up and I am truly knocked out by what an informative and candid response he so generously gave us.

For those of you who don’t know, Mike Kappus started Rosebud Agency in 1976 (www.rosebudus.com) and now has one of the most respected agencies in the business. All the artists on Mike’s roster have the respect of both their peers and the industry and let me just name a few past and present artists, so you can see what a bonus it is that Mike gave us this time: JJ Cale; Charlie Watts; Beausoleil; the Blind Boys of Alabama; the late John Lee Hooker; John Hammond; Charlie Musselwhite; Allan Toussaint, Muddy Waters and for several years there, James Lee Stanley. Here’s what Mike so graciously provided for all of us:

First of all, thanks to James Lee for either feeling that my thoughts matter or at least for turning to me when he couldn’t get anyone else to do this.

1. Mike, tell us how you got started doing this?

- I grew up in Northern Wisconsin (Eau Claire) where there was very little happening for music aside from bands playing the top 40. I did get to see Roy Orbison just as “Oh Pretty Woman” was peaking about 1964. When I next saw a national concert artist it was the Steve Miller Band (during a fairly psychedelic period) and The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis in 1969. I was knocked out by the experience and immediately connected with friends in a little “counter fraternity” group I was part of and several of us shared roles (one finance, one for poster art and light show, and myself handling the business coordination of booking and promoting the show). We booked popular regional bands playing original music that had few places to play.

We were able to get a very low rent on the university fieldhouse because our little organization was registered like a fraternity. We made about $90.00 to split three ways and felt very successful. We did another show or two in that grouping and then I began helping get gigs for friends’ bands at regional youth centers that were looking to have events with live bands. I got my AFM booking agent license at the age of 19 and was likely the youngest agent in the country at the time. I began seeking out regional agencies and connecting their acts to regional clubs and securing a small fee for myself for coordinating. I never made money during this time but I was excited to be part of making things happen – all on the phone at my parents’ house, running up long distance charges like they’d never seen before and paying it off while working several jobs, painting houses and working at a 7-11 type convenience store while simultaneously taking a full course load in college. Between all of this and some extracurricular experimentation in mind expansion, my college studies were not what they could be, but I did pass everything. I later promoted some slightly larger shows in my previous high school gym and a theatre and finally, with a partner, turned a roller skating rink into a night club that didn’t serve alcohol as I was still only 20 years old and under the drinking age myself. A connection with one agency lead to them asking me to move to Milwaukee and join them. I planned to absorb some of the experience of the business for about two weeks and then return to college. However, it was too addicting, so I stayed for months until I got upset with a boss, who I felt was not being fair with me, and made it clear I was heading back to school. Two of the agency’s three top bands ended up catching me before I left and asked me to stay and manage them. And so on and so forth with one thing leading to another as I gained experience as a manager and an agent with another Milwaukee agency and simultaneously as a talent buyer for night clubs and a few festivals.

2. What is the musical thrust of Rosebud Agency? (just so you and I don’t get a lot of inappropriate mail).

- The musical thrust of The Rosebud Agency is generally roots or roots influenced music – jazz, blues, folk, cajun, gospel, R&B, reggae and several artists that are somewhat beyond category from current artists like Meshell Ndegeocello back to former clients like Captain Beefheart. Checking our web site gives a good insight into what we do and the type of artist we represent – www.rosebudus.com.

3. What is the real job of an agent? I mean, I know that you get the gigs, but isn’t there an aspect of that that includes building the artist as an act and a draw? How do you do that?

-- Like so many aspects of the business, there are certain standard formulas that people follow and some unique exceptions – and the fact is, that you can follow every item on the checklist for success and still never make it. The agent is responsible for negotiating live performance agreements for their artists. You try to build a draw by having an act play as much as possible where they will reach potential new fans – that can be venues or events where people will come even when they don’t know the artist, festivals where the artist’s music is a good fit and the audience is likely to listen, and pairing with other artists whose music is compatible. Ideally the artist wins over fans from the other artist’s audience. This has varying degrees of success with some artists being launched by their appearance on a tour and other great artists who, in spite of doing great shows, are unable to turn that audience into dedicated fans of their own shows and CDs. I always prefer to avoid standard formulas and try to think about what really makes the most sense for each artist – and in many cases you can’t just decide what you want and do it – you have to deal with what you can get, especially when the artist has not yet developed a significant draw of their own yet.

4. What do you look for in an act?

-First of all I want to be moved – have them instill a passion in me – or in some cases just uplift the spirit in a way that isn’t necessarily deep. I booked NRBQ for years and their music wasn’t generally deep, but they were great musicians with great songs and an incredible and very creative sense of humor. Secondly, we hope that the artist will be able to grow at least to the point where we are not losing money to book them. As we try to limit our roster and do the best job possible for each artist – and considering that San Francisco has a high cost of living, we need to pay staff for accordingly – we have a fairly high break even point for each booking, so we need to see growth potential or we would quickly be out of business. Third – we want to enjoy the collaboration with an artist and their team. Ideally all parties involved with the artist are open and positive with realistic expectations and a desire to work together as a team with each of us contributing whatever we can to the process. And if we’re just plain knocked out by someone that may trump some other factors. None of us are so unique that we will be knocked out by something that others won’t be – you just have to find that audience.

5. How long are you willing to work with an act?

- There is no time limit. I have worked for decades with an artist who doesn’t really make us money but who puts on such a great show and we have developed such a mutual respect that it would be out of the question to split with them.

6. What can an act do to make themselves ready to get your attention?

- Again, I personally want to be moved by an act. For an artist to inspire anyone like that I think they need to be sincerely passionate about what they are doing and put their best efforts into their work. It also helps greatly to be delivering something truly original even if it is just the artist’s own twist on an existing style or one’s own special personality, charisma or stage presence. If you start seeing a lot of visibility and positive buzz about someone, you know that someone is doing something right and it may be worth checking out, but we aren’t right for everyone, so we need to make sure an act is a good fit with our area of expertise.

7. In your opinion, what is the best way to approach an agent?

- An artist should recognize that agents have very limited time and are approached by hundreds if not thousands of artists every year. So, try to present yourself as impressively and concisely as possible. I always feel that the more written information you deliver, the less likely it is to be read – it will be set aside for a freer time which may never come around. Have the most impressive info and the best reviews from the most credible sources in larger, bolder type so it grabs someone’s attention. Pages of reviews will never be read. Put yourself in their shoes – why should they want to represent you. The best way to get an agent’s attention is by developing drawing power in your own community. That way, you represent current business which most people in the business are egotistical enough to feel that, if you can do that on your own, think what you could do with their contacts and credibility with buyers. So get your name out wherever you can. Ideally you support artists whose audiences are most likely to appreciate your music and ideally make them your fans as well. There is no absolute formula for success in this business, but there are many avenues that have worked well for others in the past. While you should do whatever you can to build your audience, my personal feeling is that that should not include leaving your passion behind for what appears to be a more popular trend of the moment. Again, if you do what you do passionately and well, we humans are enough like each other that there will be an audience for you – you just have to connect with it.

8. Does an act need a recording contract to get an agent?

- it helps greatly to have a record deal. We tour artists nationally and internationally and promoters are offered so many artists that have a following and a higher profile that there is no reason for them to book anyone unknown. A CD getting national and international distribution and, ideally, reviews and airplay gives the artist value to a promoter for those first performances in a market where they have no live performance history

9. How much attention do you pay to the internet presence of an act that you haven’t signed? I mean, does the internet have an impact on your regard for an act?

-I don’t do talent searches on Myspace or anything like that. We are generally so focused on our own artists that we are not out pursuing new artists – and we are approached by about 1000 per year and usually sign perhaps one that gets as close as possible to unanimous enthusiasm from all of our agents. That said, we would absorb any info about internet presence as being a factor similar to CD sales, live performance draw etc that give us an idea of future potential for an act but we’re more focused on our own gut feelings about substance and long term potential than the current number of hits or friends which could fade quickly.

10. What music do you listen to at home?

- somewhat unfortunately, most of the music I listen to is more due to what I need to listen to – like homework. I love all of our artists and do all I can for them which leaves me with almost no free time to do anything else. So when I do have time to listen I’m generally staying on top of our artists’ new CDs as well as artists who want us to sign them and others who want to support our artists. I enjoy listening to compilation CDs in order to be aware of as many new artists as possible – I like those from magazines like PASTE especially (as well as their DVDs of film shorts etc), Relix, Blues Revue, Global Rhythms, Mojo (all of which I subscribe to) and various others. When I do have time to choose I might try to educate myself on other music like classical where I am very weak in my knowledge. And, when time allows, I fall back on old favorites like Bonnie Raitt, Van Morrison and Ry Cooder, all of whom I have been lucky enough to work with and stay in touch with currently for one reason or another.

11. How did you become the agent for Charlie Watts’ band?

- I had signed a number of artists to Virgin Records – John Lee Hooker, John Hammond, Duke Robillard, and Pops Staples and had a very good working relationship with a number of people there. When they made a deal for a Charlie Watts solo CD they also hoped for a tour. Charlie had no agent at the time and they trusted me enough to recommend me for the job. They also said that they would want the agent to go on the road with him and cover the dates – that’s something that many agents would not have been able to do, but I was able to do that given the support of my staff – and that was a pretty appealing extra task to agree to. Charlie was, and is, an honor and a treat to work with. He rarely tours on his own, but I feel blessed to be his agent and spending time with him is always special.

And two bonus questions:

12. Now the question that every artist out there is asking…Can I have a gig?
- Presumably this is part of the above exercise so I’ll answer accordingly. Not meaning to be insensitive but, what gig? Unfortunately, we don’t have gigs lying around looking for artists to fill them. First of all, there are so many groups and solo artists out there that it’s a buyers market so talent buyers only need to make calls when pursuing someone they really want. They can easily fill their calendars with options presented by artists and agents calling them. We are competing with all of the other options available to find the proper gigs for the artists that we have an exclusive relationship with. So we are busy calling and e-mailing all day, every day in hopes of doing the best job possible of filling our artists’ calendars with, ideally, the best routed, best paying, career boosting gigs we can find for them. That takes all of our time. -- When I started in Milwaukee we dealt with more local groups playing local gigs so routing was rarely a factor. There were also clubs that could count on a certain number of people showing up regardless, so they might advise that they have a budget of x amount for a band of x type on these dates and then we might know of gigs available for an act of a certain style. Booking nationally known artists means routing tours properly and thoroughly because every night off is not a night at home but a day on the road with the same expenses as a gig (bus, driver, crew, salaries, hotels) but with no income, so most agencies are doing their best to deliver full calendars with the best gigs possible to their artists and are not hearing about those generally available gigs looking for artists to take them.

13. Why not? - See above