WEBVTT - Rod Essig 0:00:09.320 --> 0:00:14.880 Carola. She's the queen of talking. He was sown your man. 0:00:16.000 --> 0:00:18.239 She's only his side. She got the scoop on the 0:00:19.160 --> 0:00:21.439 on the ones in side. No one can do with 0:00:21.720 --> 0:00:31.440 Cliel Carola, Carola. No one can do with Clie like 0:00:31.920 --> 0:00:37.960 Carol Tile Caroline. Hey, y'all, welcome to Hyper Caroline Hobby. 0:00:38.040 --> 0:00:41.239 I am your host, Caroline Hobby. I know music, I 0:00:41.280 --> 0:00:43.519 know people, and I know the questions do you want 0:00:43.560 --> 0:00:47.360 to ask? So let's get Hyper heads up. These are 0:00:47.400 --> 0:00:50.479 adults having adult conversations, so there could be adult content. 0:00:51.840 --> 0:00:54.600 And this week is so exciting because I have the man, 0:00:55.120 --> 0:00:59.600 the myth, the legend on today's episode Rods. He is 0:00:59.640 --> 0:01:02.200 one of the power house players at CIA, which is 0:01:02.200 --> 0:01:04.639 a huge booking agency, one of the biggest in the world. 0:01:05.040 --> 0:01:09.080 And booking agencies book acts at shows. So that is 0:01:09.120 --> 0:01:11.880 how all these artists show up at all these shows, 0:01:11.920 --> 0:01:14.679 because an agent books them and does so much more 0:01:14.720 --> 0:01:16.920 than just that. But he has worked with everyone from 0:01:16.959 --> 0:01:21.919 Tim McGraw, Sonny and Share, Martina McBride, Julian Huff, Taylor Swift, 0:01:21.959 --> 0:01:24.200 the list goes on and on, and he's hysterical and 0:01:24.240 --> 0:01:26.200 amazing and you're about to get all the inside Scoop 0:01:26.240 --> 0:01:31.000 on what really happens. So welcome Rod Sig. Everybody. Okay, 0:01:31.160 --> 0:01:33.880 Hi Rod, Well hello, how are you doing. I've been 0:01:33.880 --> 0:01:36.320 told to lower my voice, so I'm trying to speak 0:01:36.319 --> 0:01:43.000 in a more now. This is a lovely We're sitting 0:01:43.040 --> 0:01:45.480 in your beautiful office. Rod Sig. By the way, he 0:01:45.680 --> 0:01:52.320 is the badass like team captain of CIA. What is 0:01:52.360 --> 0:01:56.440 your official title? I am Department head of the Nashville office. 0:01:56.720 --> 0:01:59.320 Could you explain to me what CIA is? C A 0:01:59.520 --> 0:02:05.120 is the are just um Motion Pictures, television, music and 0:02:05.160 --> 0:02:09.240 sports agency in the world, and you are the division 0:02:09.240 --> 0:02:12.720 head of Nashville, so that makes you quite a big deal. 0:02:13.960 --> 0:02:15.520 I don't know. I don't think. I don't think so. 0:02:15.560 --> 0:02:17.359 I think I just have to work harder than everybody else. 0:02:17.360 --> 0:02:21.239 That's all. That's a big title. Okay. I want to 0:02:21.280 --> 0:02:22.919 know how you got started, But first I want to 0:02:23.000 --> 0:02:27.520 ask you a few rapid fire questions. What song best 0:02:27.560 --> 0:02:35.360 describes your work ethic? Live like you're dying? Okay? Okay? 0:02:35.800 --> 0:02:39.919 Who's your celebrity free pass? Who's sharey okay with? Because 0:02:39.960 --> 0:02:41.920 your wife's awesome, So this is all in respect to 0:02:41.919 --> 0:02:45.440 her because I love her, And who's her free pass. Uh, 0:02:45.480 --> 0:02:50.519 my free pass would probably be um cure nightly. She 0:02:50.760 --> 0:02:55.000 would approved. I wouldn't ask her permission. I'll tell you 0:02:55.000 --> 0:02:57.040 a great story. There was one this is way way 0:02:57.080 --> 0:03:02.040 way back when, and um anyway, I went to l 0:03:02.080 --> 0:03:06.520 A and I represent Jeff Jeff FOXFORDY at that time, 0:03:06.560 --> 0:03:07.800 and we had you know, there was no there was 0:03:07.840 --> 0:03:10.000 no fight flights going in and out. So he had 0:03:10.040 --> 0:03:12.600 to go to night before for nine o'clock meeting next 0:03:12.720 --> 0:03:17.919 next day. So anyway, I'm sitting in Brian Lord's office. 0:03:18.880 --> 0:03:20.560 And Brian Lord's one of the one of the original 0:03:20.639 --> 0:03:23.000 partners of CIA. And he said, what are you doing tonight? 0:03:23.040 --> 0:03:25.240 And I said, I'm not doing anything that I had 0:03:25.280 --> 0:03:26.480 to come out here because I got a meeting in 0:03:26.520 --> 0:03:28.799 the morning. He said, so you're really you're free tonight 0:03:28.800 --> 0:03:31.160 and I said, yeah, I'm free. So anyway, it's very 0:03:31.200 --> 0:03:34.280 rare for you, Yes, very much so in the meantime, 0:03:34.360 --> 0:03:37.480 so he said, so just stay here for ten minutes. 0:03:38.120 --> 0:03:39.480 So I stayed it for ten minutes. I said, what 0:03:39.480 --> 0:03:40.880 do you want? He said, I need you to go 0:03:41.000 --> 0:03:44.640 someplace tonight. So I went in the door walks DEMI 0:03:44.800 --> 0:03:52.440 more And anyway, I was her date that night. I 0:03:52.440 --> 0:03:55.200 don't know anymore. Anyway, she was cute, that didn't matter. 0:03:55.640 --> 0:03:58.840 But she was blond, totally bald, was for g I 0:03:58.920 --> 0:04:02.960 j and she so anyway, I went with her to 0:04:03.280 --> 0:04:06.000 all the Hollywood stuff that night. She never left my arm. 0:04:06.000 --> 0:04:08.040 And I always have a rule, and I get back 0:04:08.080 --> 0:04:09.640 to the hotel room no matter what time, as I 0:04:09.680 --> 0:04:12.600 call my wife. We got back about four five l 0:04:12.640 --> 0:04:15.320 a time, which is about a court of seven Nashville time. 0:04:15.440 --> 0:04:18.800 That's the running. And so Sherry said, she said, you know, 0:04:18.880 --> 0:04:20.760 this is really late, and I said, well, it's really early. 0:04:20.920 --> 0:04:23.680 But she said all night long, you've been out with 0:04:23.760 --> 0:04:26.320 Damny Moore. And I said, I said, Sherry, if anything 0:04:26.360 --> 0:04:28.800 would happen, if I got that lucky, I tell you 0:04:28.800 --> 0:04:30.240 about it. We go to counseling for the rest of 0:04:30.279 --> 0:04:33.280 our lives. So I mean, come on, that's what it is. 0:04:35.080 --> 0:04:38.080 Share Your wife is pretty awesome. Yes, yes, she's totally awesome. 0:04:38.120 --> 0:04:41.520 Did she like let you be you? She just said, 0:04:42.120 --> 0:04:43.919 if I don't come home, it will cost me a 0:04:43.920 --> 0:04:46.280 lot of money. And I'm a real capricorn. I don't 0:04:46.320 --> 0:04:51.080 want to share anything. Okay, all right, okay, fair enough, Okay, 0:04:51.160 --> 0:04:52.680 if your house is on fire and you can only 0:04:52.720 --> 0:04:55.240 grab three things before leaving. What would they be and why? 0:04:55.520 --> 0:04:59.120 And they can't be your family members? Uh, your pets. 0:05:00.080 --> 0:05:05.120 I grabbed the pictures, uh, and I grab well obviously 0:05:05.360 --> 0:05:07.839 a little safe in the house because that's got stuff, 0:05:07.960 --> 0:05:09.359 jewelry and stuff in it. And I get on my 0:05:09.440 --> 0:05:13.960 motorcycle and leave. You have to take your motorcycle. Oh yeah, 0:05:14.040 --> 0:05:16.600 you love Harley's. I love Harley's And you're a big 0:05:16.640 --> 0:05:19.200 part of Sturgis. Is that what it is? Well, I'm 0:05:19.400 --> 0:05:21.279 very involved in booking a lot of Sturgist and I 0:05:21.360 --> 0:05:24.880 go there every year. Is that how you got into Harley's? Yes, Well, 0:05:24.920 --> 0:05:27.960 to be very honest, the first my first Harley was 0:05:28.000 --> 0:05:30.760 given to me by Tim McGraw. We had a we 0:05:30.760 --> 0:05:33.920 had a very successful run of dates. And he knows 0:05:33.760 --> 0:05:36.760 he's a writer too, you know, I love Harley's. So 0:05:37.120 --> 0:05:39.560 he bought a Harley and through the keys at me 0:05:39.560 --> 0:05:41.920 and said, okay, here's your Harley. Have a good time. 0:05:42.040 --> 0:05:44.880 That was a very successful run, right, that's it was 0:05:44.880 --> 0:05:47.000 the cheapest Harlihood he had at the time. But there 0:05:47.040 --> 0:05:49.039 was a sports but you know, he could have bought 0:05:49.080 --> 0:05:53.760 me a road king or something big. But he didn't. Yeah, 0:05:54.040 --> 0:06:00.160 I'd say we are. Who are your best celebrity friends? Um, 0:06:01.560 --> 0:06:08.599 Tim McGraw lean rhymes, Julian Huff. She's having a big year. Yes, 0:06:08.760 --> 0:06:10.640 we're having a big, big, big I just got a 0:06:10.720 --> 0:06:13.960 text from her from doing such a great job. I 0:06:14.080 --> 0:06:16.719 congratulated her on Sunday night because it was like the 0:06:16.720 --> 0:06:21.760 biggest musical on TV since UM forgot since what they well, 0:06:21.800 --> 0:06:23.880 this was, this was was Greece and they what they 0:06:23.920 --> 0:06:27.440 do Peter Pant I think it was Peter Pant. Yeah, yeah, 0:06:27.600 --> 0:06:32.719 that's awesome. She's the perfect Sandy's did our l a opposite? Yeah, 0:06:32.720 --> 0:06:34.760 I knew all about it. She's got she has a 0:06:34.760 --> 0:06:37.360 lot of stuff going, you know, and I mean her 0:06:37.920 --> 0:06:40.400 her career will guide her to some way just take 0:06:40.440 --> 0:06:42.960 over Broadway like Christian channels. I mean she's just like 0:06:43.400 --> 0:06:46.080 she's that dancer, she's that singer, you know, all that stuff. 0:06:46.080 --> 0:06:48.440 So she's got all that going. But she's still working 0:06:48.480 --> 0:06:51.839 on a lot of motion picture stuff right now. Okay, awesome, Okay, So, 0:06:51.960 --> 0:06:57.680 Julian Huff, who else your besties? Um? I said, probably 0:06:58.160 --> 0:07:01.280 then you got in there. Martina mc bride, she was 0:07:01.279 --> 0:07:02.919 over here this morning. She's a real good friend. And 0:07:02.920 --> 0:07:07.640 then probably my bestie motion picture friend is Reese Witherspoon. 0:07:07.960 --> 0:07:12.120 She's been, she's been, she's been my date for friends. Yeah, 0:07:12.880 --> 0:07:15.960 no way, what's she like in real life? Like you 0:07:16.000 --> 0:07:20.800 are just totally fun and cute and gorgeous and yeah, 0:07:20.880 --> 0:07:23.320 she's just twins. Are you calling me twins of threes? Yeah? 0:07:23.560 --> 0:07:26.240 You could be. You know, she's so awesome and she 0:07:26.400 --> 0:07:28.880 has that production company and she's doing all those amazing 0:07:28.920 --> 0:07:32.920 movies that are highlighting women as leads, and she's she's 0:07:32.920 --> 0:07:35.679 going to move back to Nashville. Really, she started her store, 0:07:35.840 --> 0:07:39.080 her clothing store, and her Sprinkles. Have you had Sprinkles cupcakes? 0:07:39.080 --> 0:07:42.400 That's he's the sprinkle store right next to it, Sprinkles cupcaction. 0:07:43.080 --> 0:07:47.480 And she's mom and her husband is a very very 0:07:47.560 --> 0:07:51.760 very successful agent at c A. Jim Tough. You have 0:07:51.880 --> 0:07:54.480 these little people like Matthew McConaughey and things like that, 0:07:54.840 --> 0:07:58.000 Oh my gosh, do you know Matthew? And in fact, 0:07:58.000 --> 0:08:01.720 Tim McGraw is doing Matthew McConaughey's benefit this year Une four, 0:08:03.080 --> 0:08:10.000 New Orleans, New Orleans. Okay, have you ever been arrested? Uh? 0:08:10.160 --> 0:08:13.960 For real? No? For fun? Right where I used to 0:08:13.960 --> 0:08:16.120 grow up. There was a number of us that got 0:08:16.120 --> 0:08:18.000 in trouble a lot of times, so we would get 0:08:18.320 --> 0:08:22.160 they would arrest us basically of October thirty and hold 0:08:22.240 --> 0:08:24.480 us in jail for thirty one, so we would wreck stuff. 0:08:25.000 --> 0:08:27.200 So you actually have spent a night in jail? How 0:08:27.320 --> 0:08:32.160 was that horrible? Did you get hit on in jail? No? Oh, 0:08:32.200 --> 0:08:35.199 you're so cute, thank you, But I did not. No, 0:08:35.320 --> 0:08:39.480 I did not. Okay, And last rapid fire, If you 0:08:39.600 --> 0:08:41.880 were going to be in the circus, what would you 0:08:41.920 --> 0:08:51.280 do that? I I would probably be an animal tamer 0:08:51.679 --> 0:08:53.800 because that's basically what you do in real life. Yes, 0:08:54.000 --> 0:08:58.679 it's true. Basically what your real job description is. I'm 0:08:58.720 --> 0:09:01.040 really a fireman. I put a firehead on every day 0:09:01.080 --> 0:09:03.640 and put out fires all day long. Who gives you 0:09:03.679 --> 0:09:06.520 the biggest fires to put up? You know something that 0:09:06.720 --> 0:09:10.880 it varies. It's certain times. Certain tours could be really hard. 0:09:10.960 --> 0:09:15.400 Other tours are very easy. Um, you know there's some 0:09:15.760 --> 0:09:18.240 I'm doing. I'm doing the one right now with cheap 0:09:18.280 --> 0:09:23.000 trick Joan Jet and Heart, And I'm the direct agent 0:09:23.040 --> 0:09:25.240 to Heart and Joan Jet. And as a rule, as 0:09:25.280 --> 0:09:28.440 an agent, you should never put two of your acts 0:09:28.600 --> 0:09:30.720 on a show together because when you go see them, 0:09:30.760 --> 0:09:34.920 they both want your time, and so they're always playing 0:09:34.920 --> 0:09:37.720 you against each other. So this one's been every day 0:09:37.880 --> 0:09:40.920 is one more. They're not big problems, they're just little things. 0:09:41.600 --> 0:09:43.199 And then so you have to put that fire out 0:09:43.200 --> 0:09:46.000 a little bit. So but the tours, the overall too, 0:09:46.000 --> 0:09:49.079 are selling incredible, So now a lot of the lot 0:09:49.080 --> 0:09:51.480 of the part, a lot of the problems are gone 0:09:51.600 --> 0:09:54.760 because the ticket sales are so good. So are you 0:09:54.800 --> 0:09:58.199 in the middle of a lot of cat fights? Usually females? 0:09:58.440 --> 0:10:01.440 Is it? Artists? Is it? Age? Is it? Who? Do 0:10:01.480 --> 0:10:05.000 you find? It? Would be everybody artists agents because here 0:10:05.520 --> 0:10:09.160 we do so much conflict of interest, so you even 0:10:09.200 --> 0:10:12.360 if you have the project in CIA, everybody is fighting 0:10:12.400 --> 0:10:15.320 for their own client and they're fighting really hard. So 0:10:15.360 --> 0:10:18.120 we compete to get that second or third slot in 0:10:18.160 --> 0:10:20.679 front of a Tim McGraw or Keith Urban or something 0:10:20.679 --> 0:10:23.199 like that. So we really compete with each other, calling 0:10:23.240 --> 0:10:25.320 the managers and all that kind of stuff. But you know, 0:10:25.520 --> 0:10:30.400 as far as if you put the two artists together, 0:10:31.160 --> 0:10:34.679 there's never a problem, right. It's only a problem when 0:10:34.720 --> 0:10:36.440 they're not sitting in the same role, because then they 0:10:36.480 --> 0:10:39.000 go through the middleman, always at the problem, and then 0:10:39.720 --> 0:10:42.480 you assume it's a bigger problem than it really is, 0:10:43.600 --> 0:10:46.319 you know. So I like to have people sit down 0:10:46.800 --> 0:10:49.360 face to face and talk to each other because that 0:10:49.440 --> 0:10:51.720 problem is gone. Then it's not who said or we said, 0:10:51.800 --> 0:10:55.880 or what what happened? So smart run. So tell me 0:10:55.960 --> 0:10:59.160 walk me through a typical day in the life of roads, 0:10:59.280 --> 0:11:01.600 because I don't know if many people know what an 0:11:01.640 --> 0:11:05.200 agent is and how big of a role this plays 0:11:05.200 --> 0:11:07.520 in a career for an artist, Like, what is your 0:11:07.520 --> 0:11:11.920 typical day and week? Looking like? Well, my normal day 0:11:12.080 --> 0:11:16.240 is about between five and six emails? You read them all, yes, 0:11:16.480 --> 0:11:21.520 you have to, and then uh, then normally I've seen 0:11:21.559 --> 0:11:23.680 you like four emails in a day before, just for fun, 0:11:24.160 --> 0:11:26.600 So I'm just stop doing that and then and then normally, 0:11:26.720 --> 0:11:29.560 I mean, in today's world, normally I have a hundred 0:11:30.720 --> 0:11:34.040 phone calls. So some of them are just yeah, no, 0:11:34.200 --> 0:11:36.760 it's okay, that kind of stuff, But you get into 0:11:36.760 --> 0:11:39.040 a lot of stuff we still sell. So an agent 0:11:39.160 --> 0:11:42.560 is to go out and obtain work for your clients. 0:11:42.960 --> 0:11:47.200 That's that's your basic working gigs are you know, being 0:11:47.280 --> 0:11:52.319 shows or opportunities and television or motion pictures or endorsements 0:11:52.400 --> 0:11:54.520 or sponsorships and all that kind of stuff. You ever 0:11:54.520 --> 0:11:56.680 see all of that, you oversee all that. You're really 0:11:56.720 --> 0:11:59.920 the hub and then you also the hub of that manager, 0:12:00.520 --> 0:12:04.040 of the record company, of the publicists, because you're the one. 0:12:04.280 --> 0:12:08.120 I always figured when I booked a day on Tim McGraw, 0:12:08.400 --> 0:12:12.040 there's probably a thousand people that go to work, from 0:12:12.120 --> 0:12:15.440 ticket takers to security to you know, think of all 0:12:15.480 --> 0:12:18.640 the ushers and all that stuff, bus drivers and you 0:12:18.679 --> 0:12:22.040 know hotel. I mean you're gonna go into hotel. So 0:12:22.280 --> 0:12:25.360 because of that one day, there's a thousand people that work. 0:12:25.640 --> 0:12:27.440 So you have to get it right. So it's gotta 0:12:27.440 --> 0:12:30.200 be totally right, and you have to take it very serious. 0:12:30.200 --> 0:12:33.000 And you can only go when you're route. You can 0:12:33.000 --> 0:12:37.520 only go miles a night because they have to load in, 0:12:37.800 --> 0:12:40.000 load out, set up and all that stuff. And then 0:12:40.040 --> 0:12:41.720 you have to really watch who else is in the 0:12:41.760 --> 0:12:44.800 marketplace because you can't be Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw 0:12:45.160 --> 0:12:47.080 in the same city at the same time because there's 0:12:47.080 --> 0:12:49.400 only so many people that have money to buy tickets. 0:12:49.559 --> 0:12:53.880 Have you ever messed up? Yes, what happens when that happens? Uh, 0:12:53.960 --> 0:12:58.360 It affects the ticket sales and you have a big problem. Yeah. 0:12:58.760 --> 0:13:01.040 So I mean, yeah, but that's I mean, and you 0:13:01.080 --> 0:13:03.080 sit in a lot of meetings and plan this out. 0:13:03.160 --> 0:13:06.439 I mean, right now, I'm meeting with Gil Cunningham, who's 0:13:06.800 --> 0:13:09.960 a big producer of festivals. He wants to talk about 0:13:10.000 --> 0:13:13.800 two seventeen. Really, he's already done with sixteen. Sixteen is 0:13:13.840 --> 0:13:17.120 all done on sale everything, so he wants to know 0:13:17.160 --> 0:13:19.920 who we can do in seventeen. I said, Gil, every's open. 0:13:20.640 --> 0:13:23.120 I mean, I haven't thought about seventeen. We're just going 0:13:23.160 --> 0:13:25.480 into February. So is it kind of like a puzzle piece, 0:13:25.520 --> 0:13:28.440 like putting together act and say you're get an offer 0:13:28.480 --> 0:13:30.760 for one act but they're kind of large and they 0:13:30.760 --> 0:13:32.680 don't want to do it. Well, you go to smaller 0:13:32.720 --> 0:13:35.280 act after that, oh yeah. Or you have to make 0:13:35.320 --> 0:13:40.959 sure your basic your your basic instinct is to make 0:13:41.000 --> 0:13:45.040 sure that everything sells. So we're in the business. We 0:13:45.120 --> 0:13:48.760 compete hard with other agencies, but we work very closely 0:13:48.760 --> 0:13:50.520 with other agencies because the bottom line, we have to 0:13:50.520 --> 0:13:53.640 sell tickets. If we don't sell tickets, nothing happens. That's 0:13:53.640 --> 0:13:56.079 a good distinction. So you're competing hard, but you also 0:13:56.280 --> 0:13:58.240 need them to be success. You want to put together 0:13:58.280 --> 0:14:02.200 the greatest package. So how do you that line? I 0:14:02.200 --> 0:14:04.400 don't have done it for forty years. It's just because 0:14:04.559 --> 0:14:06.120 you kind of like hate them in a way, but 0:14:06.120 --> 0:14:08.040 you also like love. But you have to talk to 0:14:08.080 --> 0:14:10.760 them because you need and they need you. So just 0:14:10.880 --> 0:14:13.600 it's it's a give and take on both sides. They 0:14:13.720 --> 0:14:18.320 want your hot act to be on their shows. Interesting, Yeah, 0:14:18.360 --> 0:14:21.080 so you so you can't. You cannot as an agent. 0:14:21.120 --> 0:14:28.880 You cannot sell or be responsible for anybody's festival or anything. Everything. 0:14:29.000 --> 0:14:31.600 You just don't have the right acts. If you do 0:14:31.640 --> 0:14:33.320 them one year, they don't want to repeat them the 0:14:33.360 --> 0:14:36.040 next year. So you just you just tell them, I'm 0:14:36.160 --> 0:14:37.640 I mean we have dates that I just tell people. 0:14:37.680 --> 0:14:39.960 I don't have anything to sell you. Yeah, I mean, 0:14:40.000 --> 0:14:42.920 that's gonna sell your ticket. So but the only time 0:14:42.960 --> 0:14:45.000 an artist really gets really mad at you is if 0:14:45.000 --> 0:14:48.560 they look out and see empty seats and a big 0:14:48.600 --> 0:14:52.080 artist an extra fifty means nothing if there's a big 0:14:52.640 --> 0:14:54.440 hole in the middle of that don't doesn't have anybody 0:14:54.520 --> 0:14:56.840 sitting in it. Have you gotten yelled at by an 0:14:56.880 --> 0:15:02.600 artist before, anyone in particular, just a number of them. 0:15:02.880 --> 0:15:06.800 You know, when you're responsible for artist's income. And remember 0:15:06.880 --> 0:15:11.720 today in the day's world, it's probably is what they 0:15:11.760 --> 0:15:14.360 do on the road, and that's what we do. You know, 0:15:14.440 --> 0:15:18.080 before these used to be was record income and publishing 0:15:18.120 --> 0:15:20.880 and all. Well, now, I mean there was. I was 0:15:20.920 --> 0:15:23.760 telling somebody the other day, I went two years of 0:15:23.840 --> 0:15:27.520 Lee and Rhyme's first album. Two years every week she 0:15:27.680 --> 0:15:31.240 never sold under a hundred thousand units. Really, so to 0:15:31.320 --> 0:15:35.280 this day Lee and Ryan's has sold forty six million records. Okay, 0:15:35.400 --> 0:15:40.600 she has sold six million records. Taylor Swift will never 0:15:40.640 --> 0:15:44.040 ever even do that because this record sales are record sales. 0:15:44.200 --> 0:15:46.960 It's all streaming and all that. In those days, you 0:15:47.040 --> 0:15:49.440 had to buy the album to get the single. It's 0:15:49.520 --> 0:15:51.440 kind of sad that that's gone well. And that's where 0:15:51.440 --> 0:15:52.920 the record companys made a lot of their money. I 0:15:52.920 --> 0:15:58.080 mean at that point her records records were like or 0:15:58.120 --> 0:16:01.240 something like that. Now there, you don't have a record 0:16:01.320 --> 0:16:05.480 over ten dollars and so figured the profit and so. Anyway, 0:16:05.480 --> 0:16:08.960 but we went almost a little over two years that 0:16:09.040 --> 0:16:12.800 she sold at least a hundred thousand years a week consistently. 0:16:15.240 --> 0:16:17.440 That was everything I wanted to be a singer because 0:16:17.440 --> 0:16:20.240 of her. A lot of people Taylor Swifts is the 0:16:20.240 --> 0:16:22.920 same thing because because of Leanne. That's why I'm in 0:16:22.960 --> 0:16:26.120 the music business. Okay, so how did you get into 0:16:26.160 --> 0:16:28.000 music business? Like? How did you even know what an 0:16:28.040 --> 0:16:31.800 agent was to even dream this up? The real in 0:16:32.840 --> 0:16:37.040 way back when I was in college, the colleges had 0:16:37.080 --> 0:16:42.200 the biggest budgets to buy entertainment. So everybody had a 0:16:42.240 --> 0:16:44.680 student activities fund or whatever. So I used to buy 0:16:44.680 --> 0:16:49.280 talent at my college and I went to school in Lamar's, Iowa, 0:16:49.360 --> 0:16:52.280 So I used to buy talent John Denver and Johnny 0:16:52.280 --> 0:16:54.880 Cash and all those things in those days from the 0:16:54.880 --> 0:16:57.520 talent buyer at your college. That was a big position 0:16:57.560 --> 0:16:59.320 that you had to work together. You had to serve 0:16:59.320 --> 0:17:01.640 on the committee when you're a junior. When you're a senior, 0:17:01.680 --> 0:17:03.880 you could become and you had money at that point, 0:17:03.920 --> 0:17:06.840 and I remember there was no You couldn't buy films 0:17:06.880 --> 0:17:09.919 at that time, so the only entertainment they got was 0:17:10.000 --> 0:17:13.560 touring artists. So you had money. There's a I mean, 0:17:13.880 --> 0:17:17.000 American University probably had three or four hundred thousand dollars 0:17:17.040 --> 0:17:21.760 that's been on artist. So you So then I went 0:17:22.080 --> 0:17:24.160 and I in that day you don't even remember because 0:17:24.160 --> 0:17:25.680 you were born. But there was a draft and I 0:17:25.760 --> 0:17:28.879 got drafted and went to Vietnam and came back. So 0:17:28.920 --> 0:17:31.480 then I came, No, we weren't talking, so then so 0:17:31.640 --> 0:17:33.520 we came. I came back and I called this guy, 0:17:33.520 --> 0:17:36.560 Gordy Singer that I used to buy all my talent from, 0:17:36.800 --> 0:17:38.160 and he said, you think you want to be an agent? 0:17:38.240 --> 0:17:39.919 He gave me a phone and I understand, and that 0:17:40.040 --> 0:17:44.440 day it was a dial phone. Okay. And so within 0:17:44.560 --> 0:17:47.840 six months I signed this guy named Jim Croce and 0:17:47.880 --> 0:17:52.000 because again we're the largest college agency in America. So 0:17:52.080 --> 0:17:53.760 then I went from to live there to a living 0:17:54.080 --> 0:17:56.920 John mac Davis, Helen Ready, the fifth dimension. I just 0:17:57.000 --> 0:18:00.000 kept signing things. So within within the five year period 0:18:00.040 --> 0:18:02.800 it I end up owning half the agency that I 0:18:02.840 --> 0:18:04.960 went to work for, and then I was with that 0:18:05.040 --> 0:18:07.000 agency for twenty years. And then I moved everybody to 0:18:07.040 --> 0:18:10.119 California and we had to write at Chili Peppers. Motor 0:18:10.160 --> 0:18:13.440 had all these big metal bands, and then Sea came 0:18:13.480 --> 0:18:15.640 to me and said, would you ever come to work 0:18:15.680 --> 0:18:18.520 over here? And at that point they didn't have anybody 0:18:18.560 --> 0:18:22.359 did fairs, festivals, privates. They just did. They had twelve 0:18:22.359 --> 0:18:25.040 promoters and that's all they sold to. And so I 0:18:25.160 --> 0:18:27.080 literally went over there. In the second day I was there, 0:18:27.119 --> 0:18:29.000 My very best friend the life was a guy named 0:18:29.040 --> 0:18:32.000 Bobby Brooks, and Bobby got me to come to see A. 0:18:32.880 --> 0:18:35.399 And the next day he died in the helicopter with 0:18:35.440 --> 0:18:39.040 Stevie Vaughan in Wisconsin. Yeah. So I worked in l 0:18:39.080 --> 0:18:41.800 A for a while, for in a year, and then rob'sons, 0:18:42.160 --> 0:18:44.880 John Huey and Ron Baird, We're gonna open up Nashville, 0:18:45.119 --> 0:18:47.639 and those are the founder of l A. They were 0:18:47.640 --> 0:18:51.680 the founders here, John and Ron. So then I came 0:18:51.720 --> 0:18:54.000 here and the three of us, now we started with 0:18:54.080 --> 0:18:59.840 three agents and five acts, and Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, 0:19:00.440 --> 0:19:05.600 Billy Dean, Clint Black, and I'm trying to think one more, 0:19:06.680 --> 0:19:10.920 Randy Travis Nice. So then it just I got into 0:19:10.920 --> 0:19:12.960 town and I kept being able to sign people that 0:19:13.040 --> 0:19:15.119 were in house. But I say, you know, because c 0:19:15.320 --> 0:19:18.359 A had motion pictures and television. So I signed Reba 0:19:18.440 --> 0:19:22.000 McIntyre and I signed um Tricia Year and all these 0:19:22.040 --> 0:19:25.240 people because of that reason, they wanted to be in television. 0:19:25.400 --> 0:19:27.359 They don't want to just be a touring act. Barbara 0:19:27.359 --> 0:19:30.119 Mandrell is another one. So anyway, that's kind of how 0:19:30.160 --> 0:19:32.439 it all came. And now we've got a hundred and 0:19:32.440 --> 0:19:35.840 twenty two people here and we uh and we've got 0:19:35.880 --> 0:19:40.760 probably a hundred ten acts of which you know, so 0:19:41.080 --> 0:19:44.600 it's just grown out of here into a very large company. Now, 0:19:44.880 --> 0:19:47.399 So did you go to this college because you wanted 0:19:47.560 --> 0:19:49.280 to get involved in this program or is that just 0:19:49.320 --> 0:19:52.399 an accident? I had a music education degree and in 0:19:52.400 --> 0:19:54.080 those days, I want my mother wanted me to be 0:19:54.119 --> 0:19:57.240 a teacher, so you don't have music in your family, 0:19:57.280 --> 0:20:00.399 like the fl I'm the first job, and it was 0:20:00.440 --> 0:20:02.320 just sort of a coincidence. Yeah, But in the means, 0:20:02.359 --> 0:20:04.679 in the week perfect storm from when I when I 0:20:04.760 --> 0:20:09.239 literally ended up, um when my number was thirty one 0:20:09.240 --> 0:20:11.680 in the draft, so nobody would hire anybody in that year. 0:20:11.680 --> 0:20:13.600 They were taking up two hundred and twenty people. So 0:20:14.080 --> 0:20:15.600 you'd have to go and apply for a job and 0:20:15.640 --> 0:20:17.639 they say, what's your draft numbers? Thirty one and then 0:20:17.640 --> 0:20:19.600 they wouldn't hire you because you're gonna get You're gonna 0:20:19.600 --> 0:20:23.399 get drafted. So I went and saying that summer was sunny, 0:20:23.400 --> 0:20:28.160 and share saying you saying with sunny and Share. No 0:20:28.200 --> 0:20:31.640 one knows because you're such an amazing agent and you 0:20:31.760 --> 0:20:35.040 are such a powerhouse. But I have heard you sing, 0:20:35.440 --> 0:20:38.760 you saying a duet with your daughter Frank Frank Sinacho Duett. 0:20:39.160 --> 0:20:41.159 You were a singer. So what was it like being 0:20:41.160 --> 0:20:43.120 on the road with Sunny and Share? Well, they were 0:20:43.240 --> 0:20:45.800 at that time. I mean again, it's very different because 0:20:45.840 --> 0:20:48.119 all they did was play the Playboy club circuit. So 0:20:48.160 --> 0:20:50.720 you hated it? Oh, I love it. It was the 0:20:50.760 --> 0:20:53.639 best time in my life. So you played for Playmates, Yes, 0:20:54.200 --> 0:20:57.280 that's you're performed for. I performed for Playmates and they 0:20:57.320 --> 0:21:01.240 were cloth Uh, they were the bunny outfits. Where is it? 0:21:01.280 --> 0:21:03.439 What is the playboys? And early part of the evening? 0:21:03.520 --> 0:21:06.000 After that? You never know, but do a lot of 0:21:06.040 --> 0:21:08.840 time at the Playboy Mansion. I didn't. I didn't. Mainly 0:21:08.880 --> 0:21:13.800 we see in Wisconsin, Chicago, Kansas City, St. Louis, and 0:21:13.840 --> 0:21:16.040 then we played the Playboy Mansion. But Sunny and Share 0:21:16.040 --> 0:21:18.280 we're just starting at that time. What does the Playboy 0:21:18.359 --> 0:21:19.840 circuit mean? What is that? I've never heard of that. 0:21:19.920 --> 0:21:21.720 There used to be a lot of Playboy clubs on 0:21:21.760 --> 0:21:25.080 the top of hotels so like, so they were all 0:21:25.119 --> 0:21:28.840 over America, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, and they were always 0:21:28.880 --> 0:21:31.320 on the top floor of a hotel. Torture. I know, 0:21:31.359 --> 0:21:33.560 it's just this is just horrible for you. It's a 0:21:33.560 --> 0:21:35.680 young guy starting out seeing it was sunny and share 0:21:35.720 --> 0:21:38.720 the playboys circuit. I mean, this is the start of 0:21:38.760 --> 0:21:40.840 your And then I got drafted, so my hair was 0:21:40.880 --> 0:21:43.440 down to here. I'm telling you what I got. Showed 0:21:43.480 --> 0:21:46.160 up at Fort Leonardwood, walked in and it took thirty 0:21:46.200 --> 0:21:49.480 seconds cut your hair off. Was that sad? It was 0:21:49.600 --> 0:21:51.960 very sad because you have great hair. It was very sad. 0:21:52.560 --> 0:21:54.640