Rebecca Neely of AC Entertainment / Live Nation jumps on the podcast to talk about booking talent for The Mill & Mine, The Signal in Chattanooga, and The Orange Peel in Asheville. She shares some of her process and her successes, and we do a little reminiscing on the growth of live music in Knoxville through the 90s and 2000s.
We had a blast starting this episode by strolling down memory lane of Knoxville’s live music scene, talking about things like Sundown in the City. We wanted to add a few videos from old Sundowns for nostalgia purposes. Good times, man.
Talent buying can be an exciting gig in the music industry. There’s an art and a science behind it with an element of curation that requires an ear to the ground while also keeping an eye on what the available data is saying. The club level is especially interesting, because the possibility of booking an act on the cusp of megastardom is always present. Rebecca had some great stories in this episode including booking Lizzo in a Nashville club just before she started headlining festivals and packing arenas.