At a very young age I began dreaming about being in the music business. I can remember hosting my own radio shows with my boom box and Counting Crows tapes. There are pictures of me at the age of 4 holding a microphone and singing God knows what through a blue and red speaker system. Playing in countless bands throughout high school as well as school music groups, I decided to take it to the next level and go to school for the music business.
I graduated on the Deans List from Berklee College of Music with a Bachelor’s degree in Music Business. I was taken under the wing of Jeff Dorenfeild, former manager, tour manager, and tour accountant for Boston, Ozzy Osbourne and Sammy Hagar. I’ve also been on the production side of touring with Bruce Springsteen during his solo tour in 2005. During my stint working with Jeff I also drafted a touring plan for The Brian Setzer Orchestra. This included the tour budget, sound and lights, sponsorships, initial offers, logistics, and hotel and transportation, ticket manifest, as well as the venues involved.
After graduating I interned at Skyline Music in Portland, ME, a mid-size booking agency booking the likes of Victor Wooten, Salomon Burke, Toubab Krew, and Lez Zeppelin. I worked in research and development for upcoming tours and festivals, calling and securing contact with many of our future promoters and talent buyers.
I then took 10 months off from working in the professional business world while I focused on my personal project to get my band up and rolling. In one year I took Highway Jackson, a classic rock inspired act, from playing at clubs to 20-30 people to selling out small rooms, opening up for national acts, selling 2-300 tickets a night, getting both commercial and college radio exposure, as well as regional media attention. Highway Jackson has toured the Northeast, and also went from grossing $7,000 a year to $20,000 in just 12 months.
After getting Highway Jackson jumpstarted I decided to come back to Boston to work in the industry. I am currently employed at a music marketing firm, and I am also the CEO and founder of The Opening Note.
