Photo by Kit Leffler

Senior Mike Tiffany works the door at the Bottleneck during the Wednesday, Feb. 23 Supernaut's show. Tiffany is active in and supports Lawrence's local music scene.

Take it from the people behind the scenes: Music is hard work. An entire business surrounds music that involves a small army of promoters, managers and venue owners who bring you the music you love. The business of music, or more aptly titled “music management,” has its rewards.

The Manager

On Anything but Joey’s tour two years ago, members of the two opening bands almost beat up band manager Misty Roberts when she tried to pay them at a venue in Omaha, Neb. Angry from feeling like they weren’t being paid enough money for their opening performances, the high-school aged musicians sought retribution in the form of physical violence against Roberts.

“They felt like it was their show,” Roberts says.

The boys threatened her and tempers flared on both sides. In the end, though, nothing happened other than the bruising of a few egos.

Roberts lists this incident as one of the funnier disasters to come out of Anything but Joey’s tour log. Another disaster that was not so funny came a year later—this past fall—when the band’s van broke down in Washington, D.C., during the East Coast leg of their national tour. A series of costly events culminated when the band flew their mechanic in from Kansas City, Mo. The band thought the cost of the necessary repairs would be cheaper in the hands of someone who had previously worked on the van. Roberts says this experience nearly ruined the final tour for Anything but Joey who, despite nine years of touring, still made little more than was needed to cover gas to get from one gig to the next.

“When things like that happen, I’m thinking, ‘it’s very possible we’re going to get this fixed and chuck this tour and go home,’” Roberts says.

Through these and other trials on the road, Roberts has seen what it takes to successfully manage a band. The 28-year old former KU student had an ear for music and business sensibilities that naturally led her in the direction of music management. When she signed on to be the band’s manager three years ago, she lacked a lot of experience. But she made up for it with enthusiasm and a desire to learn. Roberts works a part-time job and focuses the majority of her time booking seven local bands. The process starts with determining each band’s market, followed by sending out e-mails and calling venue owners and managers to book shows.

The Venue Promoter

Mike Tiffany, Salina senior, says he views music as more than just a passion; it’s a job. Tiffany has been in charge of booking and promotions for The Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire St., for the past two years. He works four to five nights a week at the club, roughly 30 to 40 hours a week, in addition to being a full-time student. During an average work day, Tiffany responds to 50 to 60 e-mails from tour managers, bands and band personnel. He also advances shows, which entails talking to booked bands and determining concert-specific details, such as what to charge at the door and the band’s sound requirements. He then pays each band at the end of the night. Tiffany also coordinates promotion for shows, which includes working with graphic designers to design flyers and other promotional materials and assembling a “street team” to post flyers throughout town.

In many ways, this sort of work suits Tiffany well. Describing himself as a music enthusiast and someone who had “always been in bands,” Tiffany wanted to get involved with the music industry. He put in two years of taking tickets, checking ID’s and handing out wristbands at The Bottleneck before he was promoted. Now in his fourth year at The Bottleneck, Tiffany says he wants to pursue music management.

“I can’t seem to find anything that could suit me better,” he says.

The “Street Team” coordinator

Last year, Dave Barrett, Carbondale, Ill., junior, handed out 10,000 flyers for the Wakarusa Music Festival at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tenn.

This year, Barrett is again on the front lines of promotion for the Wakarusa Music Festival. In high school, Barrett promoted bands like the North Mississippi All-Stars, Umphrey’s McGee and Moonshine Still by posting flyers around town and handing out handbills after concerts. He now leads a “street team” of music fans devoted to spreading the word about Wakarusa. In addition to making sure this festival is adequately promoted through his own efforts and those of his assembly of street teamers, Barrett is responsible for the content on the message board at www.wakarusa.com, and he is trying to implement a nationwide model of communication so Wakarusa promoters can keep in touch and network with each other, regardless of distance. While Barrett says he doesn’t want to disclose whether or not he is paid, he works anywhere from one to four hours a day and can take days off when he wants. Barrett says anyone can promote a festival.

“It’s a gradual process,” he says. “Just offer to help and you get more and more involved.”

The Publicist

While there’s certainly more than one way to break into the business side of the music industry, hard work and dedication are two qualities that distinguish those who make it from those who don’t. Ever Kipp, senior publicist with Big Hassle Management, a music management, publicity and licensing firm based out of New York City, says that working in the music industry is filled with glamour but is a hard industry to work in. It often requires hard work with little to no pay in the beginning. After graduating from college, Kipp moved to New York City and interned with a small music publicity firm called Girlie Action. He says he worked for free in his first year in music management. After proving his dedication and desire to work in the industry, Oasis Productions, another small music publicity firm based out of New York, hired Kipp. He was promoted within Oasis to handle tour logistics for a handful of indie rock bands. In 1999, Kipp came to Big Hassle where he worked his way up from publicist to senior publicist and worked directly with top national musicians, such as Robert Randolph & The Family Band and Toots and the Maytals. Kipp now manages national musicians such as Mofro, The Capitol Years and Aqueduct. After climbing the corporate ladder for the past 10 years, Kipp says the value of hard work in this industry cannot be overstated.

Do a couple of internships, he says. “Just prove yourself and your capabilities. Show them you kick ass.”

cbrown@kansan.com