Showcase PEI 2010: Delegate & Artist Guide International Delegates: The United Kingdom Graham Anderson Newcastle-upon-Tyne www.jumpinhot.com Graham Anderson is the Co-Director and Head Programmer of Northern Roots (Jumpin’ Hot Club). Northern Roots, a company with charitable status, is one of the UK's premier promoters of all kinds of roots music. Based in Newcastle Upon Tyne, it specializes in country, singer songwriter, soul, folk, blues, rock and roll, and reggae. The organization was formed in 1985 as an acoustic music club & is celebrating its 25th anniversary in early December. As well as promoting over 70 concerts a year, the club also programs “The SummerTyne Fest Outdoor Stage”, which is part of the Americana Weekender, The Evolution Festival Ballast Hill stage, and the Boss Sounds Reggae Festival. The club operates out of a number of venues in and around Newcastle and Gateshead, including The Cluny, Cluny2 Theatre, Gateshead Town Hall, Live Theatre, and The Studio in Live T. Graham Anderson is also a musician. Ro Cemm Line of Best Fit End of the Road Festival: www.endoftheroadfestival.com Oh! Canada: www.thelineofbestfit.com/tag/oh-canada Canadian Blast: www.canadianblast.com Ro Cemm is one of the team members behind the award winning End of The Road Festival in the UK. The festival has been supportive of new Canadian talent over the last 5 years and this year has 12 Canadian acts performing. End of the Road also have a record label (End of the Road Records), and have released records by Woodpigeon, Charlie Parr, The Low Anthem and The Young Republic. Ro is also editor of UK website The Line of Best Fit.com's Oh! Canada column, which is dedicated to showcasing new Canadian talent. In recent months he has been working with Canadian Blast! to promote Canadian showcases at festivals in the UK and Europe, including the Canada Day celebrations in Trafalgar Square, London. Andy Cooper Tom Tom Music www.tomtommusic.co.uk Andy Cooper started in the music industry as founder and director of “Off the Tracks Festival” in 1985. In 2003 Andy joined up with Chris Wade of Adastra Music as a free lance booking agent working on many high profile wold/folk artists. After working with Adastra and gaining a great deal of experience, Andy decided to move on and develop his own roster of artists under the company name of Tomtom Music. Andy is currently working with artists such as Michelle Shocked, Steve Forbert, Catherine MacLellan, and Rory McLeod. Martin Elbourne Glastonbury www.greatescape.com Martin Elbourne is one of the main bookers for Glastonbury Festival, creative director and co founder of the Great Escape in Brighton (europe’s leading showcase festival), co founder of M for Montreal and advisor/consultant to Lovebox, Guilfest, Jersey Live, Redfest and M for Montreal. He is currently involved with a new festival in India. Martin first started promoting bands in the late seventies while at Bristol University. He founded the bristol recorder (label magazine). In 1982 he co-promoted the first WOMAD festival with Peter Gabriel. In 1983 he moved to London, worked for the Rough Trade booking agency looking after acts including the Smiths and New Order and he began his long involvement with Glastonbury festival. During the 1990’s he managed bands, continued working with New Order and increased his Glastonbury involvement to become the main booker. The last decade has seen him focusing on festivals, events and conventions. Neil Pearson Shrewsbury Festival http://www.shrewsburyfolkfestival.co.uk/ Neil is one member of the small management team who organise and program the Shrewsbury Folk Festival; a high profile, medium sized festival in the UK with a reputation for booking artists from the widest definition of folk music. The festival has a history of bringing interesting and independent North American artists to the event. Neil also directs the festival’s special projects. Last year he directed the multi-artist ‘Darwin Song Project’ that saw eight artists live together for a week to write songs based around Darwin (who was born in Shrewsbury). In 2011 he will direct a new multi-artist project based around the traditional songs that travelled from the UK to North America. This project involves eight high-profile artists including Steve Knightley (Show of Hands), Leonard Podolak (The Duhks) and Patsy Reid (Breabach). Outside of the festival, Neil works in independent music retail, and has experience and contacts in the retail and distribution scene in the UK. International Delegates: The United States Susie Giang Fleming Artists www.flemingartists.com For 30 years, Fleming Artists has represented some of the world's finest and most respected touring artists. Their mission is to represent high quality performing artists by providing them with a unique, thoughtful and individualized approach to concert booking. Susie Giang started living her dream when she started tour managing in 2001. She joined the Fleming family in 2003, and was quickly made vice president in 2008. She loves long walks on the beach, laughter, music, and she tinkers with a banjo at times. Mary Granata The Granata Agency www.granataagency.com In the spring of 2001, Mary Granata opened a boutique booking agency in the extra bedroom of her home. Though successful, by keeping it small Mary has been able to offer her clients a personal touch in regards to booking. Her roster includes American and international artists in a wide range of genres; Celtic, Americana, Folk, Blues and Roots. Mary has branched out and now runs successful showcases at a variety of conferences and is a sought after workshop presenter. Phill MacIntyre Skye Theatre http://www.necelticarts.com/ Phill McIntyre is director of New England Celtic Arts in South Carthage Maine. He has developed a network soft seat venues and house concerts offering mid-week opportunities in Maine and New Hampshire. Phill has been providing opportunities for touring artists already traveling through Maine and New England to fill in the midweek dates with concerts throughout New England. To this end he is expanding from a 130 seat acoustic room to a 250+ seat state of the art concert hall, Skye Theatre Performing Arts Center, on his property in Western Maine with concerts regularly selling out. Skye Theatre has become a very respected name in the Celtic/Folk circuit in New England. Connected to the Skye Theatre is a comfortable 1300 square foot 3 bedroom apartment to house the artists while playing The Skye. Phill will host over 180 shows this year and has already booked several Scottish, Irish, and UK artists for the 2011 season. He is very interested in talking with any artists who are willing to recognize the potential of mid-week concerts. He has developed a very high standard of quality and the clients know any show at “The Skye” is a superb value. He also books for the Unity Center for the Performing Arts; the Franco American Heritage Center; and St. Kieran's Community Center and runs the shows back to back. Mike Mori Windish Agency www.windishagency.com Founded in 2004 by owner/agent Tom Windish, The Windish Agency is a full- service booking agency headquartered in Chicago. After being an agent at the The Agency Group for over five years Mike Mori recently came on board to help open a second office in the Soho district of New York. The Windish Agency handles the booking of over 300 artists from around the world, including Justice, Hot Chip, Girl Talk, Pink Martini, The xx, and José Gonzáléz among others, and books performances in North and South America, Asia, Australia, and beyond. Ari Nisman Degy Entertainment www.degy.com Ari Nisman is the President and CEO of Degy Booking International. He began his work with Polydor/Atlas Records, in the early ‘90s, and then joined Capitol Records as a marketing representative handling promotions for the midwest region (where he worked artists such as Jimmy Eat World, George Clinton, Radiohead, Mazzy Star, and Lucious Jackson). Nisman and his company managed artists for many years, and then developed Degy Booking International in 2001. Shortly after the agency opened, it dove into the college market where they are one of the largest providers of music to colleges and universities. Nisman books his own exclusive roster of musicians and celebrities, as well as middling national concerts with over 700 campuses in the U.S. and Canada. Degy Booking is also a large provider of music to festivals, arts centers and U.S. military bases around the world having secured deals with the Army, Air Force, and Navy. Jennifer Pickering Lake Eden Arts Festival www.theleaf.org Jennifer Pickering's mission is to connect cultures and people through music and arts. Since 1995, she has served as the Executive Director and is founder of the non-profit organization LEAF (Lake Eden Arts Festival). During this time, she has produced 31 festival events, presented over 2,500 performing artists, created the local outreach program LEAF in Schools & Streets which has empowered over 20,000 under-served youth through the arts, and started 9 cultural music programs in 6 countries through LEAF International. Through the festival, LEAF presents at least 50 different cultures/genres each festival, introduces people to music and arts they have not heard of, and takes people around the world through music and dance. One may not be able to travel to places such as Haiti or Rwanda; however, music and song can take us there. Collaborating has been one of LEAF’s core principals as well as a personal commitment. Her strongest life influences have been global travels and service projects.