Jessi Darlin and John Turner – Image By Rob Stack

‘Manager Spotlight’ is a recurring feature on Rollo & Grady in which we speak with rising stars in the music management business. This week we caught up with John Turner, general manager and label chief of Oh Wow Dang Records based in Nashville. Oh Wow Dang is a business partnership between Turner and his artist, Those Darlins.

R&G: How did you get your start in the music business?

JT: The momentum began at 5, when my older cousins turned me on to Twisted Sisters’ Stay Hungry album. FYI… this music goes well with blowing things up using GI Joe’s.

R&G: What advice would you give to aspiring managers?

JT: Don’t walk up to prospective business partners. Bring ‘em in close, look around to see if anyone else is listening, and whisper, “I’d like to give you first listen to the best kept secret in music today.” This actually happened to me at a recent conference. Creepy.

R&G: If I had known then, what I know now, I would….

JT: …have realized that this is a marathon and not a sprint. I would have started training earlier.

R&G: How important are social media sites like Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, and music blogs in promoting your acts?

JT: All hugely important. Myspace is like a Yellow Book ad. Ugly format, but you’ve got to have an ad on it. Facebook is really effective and I dig that a band can’t request friends… Folks have to want to be getting news from the band, so a band can never be tempted to send out friend requests to folks who could give two shits about them. Twitter is cool in keeping fans interested and revealing the day-to-day lifestyle of an act they like. And bloggers… for a developing band… are you kidding me?

R&G: Most interesting or humorous situation you’ve dealt with as a manager?

JT: Every day with these girls is humorous. One thing that has happened a lot and is pretty funny is all the roots festivals and shows the girls have been invited to play. Because of where they come from and their name, I really think a lot of folks think they will sound like The Dixie Chicks. When they play these roots gigs – which draw a lot of older folks, families, and frequently social conservatives – their garage sound and wild show antics definitely strike the wrong chord with a lot of these folks. The best was when they played “Fun Stix Party” at a family festival in the middle of the afternoon. (Be sure to check the lyrics on this song on Myspace) They usually only play this song at late night club shows, but were asked to play another 30 minutes at this particular fest, and this was one of the songs they were ready as a band to play. Turned a lot of folks’ heads round. But, as long as nobody gets hurt, a little controversy isn’t such a bad thing.

R&G: Blackberry or iPhone?

JT: Blackberry now. iPhone in 2010. Though am worried my big peasant fingers won’t be able to handle the typing on the iPhone.

Those Darlins – Wild One

Those Darlins Los Angeles Shows:
Thursday, October 22 @ Silverlake Lounge with The Grates (Buy Tix)
Friday, October 23 @ Hotel Cafe 8pm Show (Buy Tix)

Download:
Those Darlins – Those Darlins (iTunes)

This entry was posted on Monday, October 12th, 2009 at 1:05 pm and is filed under Music Biz. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.