← On the Bus with Troy Vollhoffer
On the Bus with Troy Vollhoffer
Backstage Pass with Legendary Music Agents Rod Essig, Curt Motley, and Nick Meinema
00:44:32
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- [00:07]
Rod Essick
In a life of an artist, I get to be a quarterback. So all these different people help create a so called 30 year career too. It's not just all about music, it's about everything he does. And then it didn't hurt that he married Faith Hill and she became famous.
- [00:24]
Kurt Motley
So you've got to make the artist believe that you're the key to their success and they cannot function without you.
- [00:32]
Nick Nynema
You have to know the person and the personalities to go, no, that doesn't work. And here's the reason why.
- [00:41]
Troy
Ladies and gentlemen, this is a very special edition of on the Bus. Today we are going off the topic of artists and we're going behind the scenes. It's a real special place to go. I have three of the most high profile agents in show business who are, I'm very honored to have them here today and they're old friends and we're have some discussions that I think are going to be pretty interesting to see how the process works and how artists get booked on shows and the trials and tribulations of putting on an event. And these are the guys who make it happen. So I'd like to introduce Rod Essick.
- [01:16]
Rod Essick
From CAA and I'm definitely the oldest one here. I know we're old friends, but definitely the old one. Okay.
- [01:23]
Troy
He is the Godfather and there is no doubt about that. Nick Nynema from Action Entertainment and Curt Motley from uta. I'm going to start with Kurt. So Kurt, you have a very interesting story how you got into show business. So Kurt's roster was. Unfortunately we lost Toby Keith and Kurt had been Toby Keith's agent for how many years?
- [01:49]
Kurt Motley
Kurt Just under 30.
- [01:51]
Troy
30 years. And Kurt has other rosters. Jamie Johnson, who is a other artist who are on his roster. Oliver An Oliver Anthony. Never forget that. See, he's too much money. That's why you always keep forgetting his name. Sawyer Brown in America and. Oh, and Sawyer Brown. So let's. You have a very interesting story. Early in the 90s you were a maintenance guy, among others. And how did you become an agent?
- [02:17]
Kurt Motley
I played a basketball game to get a gig with TK Campbell who I think was working for Vector at that time. And he was just about to go out on his own and I worked with his wife at the famous Iroquois Apartments in Bellevue. And. And he came over, he's an Indiana boy and he said he was starting a gig and I said, hey man, I'll play a bell basketball game for it. I mean it had been fun. The 80s were awesome. Anybody that Says they weren't. Just didn't live in 80s and. But I mean, I thought I had it made, you know, as work all week, drink, you know, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, go back to work on Monday and. And had just enough money to make that work every week. And I thought that was living. And. And it was at the time, if I'm being honest. I was happy as. So anyway, one day I just knew and so I. I don't know, man. I was sort of in a funk. I didn't know what I wanted to do. So I was going to go be a. Be a hardware salesman in Knoxville and. And I was talking to TK one night. I think he was. He was just road managing Steve Warner then. And he's like, are you fucking crazy? Can I say fuck on this?
- [03:47]
Troy
Yeah.
- [03:48]
Kurt Motley
He said, are you fucking crazy? And I said, well, it's either that or I was thinking about maybe going to the Coast Guard or becoming a cop or something. He goes, what's wrong, man? And he said, why don't you get in the music business? And I'm like, do what? You know, I dropped out of college about three times and I was working probably three different jobs then. I mean, I was a maintenance man, security dude. I did heating and cooling work on the weekends, delivered pizza for Pizza Hut. I did all that stuff. And anyway, we played a basketball game. I beat him and on a court that I built and. And then he started his deal and I started with him in July of 1990. And you know, one day I was wearing steel toe boots and brown pants and a shirt with my name on it. And the next I was answering phones at a management company and couldn't understand what people were even saying when they called in. I had no idea, didn't know what their names were or anything. So. Yeah.
- [04:58]
Troy
Well, that's awesome, Rod. Obviously we're going to do age first. And Nick, since you're the youngest one, you go last. But Rod, I want to ask you how you got your start in show business. I know you're from Minneapolis. And how did that start?
- [05:12]
Rod Essick
Well, I go way back to. Which you guys weren't. Well, maybe were when I graduated college, 1971, that they have this little thing called the draft. So you kind of watch the ball come down. Well, my. My number was 30 that year and that year they were taking up to 140 people on their way to Vietnam. So by I, that was in May. I have a music education degree with a vocal major and so I tried out for backup singers to Sunny And Cher and I got the gig. So from June until I had report to Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri on Christmas Eve, I sang backup singer to Sonny and Cher. And those are the years that they only played Playboy Cubs. So being a 21 year old, making money, knowing you're going off to war, may die and playing Playboy Cubs, it was probably the best summer of my entire life ever. So then I went through training, I was in service for 15 months. I got back in 74 and I had bought my talent at our college from a guy named Gordy, singer at variety artist in Minneapolis. And I said, I want to be an agent. And he said, okay, here's a yellow piece of paper and here's a dial phone, you know, a dial phone. So anyway, I started dialing for dollars. And about six months later I met this guy named Jim Croce and I signed him. And in those days, different than today, all the big arenas were in college campuses. So the colleges were where you toured colleges because they all had money, they could all afford to buy the big axe and everything like that. So before I knew it, and then we would buy, sell too. So we. So I'd be on the road with Johnny Cash, I'd be on the road with a number of the people. But anyway, I just kept signing Cornelius, Brother, Sister Rose. These are things that really old bands, you know. And at that point our real speedwagon was one of the big acts that we booked in college. And then they kept going. And same with Sticks. So pretty soon within six or seven years, I had signed a lot of the acts. So pretty much had became a 5050 partner with Gordy and Lenny. Then I went, moved every day, we moved every to LA. And in turn after 20 years I went over. My best friend was Bobby Brooks. And so they hired me. And three days later when I started CIA, he got killed in helicopter crash with Stevie Ray Vaughan. So I worked a year in la and then they said, you want to open up an office in Nashville? So John Huey, who I'd known that point was at ICM and then Paragon and FBI before that, and Ron Baird, they said. And my wife and I did not like LA at all. We've been there for 10 years. And so we moved to Nashville and started up CA in Nashville with. Literally, it was kind of crazy because we started up with Clint Black, which was the main guy, and then we.
- [08:19]
Troy
Had Bill when Clint Black was just starting out. Or was that when he already had some success?
- [08:22]
Rod Essick
Oh no, he had success by that time and hated our Competitor, one competitor. So he wouldn't go there. So internally we had Billy Dean, Clint Black, Steven Curtis Chapman, Michael W. Smith and Amy Grant. Five acts and there was three agents. And from that point it just. We got very lucky and started signing acts and it just kept going and going. The big one that we took out of being in house was Barbara Mandrell. So once we got. Once I signed Barbara, all of a sudden we were able to do what CAA did and that was to have. We put her in a residency, then we got a TV show. And then from that point it just all. Then it was Randy Travis and then Reba. So we took a lot of people from that were in house and then they came to the agency. But we were allowed at that point help them into their television motion picture world besides touring. So that's kind of how we got it all going. And then it just kept going and growing and now it's grown into what it is.
- [09:21]
Troy
That's amazing. We're going to come around and talk more intimately about some of the artists that you all, you know, represent. Nick, you are new to the game in regards to being a proprietor and entrepreneur and. And I got to give you a great big congratulations on that because that takes a lot of balls. You were head of UTA in Nashville and. And you went on your own. And how is it to be an entrepreneur?
- [09:47]
Nick Nynema
Well, and, you know, it was scary in the moment because it wasn't something that I predicted that I would ever do. My plan was to be there until they gave me a watch or named a boardroom after me. And that just didn't work out for a variety of reasons. And the reality of it is I never would have planned to do this. And it's the greatest thing that's ever happened to me. I've got a niche that I think works really well. I think it's a part of the business that gets forgotten by the majors and there's still real business to be had. Know, I think on our end of it, there's an ability to service an artist that it goes into that cruise ship, speedboat thing. So, you know, the majors, you know, which I was a part of, they're cruise ships. In order to make decisions, you really need a bunch of people making those decisions to make a turn. We can kind of pivot and move really quickly. And I think that's benefited the clients and the roster that we're looking to service. And so it's been great on a professional level, it's been great on a financial level. And it's been great. On a personal level, it frees me up for a lot of the.
- [10:58]
Rod Essick
Non.
- [10:59]
Nick Nynema
Day to day task that goes into being at a major agency I just don't have to deal with anymore.
- [11:03]
Troy
You have a pretty interesting roster. You have music acts, artists, and you also have actors. And give me a little background on some of the artists that you represent.
- [11:16]
Nick Nynema
You know, we represent everybody from Trace Atkins to tlc, Kevin Costner and his band Modern West, Billy Bob Thornton and his band to Lone Star and Colin Ray and you know, new Country Music hall of Famer John Anderson. It's the music that I love at the time that I love. So that's been very fortunate. But also, you know, I think there is a little art. And Kurt and I, you know, work together at UTA for many, many years. And I think we shared this in the idea that you don't have to be the sparkling white hot act in the moment to still need the attention of representation.
- [11:54]
Troy
Well, I want to congratulate you on picking up one of my friends, Phil Vassar, who was kind of left in the middle of nowhere, you know, from representation. And it's kind of cool when you put together a plan for somebody and realize that the earnings that individual artists can make so much money with proper routing, thinking it out and just explain your philosophy on that.
- [12:17]
Nick Nynema
Well, Rod said it, you know, they started with five artists and, and three agents. Well, if you're working eight, nine, ten hours a day, you know, you can pretty much figure out that people are going to get represented and served. And in our situation, you know, there's five of us, you know, that are making phone calls, incoming phone calls, and really navigating through the beacon of what is 30 artists. When you work our Canadian roster and the artists that work periodically, like Kevin in his band and Billy in his band. And so when you kind of work that out, you know, five divided by 30, you know, there's real attention there.
- [12:51]
Troy
Well, yeah, it's an artist who may not have had a hit in 10 years and still has an agent who's working the rooms, working promoters to get them the dates, which is very important with some of the big agencies. Those artists get lost because, you know, they're put on the back burner.
- [13:06]
Nick Nynema
And there's also a cyclical time of, you know, when, you know, there was a time. Rod, I don't know if it was you and I that talked about this, but, you know, Sticks at one point in time was not doing the business that Sticks. They were huge band. And then you Go through that little cyclical wine that exists. Yeah.
- [13:23]
Rod Essick
They went to a lawsuit with the lead singer. So, you know, without Dennis, the young. Can Sticks exist?
- [13:28]
Troy
Right?
- [13:29]
Rod Essick
Yeah, they can. Yeah. And there's a.
- [13:30]
Troy
The name is Larry Gowen.
- [13:32]
Nick Nynema
Larry Gowen.
- [13:32]
Troy
Yeah, exactly.
- [13:33]
Rod Essick
And then you've got. You got Foreigner that just got nominated for the hall of Fame, doesn't have one original member in it, and that.
- [13:40]
Troy
I have a problem that Sticks has not been nominated. I don't understand how Sticks was not nominated for the Rock and Roll hall of Fame. Like, never nominated. I mean, they're America. They're. They're. They're America's band. I mean, they truly are, and they can do great business. I mean, they're doing this. We sold out to her this summer.
- [13:55]
Rod Essick
Troy, I think you're sitting here with three guys, though. And again, I'm going back. We all have had to eat what we book.
- [14:04]
Troy
Yes. Let's talk a little about relationships. So I was very fortunate to be able to share a relationship with Kurt, with Toby Keith, and let's talk about his time. I know it's a tough. Maybe it's too soon, but it's never too soon to talk about what a great guy he was and how he loved to go out and play live. The great times.
- [14:27]
Kurt Motley
Yeah, the great times, man. I mean, it is soon. It feels like it just happened and was not expected. And, you know, I remember the day that he told me that he had cancer. It was like, October 10th or 12th, and we were somewhere there in Minnesota. And, man, he was like, just us sitting here talking. He's like, hey, everybody get off the bus. And except Kurt. I'm like, damn, I'm getting fired after all this time. I mean, what did I do, man? I mean, I can't believe it. And he's like, hey, man, I just found out I got cancer. And it didn't even floor me or anything, because I'm like, I mean, you're Captain America. What can cancer do to you, man? And. And he was very resolved at that moment, too. Like, I don't give a shit. I mean, this ain't nothing. You know, we'll go get it fixed and just keep moving down the road. And he said, you know, I want to keep working, man. I mean, he had. You know, I think what you're talking about, like, on sticks and all, that there's some kind of this cycle that, you know, they say, like, the first cycle is about 30 years, and after 30 years of, you know, when you sort of, you know, not start but when you start having success, you know, that's sort of the ebb and flow and then you start. You start, you know, really flowing again. And so that's what he was coming into as well, and kind of like.
- [16:01]
Troy
A Willie Nelson resurgence. Yeah, we just recreate himself a few times.
- [16:06]
Kurt Motley
It was hard right there, you know, where we were playing, because the numbers were, were really good. But then you're like, nobody else is touring and man, but I mean, we'll see how it goes. But he's like, hey, let's work. And he had this plan, Troy, which you know about. And we went to Mexico and he serious and. And it was terrifying. Toby wanted to do 365 shows in 365 days.
- [16:34]
Troy
I sat with him. Kurt and I and Toby and our. And our wives went out and had dinner in Mexico one night we were staying at Toby's house and everyone to bed except for Kurt and I and Toby. And Toby's like, Troy, I can do this. And I'm like, okay, explain how you're going to do it. He had it all figured out. He was like, going to play a club on Monday, Tuesday, I'm going to go into a theater on Wednesday. I'm going to play amphitheaters on Thursday and Friday and Saturday. And he had it all figured out and mapped out. And I said, do you think you can do it? And he said, troy, I did it all my life. I did it from. I dug ditches in the day and played music at night, and I played every night. And that was up for about 15 years. So I did it every day. So I know I can do it. And you know, that man was strong enough and willed enough that if he, if he had the opportunity, he was going to do it. He just got cut short.
- [17:27]
Kurt Motley
He would not have been a guy that threw in the white flag. And, you know, you got to remember Toby had. Toby was 29 years old when he was getting his record deal. And he said, if I don't have it by the time I'm 30, then I'm standing in oil fields. And he'd quit playing football. He was playing semi pro football then. And so this 360, 65 show thing was terrifying from my standpoint.
- [17:54]
Nick Nynema
I do. I do want to say something if I can. There is a lost art, and maybe it's in all the towns, but there's a lost art to what Rod has with Tim McGraw and what you had with Toby, where there's just, you know, the ins and outs of the relationship. You know, I don't know your relationship.
- [18:10]
Rod Essick
I'm too afraid to fire you, you know, too much.
- [18:13]
Nick Nynema
That's not where I was going with it. But okay.
- [18:16]
Kurt Motley
What someone told me was you, you've actually TK Kimberell said that you've got to make the artist believe that you're the key to their success and they cannot function without you. And hey, I don't know if I ever pulled that off, you know, but. But that was a really good, good lesson. I know a lot of Asians don't even have a relationship with the artist. It's only right manager.
- [18:40]
Rod Essick
It's all managed.
- [18:41]
Kurt Motley
I don't, I don't understand that at all.
- [18:44]
Nick Nynema
I don't know how you can do it. You know, it's not been Tim or Toby laugh. I just don't know how you can do that either. You have to know the person and the personalities to go, no, that doesn't work and here's the reason why. But I'll say the lost art of it. Just the quick point that I want to make is the longevity of the ups and downs. There's no way that you went all of those years or going all those years with Tim without having butting heads. And I know for a fact that there was butting heads on that end. But the relationship was stead proof that get through the other side. There's trust on both sides. And I believe that's a real lost art here in Nashville for sure. Maybe it's in LA and New York and London as well. But here it's a lost art. It seems to be, you know, you're walking into the room and it's that old, you know, shuffle where you're looking, who's around, you know, what's the best situation. And you guys, it's the last of that time where somebody can. I also don't know if an artist in this day and age with the way that they're breaking can have a 30 year, 35 year career. Maybe they can. And hopefully they can. I just don't know how.
- [19:44]
Rod Essick
TikTok.
- [19:45]
Nick Nynema
Yeah, you know, it just becomes such a problem where you where, where they're looking at your social numbers before they're looking at your songs or how you can sing. And I think that's a stress level that, that I don't think, just like you mentioned Covid, I don't think we'll see the ramifications for what's going on right now for 20 or 30 years. Same deal with that.
- [20:03]
Rod Essick
We're seeing it. But Again, we've all gone through with our clients. You know, Tim McGraw had five or six number one records in a year. At one time, every 15, 16 weeks, there'd be a brand new single that doesn't exist in today's world. So all of a sudden, before you know it, you're, you're going out and you got seven or eight number one records to play. You know, now he's got 48, right? I mean, so it just, I mean, Toby had the same thing.
- [20:32]
Troy
So, Rob, I, you know, we've had a relationship with Tim McGraw for a very long time. And I, I remember it was Tim McGraw's the opening act, Blackhawk and Little Texas as the headliner. And by that, the time that tour hit Seattle, it was Tim McGraw as a headliner, Little Texas and Blackhawk as the opening act. I mean, I think that's where the fire and where the rubber hit the road for Tim McGraw.
- [21:00]
Rod Essick
It did, but it went Blackhawk, Tim McGraw, Little Texas, that's there. And the guys in Little Texas were not very kind to Tim. So it started happening really big. So they wanted Tim to headline because when Tim got done, a third or fourth of the audience would leave and they'd be playing. And so anyway, he goes, no, no, I'm just fine right in the middle. I get two shots at my merch before and after my show, and then I'm going down the road. And so he never closed those shows out.
- [21:32]
Troy
So was Tim McGraw always a businessman? Was he always thinking, Tim McGraw, Tim McGraw.
- [21:38]
Rod Essick
I go back, there's a number of people that always been this way, and I'll say it, Garth, Taylor Swift, Tim McGraw always were involved in business meetings. So Tim didn't do as much as Garth. I mean, Garth, when you book a date, before you know it, he's on the phone marketing it and doing everything else. So he's doing all this stuff. But Tim has always been involved in every aspect of his career and takes responsibility for it, as opposed to just, well, you're going to go play this show tonight and that's it. He wants to know what's going on and all that kind of stuff. And he watches ticket counts and he watches this and that, and he looks at where open seats are in the building. In fact, the Soul to Soul tour, he had a camera in the middle under the scoreboard, and he sat under the stage while Faith was on. And he looked around the whole hall and he'd call me and say, how come these seats are wide open? How come this is so we Used to try and figure out how to black them out.
- [22:34]
Kurt Motley
And you know, was that every show?
- [22:38]
Rod Essick
So it was just like put him.
- [22:39]
Nick Nynema
On the bus before you.
- [22:41]
Rod Essick
But it was always. But he had that camera in the middle of the room. I'd get a call at night saying section da da da. It's like way up here. How come it's empty? You know like I'll let you know tomorrow.
- [22:52]
Troy
He's a pretty intense guy. Yeah, I can see.
- [22:54]
Kurt Motley
I mean I booked him. I don't know if it was his first tour, but I had Tim Massaria Brown.
- [22:59]
Rod Essick
Yeah, you did.
- [23:00]
Kurt Motley
And before that tour right there that you're talking about. And I know we had him on Don't Take the Girl into that and then right out of that. So as a long time ago.
- [23:11]
Rod Essick
We're going on 32 years so it's so congratulations. It's been pretty, pretty amazing. Like he did with Toby. I mean, you know, he's besides my client. He's really a great friend.
- [23:22]
Troy
Yeah.
- [23:23]
Rod Essick
And you know, and it's. That's helps an awful lot and everything like that. But again like Toby, Tim has constantly. We've had, we've had three or four careers.
- [23:35]
Troy
Yeah.
- [23:36]
Rod Essick
You know, we've gone from the music into motion into you know, the Blind side was huge for Tim McGraw. And then you come back and then we had Don't Take the Girl and you know, some couple more career songs. Not number ones.
- [23:51]
Troy
Career like you're dying.
- [23:52]
Rod Essick
Live like you were dying. Yeah.
- [23:53]
Troy
One of the biggest. That's a crazy.
- [23:54]
Rod Essick
And then. And now we got. We just finished up 1883. So in the show when they play 1883, people start crying. I mean it's like it was. I think it was one of the best things Tim and Faith ever did in their careers. You know. And so it's pretty amazing. So in a life of an artist and again which all you guys do, there's great teams. I get to be a quarterback but there's great teams around all these people that work with motion picture work with. We've got three best selling books on the bestselling list of Tim McGraw. So all these different people help create a so called 30 year career too. It's not just all about music, it's about everything he does. And then it didn't hurt that he married Faith Hill and she became famous. There's all those kind of things.
- [24:46]
Troy
I just appreciate the fact. Just talking about Toby and Tim, the level of class that both of those gentlemen have outweighs the artistry. If that makes Any sense. I think that they carry themselves there. I think they make country music look really good. And I think we're losing a little bit of that right now because I don't think the young, the new generation has really bought into the history of what this thing was. I mean, those guys looked at guys like George Jones and Whalen and Willie and Haggard, and they held them at the highest level. Right? And. And I don't think we have that today. And we're missing that. We're missing it with agents also. It's like the three of you sitting here today is an honor for me as a producer of festivals because I know that when I call either one of you, you work to make routing happen. If it's a one off and tuk tuyuk tuck, you're looking for routing, the new kids, they need to learn that you just don't make it easy and pick up the phone and say, we can't do that for a million dollars because it doesn't route well. Route and make it fit. And that's what you guys do. Nick, it's really funny because he brings up the Tim McGraw thing. You represent Billy Bob Thorton, who is in both of those movies, blindside and 1883. 83.
- [26:12]
Rod Essick
And I'm gonna say one thing. We were sitting in Milwaukee last Friday night. It was Tim McGraw, Brian OConnell and myself. And Tim said one of his regrets in life is that he and Toby never went and did X amount of dates together because they were really good friends. They really respected each. You know what?
- [26:32]
Kurt Motley
I found out? Toby did Vegas. Toby had been sick. He had chemo. Radiation. Surgery. Surgery. And then he was like, I'm ready to work. And I'm like, you know, you just. At that point, I was like, he's saying it and I'm gonna nod, but he's not ready yet. And then he called me one day and. And he's like, hey, man, I'm ready to work. And. And this would have been. This would have been like October. I'm gonna tie this in. And so we did three shows in Vegas, and at the last minute, we had 44 days to the first show. And, you know, they were. There were three of the highest indoor grossing dates he'd ever had in his career. We had, you know, tickets. I don't know if, I mean, proud of it, but we had, I mean, tickets that we were selling for fifteen hundred dollars, like lots of them. And. And it was crazy. And he told me, we were talking going into that one night and I don't know how Tim came up. I believe maybe Tim had texted Toby or something, but I believe what he said to me was, man, you know, Tim and I met each other on, like, each of our first nights in town or something, and I'm like, I've never heard that. You've never said that. And everybody used to hang out downtown there at that Best Western or whatever it was, you know, by the. You know, the old Country Music hall of Fame was. Yeah, that looked like a bar.
- [28:05]
Troy
Twins.
- [28:06]
Kurt Motley
Yeah. Yeah. And so Toby said he and Tim met on, like, his very first night in there. I mean, any night you went in there, it was Paul Davis and it'd be Tracy Lawrence and John Michael Montgomery and Tim McGraw and Toby Keith and. And, you know, it was incredible. And.
- [28:28]
Troy
Yeah, yeah. You know, Rod, you have an interesting roster of clients that you deal with. I mean, you deal with. I mean, rock and roll icons. Like. Let's talk about Joan Jett real quick, because that's an interesting topic. I mean, she has, as a female, has beat her way through from the Runaways to where she is today, still rocking. 64.
- [28:53]
Rod Essick
64 years old.
- [28:54]
Troy
64 years old and loves the road still. What's Joanie like?
- [28:59]
Rod Essick
She is. I think the best thing is when she comes in the office, she goes around to every single assistant's desk and goes, hi, I'm Joan Jett. What's your name? She's the kindest lady in the world, but she's a punker. She wants the leather pants when she's out. This year, she's out with Alanis Morissette, and that tour is going through the roof. It's a power women's type of tour. And she's really, you know, next year we're doing Billy Idol, which is going to be a really fun show. I've tried for years to get great packaging. Billy Idol, Joan Jett. If I. You know. Yeah, I mean, so there's. We try all those kind of things, but Joan is also one that, you know, not 90, 100 shows. 60 shows in a year. That's it done. She lives in Long island, so she said to me one time, she said, can I at least go back to my home and see the ocean without snow on it? Because we always tour during the summer time. And she said, I'd like to just be home for a little while in the summertime, I'm on the beach and everything like that. But she is just. She is an incredible person to be around, but she is so true to who she is. And again, being A Hall of Famer. When Carrie Underwood and people like that just almost bow to her when she walks in. I mean, she. It.
- [30:21]
Troy
You know, she's truly a legend.
- [30:22]
Rod Essick
She's a total legend.
- [30:23]
Nick Nynema
Absolutely.
- [30:23]
Rod Essick
And she's. But don't you do the production for her? Yeah, yeah, exactly.
- [30:27]
Troy
I mean, she's a legend.
- [30:29]
Rod Essick
You know, it's a unique. And I'm gonna say I've got. I just kicked off. It's your favorite band, Cheap Trick at Heart. Last Saturday night in Greenville, they went to Savannah. But Ann Wilson is 7, is 74, and Nancy's 71. And Ann can hit every single note to this day, and it's unbelievable. And that tour is doing incredibly great.
- [30:51]
Troy
That's great.
- [30:52]
Nick Nynema
The story that's amazing is Troy has this band called Fran Moran and the Nervous Rex, and they make records. And he won't talk about it, but we three can. The amazing thing is if he plays at his festival, that's his people. Right. Plays in Nashville, people know, and there's relationships that go into it. The most interesting thing, Troy and I have been friends for many years. What do you get a guy that's got kind of everything? And we went to see Billy Bob Thornton play in Alabama, a tour that I booked. We had another support act on it. And I just kind of thought, well, Troy's band and they have, like, some similarities music wise. And so we started the next tour. You went out and did, like, two weeks. But what was really interesting, and this is what he won't say, that I will say for him, is nobody knew who he was in these markets. They didn't know that he owns Country Thunder, and he's got this production thing. He's got all these relationships and the music connected with an audience. And it was such a flourishing thing to see as a friend that you went out in your music that you really care about. It's passionate to you. You went out and played for people who don't have to kiss your ass, aren't looking for an angle, and dug your tunes.
- [31:58]
Rod Essick
So was it a hard negotiation? I mean, did you tell me opening axle and you get X amount of dollars free?
- [32:04]
Nick Nynema
Yeah.
- [32:05]
Rod Essick
Yeah.
- [32:06]
Nick Nynema
You're getting paid this year.
- [32:07]
Kurt Motley
You're getting paid this year.
- [32:08]
Troy
I'm in the money this year.
- [32:10]
Nick Nynema
You're in the money.
- [32:10]
Troy
Thanks to Billy Bob Job, because he was like, it's coming out of his guarantee.
- [32:14]
Rod Essick
That's what I meant.
- [32:14]
Kurt Motley
That's why I was making fun of two buses. Two buses and a plane.
- [32:18]
Rod Essick
Yeah.
- [32:19]
Nick Nynema
Support act. We have issues with parking.
- [32:23]
Kurt Motley
The headliner yeah.
- [32:25]
Nick Nynema
The headliner has to park down the street sometimes.
- [32:27]
Rod Essick
Turning it around. Yeah.
- [32:28]
Troy
But the best thing, the best thing about being out there, it's so. So if we're going to talk about. Let's talk about it. So it's my golf and it's my time to relax and I have a blast doing it. And, and, and my band is really, really good. And the afternoon at 3:00, we roll into a town in the middle of the night and all three buses are parked, you know, three buses.
- [32:51]
Rod Essick
We're now three buses.
- [32:52]
Troy
No, no, that's Billy Bob.
- [32:55]
Nick Nynema
The Boxmasters have a bus and the support act has two.
- [32:59]
Troy
Exactly. So we're, we're there. And he goes, oh, man, I love it. You know, they think that, that I'm on your bus and I have people outside my bus. So they have these collectors who bring 1530 posters and hats and memorabilia and all this stuff, and they're there at like 7 o'clock in the morning and they're not coming to the show. They're only there for Billy Bob to actually, you know, sign and do whatever he does. So about 1:00 in the afternoon, Billy Bob Thornton comes off his bus with a Bud Light and a Siggy in his hand and he signs until everything is done. And then he comes to my bus and he goes, oh. And he goes, all right, story time. And he starts telling us Hollywood stories. And he's told my wife and I some of the best stories I've ever heard. I'm a fan of old Hollywood. And he came in right when Hollywood was kind of at the end of old Hollywood. He told me some stories about being at these dinners on Sunday night and with Liz Taylor, who became a good friend of his. Great Hollywood stories. But he's just a great guy and he's a great guy to hang out with. But one thing he truly is, he's a great artist. He's a great artist musically. And it was so funny because he came on the bus last year at 3 o'clock, his usual time when he shows up. And he said, yeah, man, I spent all night last night talking to Tyler Sherrod. And he goes, I think I'm going to do this thing. It's called Oil Man. The title of the picture has changed. It's a series on Netflix, I believe, and it is called. What is it called now, Nick?
- [34:35]
Nick Nynema
Well, it's still.
- [34:36]
Troy
It's. It.
- [34:37]
Nick Nynema
There's Landman. It's there. It's morphing. Right. But they're filming it Right now. And it's, it's one of the Taylor's, right?
- [34:43]
Rod Essick
Yeah.
- [34:44]
Troy
So now it is reality and he's the bad guy. It's, it's, it's a period piece that's set in the 50s and I think, you know, everyone's going to really enjoy it. But it was so funny to be part of the. Of how this actually how a movie or a film or a picture comes to life. And he's, he's sharing it with me. I felt very blessed about that.
- [35:02]
Rod Essick
Yeah.
- [35:02]
Troy
Let's talk about Kevin Costner for a second because, I mean, that's a pretty big deal.
- [35:06]
Nick Nynema
Yeah.
- [35:09]
Troy
How does Kevin Costner approach music versus his film career?
- [35:14]
Nick Nynema
Well, the way that he looks at music is, you know, he's constantly creating and, you know, he, he makes really long movies and he makes really long songs about things that are important and a matter to him. You know, that band tour is very different, Right. You know, his schedule is different than.
- [35:35]
Troy
They're more one offs, correct?
- [35:36]
Nick Nynema
No, it's one off. And then we build around it. But his schedule is just so much different. But we've toured the world, you know.
- [35:43]
Kurt Motley
More commas, a lot more combos.
- [35:46]
Nick Nynema
Yeah, it's been a great relationship. But the interesting thing about him that I've always said, whether it was Brazil, whether it was the UK or Europe or Canada or Russia. Russia, Russia was huge. Russia was huge, you know, when we would be in these places.
- [36:05]
Rod Essick
So I'm going back. Why, why Russia? Where was the connection?
- [36:09]
Nick Nynema
It was, it was before with Wolves or it would. Well, just general celebrity, you know, if you will. But this was before all of the, you know, this is 15 years ago. We were doing these and they were hard ticket shows, you know, they were hard ticket shows in theaters that a promoter, you know, we just went and cut those deals. But what was interesting about that band, and I say the same about Billy's. It's like you can go out in Vanity if you want and go, hey, I just want to do this for the sake of it. But nobody sticks around for 90 minutes. Wherever I've been where these bands are playing, at the end of the day, the audience does get into the music. They may not come for the music, they may not know the music in the beginning, but nobody sticks around for 90 minutes of original music that they don't dig or get into. And been literally around the world with them and seen it. The excitement for the first 15 minutes and people get their photos and I'm in a room with them or him and Then all of a sudden, they really connect with the storytelling. And I think that's another art that goes into movies, into television, into music, is storytelling. And both Billy and Kevin are storytellers.
- [37:18]
Troy
So one. One other artist we haven't talked about is Dennis Quaid. Now, he. Kurt, he's one of your clients, I believe, in Holocaust in la, right?
- [37:27]
Kurt Motley
Yeah. I want to do a festival called as Seen on tv. And we'll put all these actors, singers together and the Bacon Brothers and Quaid.
- [37:41]
Nick Nynema
Yep.
- [37:41]
Kurt Motley
Yeah. And we'll do all that together. I think it'd do really well.
- [37:45]
Troy
It'd be interesting, that's for sure. I think Quaider has a pretty good deal going on. Did you ever represent Dennis Quaid?
- [37:52]
Rod Essick
Nope.
- [37:55]
Troy
I. I saw him at the honors last year, and I was absolutely shocked how awesome that performance was. And that's the only time I've ever seen him play live. I. I've seen golf many times because I played a ton of golf with him, but I've never seen him play live.
- [38:09]
Kurt Motley
I'm hearing Billy Bob and Goliath. He was that rancher, the Water. They were great.
- [38:16]
Rod Essick
Is it. Have they played your festivals?
- [38:21]
Nick Nynema
Kevin has.
- [38:21]
Troy
Kevin Costner has played Kevin Costner. I had a great. And Kevin Costner.
- [38:25]
Kurt Motley
I mean, Dennis really wants to.
- [38:28]
Troy
Kevin Costner.
- [38:29]
Rod Essick
Just look at right now.
- [38:30]
Troy
Kevin Costner is so.
- [38:32]
Rod Essick
So we're in his house.
- [38:34]
Kurt Motley
Yeah.
- [38:35]
Rod Essick
He can't.
- [38:35]
Kurt Motley
I mean, the Bacon Brothers. Let's have an ass seen on TV.
- [38:42]
Troy
MO moment @ Country Thunder.
- [38:44]
Kurt Motley
We could do Thursday. Thursday could be the as Seen on tv.
- [38:48]
Troy
I love that. I kind of like it, too. But you take. You take Dennis Quaid, who. Who has such a passion for music and. And, I mean, I didn't really realize how actually good he was because actors don't necessarily get the respect they. They should deserve. We did this thing with Kevin Costner and Kevin Costner. I'll be honest with you, I never heard a lick of music. I booked him for a celebrity. And I was in Morton's one night, and he's in Morton's. And he was going to cancel my date because you're doing a movie in Russia. So he called me over and he said, troy, I'm not sure I can fulfill my obligations to you this summer. And I had him on three dates, or two dates, I believe three. And he's like, I got this project in Russia. I just want to be brutally honest with you. And I'm like, well, okay, but we've already announced permission to announce. So we're selling Tickets to Kevin Costner. So I'm like, I just met this guy, so I don't really know how to treat this. So I went and sat down, called Nick, said, nick, what the fuck's going on, dude? Like, because. No, no, no, everything's gonna be fine. In true agent manner. And which doesn't always make me feel good. I mean, if you said it to me now, I would definitely have that comfort. But back then, it was quite a few years ago. I'm kind of freaking out. I mean, the guy himself told me, the artist told me, I may not play your gigs. And anyways, everything got worked out and we had a really successful thing. And we brought Hollywood to Regina, Saskatchewan. Craven, Saskatchewan. We brought Hollywood to Twin Lakes, Wisconsin. Pretty exciting stuff, you know, I mean, and he does have all those cats have this charisma that they're storytellers. They're freaking movie stars. And that's what it is.
- [40:53]
Nick Nynema
But they're storytellers. It's not really surprising when you find true storytellers to go. They have a musical aspect of it. I think it's very different than a rapper wanting to be a basketball player or the same stories that get told. I think this is just storytelling. I think it's very. It's in line for somebody who's a singer, songwriter to go, no, but I want to act because I want to tell stories. I think those are a lot more similar than maybe media or public perception gives it. Oh, well, they want to do that now? No, they want to tell a story, and that's important.
- [41:24]
Rod Essick
It is.
- [41:25]
Troy
I like the.
- [41:26]
Kurt Motley
Russell Crowe's got a band. We can. Yeah, we can just keep stacking them.
- [41:30]
Troy
We stack them. We can do it. I. I can.
- [41:33]
Kurt Motley
We have the Thursday.
- [41:34]
Troy
We'll figure it out. I'm not committing to anything. I'm with three of the greatest sharks in the world right now. I am going to get bit.
- [41:42]
Kurt Motley
I will say, you know, you.
- [41:44]
Nick Nynema
I got him opening up for my band, and I couldn't get my band booked on his.
- [41:48]
Kurt Motley
But you're talking about how you thought Dennis Quaid was legit. And I'll tell you, the minute that I knew he was legit is when Jamie Johnson said, who's the legit ist?
- [41:59]
Rod Essick
Yes.
- [42:02]
Kurt Motley
He said, yeah, I'm doing my Nicki Mitchell foundation event. I got Dennis Quaid. And I said, what? And he said, I got what? He said, who'd you say? He said, dennis Quaid. And I'm like, okay. And like, I had no idea. And. But I can tell you that I mean, again, if Jamie's gonna do it, it's gonna be real, and it's gonna be good. And we went out there, and I was like, damn. You know, and. And it was. And he was awesome.
- [42:33]
Troy
So I have a funny Dennis Quaid story. So I'm out on the road, and I was very fortunate to be and honored to get this award from the acm. And I'm on my bus. It's like, Saturday morning. I think we're in Calgary doing Country Thunder. Calgary. And my phone lights up and there's Dennis Quaid. I'm like, why is Quater calling me? Like, I have no idea.
- [42:56]
Kurt Motley
So I asked, why is he in your phone book?
- [42:59]
Troy
Because he's my friend. And he's like, hey, Troy, ECM guys called me. Is this thing real? Is this? Or is it? I'm like, what? He goes, well, you're getting an award. I go, what? Because you're getting an award. And I'm like, I'm getting an award for what? And he told me what award I was getting. And he goes, they want me to present it. And he goes, I'm gonna do it if you're cool with it. And I went, oh, I'm totally cool. I didn't know I was getting it. He goes, all right, buddy. Click. And there it was. And he was there.
- [43:29]
Rod Essick
And he gave me the. It was supposed to be a surprise.
- [43:31]
Troy
Surprise. My wife was in horror. She's looking at me like, ah. It was supposed to be a secret. But anyways. But, gentlemen, I just want to thank you very much for the greatest stories.
- [43:41]
Nick Nynema
What?
- [43:41]
Troy
This is the best. Yeah, this is the. Well, we can't go on for hours because we would be here for hours. But I just want to thank you very much. Rod, Nick, Kurt the Motley, you guys are awesome. And, you know, you have so much, so much more to give to this business. And guys like you keep this business a great place to be doing business, and I thank you for that, and I truly mean that. Thank you very much. On the bus at Country Thunder with the greatest agents in show business. Thank you very much.
- [44:15]
Rod Essick
Good.
- [44:16]
Troy
Do we.
- [44:17]
Kurt Motley
Do we have to quit drinking?
- [44:18]
Nick Nynema
No.