Musicians On Tour

an asset, as well as experience and contacts in the music industry. Trisha Walker

Cunningham cites "a love of people, a love of music, and a love of Europe" as being

keys to her success. "There is nothing more satisfying than choosing an artist, based

on your gut feeling and ear for music, who you think will work in Europe, and they

do."

POINTERS FOR THE JOB SEARCH

A position as an international agent or promoter, and touring internationally with

an artist as a road manager, are helpful in learning some of the skills, and making the

contacts necessary for this job.

TRISHA WALKER CUNNINGHAM, INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL AND TOUR

PROMOTER, TRISHA WALKER INTERNATIONAL

Born in Singapore, raised in Cyprus and London, an international upbringing

proved to be the perfect background for Trisha Walker Cunningham to one day

become a global concert promoter. During a short stint at Radio Luxembourg in

London, she answered a newspaper ad for an assistant to a concert promoter, who

turned out to be the driving force behind the prestigious Wimbledon Country Music

Festival. She worked on nine of the annual festivals and was eventually put in charge

of the event. "I organized every detail. I did the contracts, the work permits, the musi-

cian exchanges. I handled television and press and organized a pre-festival banquet

for 600 people, including booking the entertainment." Working with American

country artists proved so enjoyable that she decided to move to Nashville in 1978. "I

had five hundred dollars in my pocket, a suitcase of summer clothes, and no job. I

had never been to Nashville before. I knew three people well enough to call them at

CASE STUDY:

THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT THIS JOB:

"Dishonest people: people that say they are going to do an event and

cancel it, artists that don't honor their commitments."

THE BEST THING ABOUT THIS JOB:

"Being fortunate enough to have a God-given gift for picking artists

that I know will work in Europe, and then they go onstage and they do

their show and people go berserk--the audience just goes nuts. That is

probably the most satisfying part of my job: knowing that I played a

part in bringing those people an evening of happiness."

Musicians On Tour - Page 15