The lines are constantly open. And then creating programs that you try and constantly - my formula is to constantly reinvent ourselves, whether it be with new material, or shows, changing the shows, changing the number of shows we play and my relationship with William Morris Endeavor to maintain the itinerary - to maintain career dates.
There are two kinds of dates an artist plays. One is when go out and hit as many important places as you can that will help your music and help maintain or grow your niche and brand so to speak. The other are just straight revenue - you have expenses to pay. So, when you talk about doing shows for the Oak Ridge Boys or Roy Clark, there will be certain days that we will call a "career date" and maybe that is the Hollywood Bowl or B.B. Kings in Manhattan or some place like that, and then there are others that we play because we want to maintain our fanbase and make it so our fans can come see us, and also for the revenue.
So that is what a manager does. The manager has communication with the booking agent and suggestions go back and forth about what do with the artist. The manager maintains a relationship with the press and PR company once you get those things - you want to take full advantage of being able to use whatever you did 20 or 25 years ago - so it is a reinvention all the time. The Oak Ridge Boys have had 20, 25 top records but maybe it is a change in a show or what they do with it. Just in the last few years, we have started a Christmas tour, which we still have a lot of the hits in it, but the second half of the show is solid Christmas music and pageantry or whatever we want to do with it.
When you are doing your How to Make It In Music seminars, what is the question that you get asked most by the attendees?
The question I can get asked most is, "Will you listen to my demo?" but I think the question really is, "Who will listen to my demo?" That is what most people are interested in. They have this expression that is personal and creative and from the bottom of their soul - and they want people to listen to it.
How do people convince you to listen to their demos?
Well, if they come to the seminar, I usually will listen to the demos. Not that night maybe, but we'll take it and get back to them. It might take a few weeks, but I will listen to it. And I tell you, there are a lot of good ones submitted to me.
Have you found a client off a demo before?
Um, well, I tell the story that I had these two young ladies come into my office at Nashville looking for an agent, and my receptionist said, "Well, leave a demo, and Mr. Halsey will get back you." They said, "What is a demo?" She said just a demonstration of what your song is - and they said, "Well, we don't have that but we have a guitar out in the car." They went and got their guitars, and if you read my book, you will find out that that was The Judds. So you never know where something like that is going to come from.
The last thing I wanted to ask you about was your online school.
We are just getting that up and running. I have three classes. The first class is an introduction to the music and entertainment business and it is two semesters. It goes through the litany of what we just talked about. The establishment of focus and goals of regiment of tying in the different parts of the music and entertainment business, how they operate and how the revenue streams participate in them. This is a class I have taught at the universities including six years at Oklahoma City University, so we are putting it up online now. As we do that, we have several other classes in preparation. One of them is Creative Artist Management, which is kind of a living, breathing reality class, and I include the Oak Ridge Boys and Roy Clark in the classroom procedures. And we have one on press and PR and one on music publishing. We hope to develop those all in 2011 because we have just been so consumed in the evolution of the business and had to expand our own company.
My full time focus, besides my devotion to my family, has been the Oak Ridge Boys, and they are family. That is the same with Roy Clark. We have worked together for years and we are in the process of doing a big reinvention with Roy.
Was there anything else you wanted to add that we didn't touch on?
We didn't touch on my son, Sherman Halsey. Sherman is one of the foremost video makers and has been - he has won all kinds of awards, MTV Awards and he has done all of Tim McGraw's videos and directed and produced Tim's last three NBC specials. Sherman is a partner with me in this business and is within himself one of the most creative people I know and have ever been associated with. It is not all me who does this. Sherman is body and soul in all of this, too. I think, you know, I am a dreamer, and this is what my life is about - following my dreams. I have done this forever. I had an old medicine man tell me one time: Always follow your dreams. When you stop following your dreams, or you'll stop having them. So I am still following my dreams today.
That will be inspirational to a lot of people reading my site. A lot of my readers are just getting started and looking for that kind of affirmation that they should follow their dreams.
Well, they should read my book. I've been told - and I wrote it this way - that it is inspirational and that it gives you hope to do your music and your creations and find out how to become successful in it. In my world and life, success was not always equated with money. It is with that fulfillment that you get inside yourself when you love what you do and do what you love. I am always available and accessible to anyone. I am going to do some seminars this year. They are not scheduled yet but I will be doing them. It is always inspirational to me. I did this thing recently at Oklahoma City College and it always makes me feel so good when I see so many young people who want to be a part of this business. They don't know a lot about it, but I love to tell them about it. I know they learn from reading my book or there are other books out there - but I think mine is particularly inspirational to young people.
They can call me if they want to. I am always available to talk to anyone.
Wow, really?
Yeah, a lot of people look me up in the phone book and call.
That is really something. You don't see that very often.
Well, I think you see more of it than people think. A lot of people in this business are untouchable in some way. I have never had an unlisted phone number ever. A lot of people at seminars ask me how they can get in touch with me, and I say give me a call. I've never had an unlisted phone number.
Find the latest dates for Jim Halsey seminars, plans for his online school, and of course, purchase his book Starmaker on his official website.
