3/13/08

Musician focuses on the business side of industry

by Beckye Randall

Earning a living as a working musician is not easy. Songwriting skills and musicianship are expected, but what about all the business details? Artists are not always well-equipped to handle recording and distribution details, book tour dates and local gigs, find backup singers or musicians and increase record sales with promotional ideas.

That’s where Rusty Hicks comes in.

Hicks is a former musician himself, a drummer and singer who has played with local bands of some renown and a songwriter with several published tunes to his credit. These days, though, Hicks is working in the industry from the back side.

“When I was younger, playing in a band out of Moses Lake, I did my own bookings and handled the band’s affairs. It was tough, but I was good at it,” said Hicks.

He moved to Arizona and as his reputation as a musician grew, he was offered more work than he could handle. He started building a list of reputable, quality musicians in the area and referred gigs to them, no charge. He began to pay more attention to business details, learning about contracts and scheduling and logistics along the way.

After living in Arizona for several years, Hicks moved his family back to Washington. A talent agent had opened an office above Jimmy Z’s on Everett’s Hewitt Avenue called Prime Talent, and Hicks was invited to share the space to establish his band promotion and management business. Rusty Hicks Entertainment was born.

“It was fun, learning about movies and TV work,” said Hicks of the experience. “I even got a few acting gigs myself – if you could call them that. I played a corpse for the TV recreation of a drowning mystery, covered in blue makeup,” he laughed.

His proximity to Jimmy Z’s brought him in contact with metal bands and he began to work with several of them to arrange cross-country tour dates. He founded a record label, Rusty Metal Records, and released some CDs by metal and country artists.

These days Hicks, a Smokey Point resident, represents a number of international artists. Orbo and the Longshots, a Norwegian rock/country group, is in the middle of a tour promoting their album, “Genuine Handmade Rock ‘n Roll,” and Hicks has recently signed Garry Reynolds and the Brides of Obscurity, a group of  “power pop rockers.”

He’s also back at Jimmy Z’s, this time promoting a country showcase featuring Aces Up. The show, slated for March 13 starting at 9:30 p.m., may become a recurring event at Jimmy Z’s if it’s a success.