Speaking of the Arts Mike Epstein

Episode 80: Cyrille Aimee by Mike Epstein

Hello Everyone!
And thank you for tuning in on this new episode of Speaking of the Arts. My name is Mackenzie and I am the Operations Manager at Epstein Fox Performances and I will be your host for today’s podcast. I am so excited to bring you guys a really special guest, critically acclaimed composer, bandleader, and most importantly Tenor Saxophonist, James Brandon Lewis. We are going to invite him into the conversation on everything music. Today’s episode we are touching on topics regarding his musical history, inspirations, Molecular Systematic Music, and of course his lovely new album, For Mahalia, With Love.

Hello everyone and welcome to Speaking of the Arts!
My name is Marie Le Claire. I’m the east coast agent at Epstein Fox Performances and your host for today!

Today, I’m excited to bring you a conversation with famed singer and one of the newest artists on the EFP roster, Magos Herrera!

We discuss Magos joining the roster, her journey as a Mexican artist starting over in the US, some of her various projects and of course, her beautiful new album.

You will also hear clips of the songs, "Gracias A La Vida" and “Aire" from her new album also called Aire.

I hope you’ll enjoy our conversation!

Hello and welcome to Speaking of the Arts https://www.speakingofthearts.com/ . Today we feature Epstein Fox Performances https://www.efperformances.com/ , the new booking agency I have co-founded with my partner, Michael Fox. (For more information on Michael, you can listen to Speaking of the Arts Episode 68 https://www.speakingofthearts.com/episodes/68 where I featured Michael and what was then his new agency, Fox Performances).

There’s a great saying in the world of entrepreneurship: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

From July 2013 to August 2022, I was in the fast but alone category, running my previous agency. (OK, I wasn’t entirely alone and I need to give a shout out to Marie Le Claire who helped keep things running smoothly from the moment she signed on and whom I’ve had the pleasure of seeing evolve into one of the best agents I know). Along the way, one of my primary goals was always to build a bigger team. When I first met Michael Fox several years ago, I was impressed with both his knowledge of the industry and his passion and drive for helping artists succeed. To my credit, I actually tried to hire him a few times over the years. To his credit, he kindly passed each time!

When I found out Michael started his own agency in 2020 my first thought was “Yes! This just might lead to a bigger opportunity for us to finally work together.”

Fast forward to June of this past year when I called Michael and asked if he would consider becoming a partner with me so we could build a brand new agency and company together. Spoiler alert, he said yes and here we are.

This episode features our new team and you will hear from Michael, myself, Marie Le Claire and Mackenzie Whitman. We talk about the mission of Epstein Fox Performances, some of the new artist projects we are excited about, how we try to offer a unique experience to the artists we work with, general advice for new and established artists, and much more.

I truly believe that my career in the music industry, which celebrates 15 years this October, has been leading to this moment. Everything I’ve tried to do before now has all been R&D and I am really proud of our team and what we are building here.

You can check out all of the great artists we are working with at https://www.efperformances.com.

I hope you enjoy listening to our conversation.

Hello everyone and welcome to Speaking of the Arts. Our guest today is Katherine McVicker. In 2014, Katherine founded the boutique agency, Music Works International https://www.musicworksinternational.com/ , after three decades as an agent developing the touring careers of dozens of artists such as Brad Mehldau, Michael Brecker, Wayne Shorter, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and many others. In 2000, she launched the European touring career of Norah Jones and spent seven years developing Jones’ profile internationally. Most recently, Katherine published the online course “Anyone can book a gig,”https://musicworksintl.thinkific.com/courses/anyone-can-book-a-gig which breaks down the core components of what goes into booking shows for independent artists. I recently spoke to Katherine about the course and wanted to share our conversation with everyone so they can learn more about this and where to find it. Independent musicians will find this episode particularly useful.

Hello everyone and welcome back to Speaking of the Arts. Today we are speaking with members of the vocal group Kings Return https://www.kingsreturnmusic.com/ . We just signed these guys to our booking agency https://www.epsteinco.com and I am so excited for everyone to check them out. Recently, Kings Return posted a video on YouTube of their version of Ave Maria https://youtu.be/dRzI8y-EJJ0 , sung in an acoustically gorgeous sounding stairwell, and it has gone viral with almost one million views. Watch that video and you’ll see why. The band consists of Vaugn Faison, Gabe Kunda, JE Mckissic, and Jamall Williams. In December, they released a new holiday album https://open.spotify.com/album/3koALGOJF8Cz4jCUKUeirm?si=D7r2fqg2ScGdcA1W7fk53Q and the band is currently hard at work on their next major recording. You can check out their new single Beauty https://open.spotify.com/track/09weoaL9omm3CsgY472tjx?si=fde2caafb71e40bb which will also be on the album and you will hear it on this episode as well. This band is doing something special and I am grateful for the opportunity to be working with them. Please enjoy my conversation with Kings Return.