Tim Drake and Larry Kosson are the Recipients of the NAPAMA Award for Excellence in the Performing Arts by an Agent or Manager
Our Mission: The Roots Agency is a talent booking agency joyfully dedicated to developing – with vision, expertise and integrity – the touring careers of exceptional artists who connect, inspire and transform their audience.
TWO AGENCIES JOIN TOGETHER TO FORM “THE ROOTS AGENCY”
The Roots Agency and SMG Artists, key players in their particular talent fields, have merged their services, according to a joint announcement by their respective heads, Tim Drake and Larry Kosson.
The firm will be known as of April 2011 as The Roots Agency/SMG Artists Group LLC, with Kosson, assuming the title President of the Performing Arts Division. He will be responsible principally for overseeing the booking of Performing Arts Centers, representing the entire combined talent roster. Drake and The Roots Agency staff will continue working with festivals and all other types of venues, large and small, as well as booking of PACs.
Commenting on the link-up, Drake asserted, “The merger brings together a team that compliments each others strengths. The Roots Agency brings its festival and hard-ticket know-how to the SMG Artists roster, while SMG Artists brings performing arts savvy to the Roots clientele. We look forward to working with Larry and his team.”
Observed Kosson, “Within the live performance field, there has traditionally been a separation between commercial venues, performing arts centers, and festivals. Touring artists can no longer rely on any single one of these market segments to support a career. This merger offers our roster the possibility of engaging all three simultaneously.”
KEY PERSONNEL
Tim Drake – President/Partner/Agent
tim@therootsagency.com 201-263-9200 Tim Drake started in the music business at age fourteen, while a freshman in high school. He promoted his first national act, Mountain, at age eighteen, which was followed soon thereafter by shows such as Billy Joel, Aerosmith, and The Kinks. He promoted primarily in the suburbs of New York City, in venues such as Newark Symphony Hall, Westchester Premier Theater, Westchester County Center, and The John Harms Theater. In 1995, after fifteen years as an independent concert promoter, Tim founded a boutique booking agency, Drake & LaRoche, specializing in acoustic and Celtic music. Later called Drake & Associates, the agency went on to merge with David Tamulevich to form The Roots Agency. Over the course of its fifteen-year history, the agency has evolved into a model talent booking presence.
Tim currently serves as Vice President of the Board of Directors for the North American Performing Arts Managers and Agents Association and frequently participates in industry forums and seminars. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Management from Pace University.
Tim is responsible for overseeing agency operations and for booking ME, NH, VT, MA, RI, CT (New England States); NY, NJ, PA, DE, MD, VA, WV, GA, FL, CA, CO, OR, WA, NV & UT
Larry Kosson – President, Performing Arts Division/Partner/Agent
larry@therootsagency.com 717-227-0060 Currently the President of the Performing Arts Division at The Roots Agency, Larry Kosson was a founding partner of SMG Artists, a performing arts agency known for international touring artists in disciplines including classical, world and popular music, dance, and theater for young audiences, with a strong emphasis on arts-in-education and community engagement.
Larry began his career in presenting as a student employee of the Student Activities Department, and as a director on the College Activities Board, at the Rochester Institute of Technology. After receiving a BFA with high honors in professional photographic illustration, he worked as a legislative assistant to New York State Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, a long-time advocate of the visual and performing arts. Larry went on to pursue a career in commercial advertising photography, creating images for major corporate clients throughout the U.S. His work has graced the pages of thousands of magazines, packages and billboards, and his artistic photos have had numerous public exhibits.
In 1994, Larry met, and later married, pianist, composer and recording artist Robin Spielberg. Combining their talents in art, marketing and entrepreneurial know-how, Larry and Robin began collaborating on album cover art, independent concert tours, and the day to day business of music licensing and publishing. By 2000, the couple had founded a small music label, which has released nine of Spielberg’s recordings to date. Before long other musicians were asking the couple to lend their expertise in the area of concert booking, and SMG Artists was born.
Larry was elected to the Board of Directors of the Association for Performing Arts Presenters in 2008, and currently serves as that organization’s membership chair. He is a member of the Board of Directors for Pennsylvania Presenters, and serves on South Arts’ Performing Arts Exchange Advisory Committee and the Performing Arts Exchange Task Force. He is a voting member of the Recording Academy (GRAMMY Awards).
Larry oversees Performing Arts markets for the agency and handles the following territories: PA, NC, SC, TN, KY, AL, GA, MS, LA, FL, OH, MI, IN, IL, MO, AR, OK, TX, IA, WI, MN, MT, ND, SD, NE, KS, NM, AZ,, CA, WY, & ID.
Robin Spielberg, Chief Operations Officer/Partner
robin@therootsagency.com 717-227-0060 ext 21 Robin Spielberg founded SMG Artists with Larry Kosson. In addition to being a performing artist, Robin’s entrepreneurial spirit shines in her work with the agency staff, her own playMountain Music label and in-house publishing company, Spobs Music Inc (ASCAP).
Robin has produced over 65 showcases annually at the APAP conference in New York for the past decade. She is a voting member of NARAS, the Screen Actors Guild, and a founding member of the renown Atlantic Theater Company. She has served as Artist Spokesperson for the American Music Therapy Association since 2002. In addition to overseeing day to day operations of the agency, Robin manages the marketing of the agency, including the agency web site, social media (Facebook page, Twitter, Youtube channel, RSS feed and email newsletters). She handles juried showcase applications for the roster, conference registrations and advertising/marketing materials.
HISTORY OF THE ROOTS AGENCY
The Roots Agency began in 1995 as Drake & LaRoche, an aspiring boutique agency representing a modest roster of five singer/songwriters. Founding partner Sean LaRoche heralded from the glory days of Premier Talent, a legendary booking agency, which represented such British giants as Led Zeppelin, The Who, Yes, and Jethro Tull. Under Sean’s tutelage, Tim Drake quickly learned the ropes, booking that same year his first 130-date national album promo tour (for Vance Gilbert’s Shaking Off Gravity). By 1996, now known as Drake & Associates, the agency’s roster included its first multi-member band (The Burns Sisters), followed quickly, in 1997, by its first national rock club tour (for The Saw Doctors) and its first major label act (Jane Siberry on Warner Brothers Records).
Throughout its existence, The Roots Agency has successfully managed to continue filling the pages of its history with record-breaking growth and optimism, always building upon its solid foundation of superb musical talent and steadfast relations with topnotch venues.
