Tim Drake - Agent/President
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 dozen-year history, the agency has evolved into a model talent booking presence.
Tim currently serves on the board of directors for NAPAMA (an association of North American Performing Arts Managers and Agents) and frequently participates in industry forums and seminars. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Management from Pace University.
Based out of the main office in Westwood, New Jersey, he serves as President of The Roots Agency. Tim is responsible for overseeing agency operations and for booking the Mid Atlantic, Southwest, Hawaii, and Canada.
David Tamulevich – Agent/VP Artist Development
David Tamulevich began his musical career in 1975, with the formation of the award-winning duo Mustard's Retreat, with which he still performs. After touring full time for nearly ten years, and looking to raise a family and be on the road less, he cut back on touring (now doing about sixty shows per year) and focused on agenting and management of other artists. He was instrumental in developing the careers of John Gorka, Ani DiFranco, Greg Brown, Dar Williams, and Ellis Paul, as well as the late Stan Rogers and Kate Wolf, among many others. A founding member of the Folk Alliance, he also serves/has served on the advisory boards of Sing Out!, The Ark, The Eighth Step, Common Ground and The Saturday Light Brigade.
David is considered one of the preeminent agents in the field by artists, managers, and venues alike. Known for his honestly and integrity, he is not only credited with helping to establish the current folk circuit, but also for redefining the traditional artist/agent/venue relationship as more of a cooperative partnership based on mutual long-term objectives. He has presented many workshops on a variety of topics related to touring/management/recording, and his articles are widely used by artists, agents and managers.
He oversees touring development strategies (particularly for emerging artists) and books New England, Midwest, and Texas from the Ann Arbor, MI office.
Trish Galfano – Agent/Partner
Trish Galfano came to the entertainment business circuitously via careers in political campaigns and fundraising, management, and promotion. In the 1980s, she worked with various citizen and environmental organizations on statewide and national issues and electoral campaigns and managed fundraising operations in several states along the eastern seaboard of the US. After the birth of her 2nd daughter, she left the political arena, returned to college, built a home, and worked with an architectural firm in management and bookkeeping. During this time, she co-founded a successful concert series in Chapel Hill, NC, building from presenting local talent to national and international artists. It was the artists she presented in Chapel Hill who suggested she work as a booking agent – something she had never considered, but which idea she instantly embraced.
In 2001, Trish formed TG2 Artists, a small boutique agency representing a diverse clientele of the finest artists. The agency grew from a part time interest with 2 artists to a successful small agency representing nine of the great talents in jazz, bluegrass, Americana, and dance. Trish’s ear and eye for talent leans towards innovators, and she brings artists such as gypsy jazz master John Jorgenson, jazz saxophone legend Bill Evans, and violin innovator Darol Anger to the Roots Agency roster, among others.
Trish works out of the Carrboro, NC office and is responsible for booking the Southeast, Pacific Northwest, California, and Alaska.
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).
Within those first two years, the agency roster grew to include seventeen artists. Two staff members had been added (Agent Assistant and Office Manager), in addition to its core of two booking agents. Drake & Associates was already beginning to make its mark in the talent-booking arena.
By 2001, revenues had soared, with the roster stabilizing at seventeen artists. Although the number of artists had leveled off, the profile and prestige of those artists continued to evolve dramatically. Sixties legends Richie Havens and Janis Ian joined the agency in 2001, followed closely by Celia Cruz, the Queen of Salsa, who was to win a Latin Grammy in 2002 and solidly introduced Drake & Associates to the Latin and large presenter markets, as well as establishing a stronger presence in the performing arts arena.
Never static, the agency merged with Tamulevich Artists Management in 2002 and became known as The Roots Agency. Veteran agent David Tamulevich significantly raised the agency’s staffing profile and paved the way for The Roots Agency to emerge as a notable force in the talent-booking world. Revenues continued to grow at an exceptional pace as the support staff grew to include a full time Operations Manager and four part-time staff (two Agent Assistants, a Financial Manager and a Marketing Assistant). Capitalizing on its unexpected headway into the Latin and performing arts markets, in 2003, the Roots Agency formed an alliance with Rosi Amador and MusicAmador, in Boston. Acts such as Peru Negro and Eva Ayllon began selling out venues like New York’s Town Hall and Lincoln Center Jazz, as well as Midwest performing arts centers.
Relationships that have been developed with performing arts centers - the largest single buyer of the Roots Agency Latin roster - are now growing to include a broader spectrum of artists from the agency’s overall roster, even as the roster itself is expanding and strengthening. Recent strong roster additions especially attractive to the performing arts and larger presenter markets include Lesley Gore, John McDermott, and the Hampton (Rock) String Quartet. Additionally, The Roots Agency has recently teamed up with respected booking agent Mark Smith, formerly of ICM Artists, to facilitate festival booking (a Roots Agency specialty) for Arlo Guthrie.
In 2006, The Roots Agency once again experienced a dramatic and encouraging upsurge in bookings. By early 2007, agent Trish Galfano of TG2 Artists had joined forces with the agency, bringing with her a compact but impressive roster of diverse and innovative artists, including John Jorgenson, Bruce Molsky, and Bearfoot.
Even as a new year gets underway, The Roots Agency manages to continue filling the pages of its history with record-breaking growth and optimism, built upon a solid foundation of superb musical talent and steadfast relations with topnotch venues.
