Shakey Graves

He’s applied those skills to a new role that may make him more famous as a musician.

As Shakey Graves, he’s found a second career – one that is providing infinitely steadier work – as a blues singer and guitarist who often performs with a suitcase-turned-kickdrum, which comes in really handy in airports.

His music agent, Keith Levy of New Frontier Touring, was a musician before becoming an agent and met Garcia when they were booked to play in an Austin bar.

“There were maybe 15 people in the room,” Levy told Pollstar. “But there was a full camera crew filming his performance. I watched the whole thing thinking, ‘What is this guy on to that I don’t know about yet?’”

The video is still on YouTube, along with dozens that helped grow Rose-Garcia’s fanbase. So has his relentless touring, glowing press including features in the New York Times and NPR, and a performance that can range from solo shows to as many as seven other singers and musicians that join his set as the show unfolds.

Levy left Austin for Nashville and New Frontier, but he didn’t forget the charismatic guy with the suitcase kickdrum and camera crew.

“I kept watching him and there was a point where, in Austin, you ask the promoters who is the hot local you can put on somebody’s show, and for six month it was always Shakey Graves. Every time. That’s when the lightbulb went off in my head that I needed to reconnect.”

Levy signed Rose-Garcia, who was selling out DIY itineraries from Austin to Chicago to Denver. In addition to a slew of sold-out shows at progressively larger clubs, including two sellouts at the El Rey in Los Angeles, Shakey Graves hit several of the major festivals last year and, according to Levy, the demand for 2015 and beyond is even hotter.