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Crosstown Concerts UK Promotes Four
Four young professionals have joined the team at Crosstown Concerts in the UK: Hayley Thompson, Richard Walsh, Simon Bailey, and Danny Morris.
Thompson ran her own website, Music Festival News, before joining Crosstown as a freelance digital marketer in 2017. As head of marketing since 2020, she oversaw all aspects of Crosstown’s digital and print marketing.
Come March 2023, Thompson will be booking and promoting her own shows for Crosstown, starting with “Do It Without You,” a showcase event for new talent at the Lexington in London. It will feature some of the best upcoming talent, including Bekah Bossard, Rosie Shaw, and Harriet Rock.
Walsh co-founded the Bristol-based record label Art Is Hard, before becoming a music promoter. For six years, his company 1% of One promoted shows with the likes of Weyes Blood, Alex G, Bill Callahan, Mitski, Yard Act, and Black Country, New Road.
During this time, Walsh also founded Factor 50, managing the careers of Katy J Pearson, Happyness and Young Knives, alongside working as an assistant on the Adam Buxton podcast. Richard joined Crosstown Concerts in January 2023 as a national promoter.
See: Crosstown Concerts Launches Artist Management Division In The UK
Bailey, also known as “Blaze,” looks back on over a decade of experience as a concert promoter. Starting his career in the late 2000s on the booking team of the Wolverhampton Civic Halls, he also has experience in venue, artist and tour management.
Bailey founded Future Perfect in 2015, bringing artists such as Loyle Carner, IDLES, Tom Grennan, Slowdive, Easy Life, Dermont Kennedy, Courtney Barnett, and many more to Oxford, England. During this time, he also founded Ritual Union Festival in 2017.
Bailey and Crosstown Concerts have been working together on shows since 2018, and he continues to promote UK shows with the likes of Katy J Pearson, Pale Blue Eyes, Kurt Vile, DIIV, Bellowhead, Thea Gilmore, Easy Star All-Stars, The Comet Is Coming, Warmduscher, amongst many others. In 2020, he launched Ritual Union Festival in Bristol in collaboration with Walsh. Bailey is looking at over 150 shows scheduled for 2023 already.
Morris used to book bands for grassroots indie venues, generally puncheing above his weight with artists such as Idles, Catfish & The Bottlemen, and Bill Ryder Jones.
He also worked as in-house promoter for Preston Guild Hall, booking artists such as White Lies, Bowling for Soup, Pigeon Detectives, Soul II Soul, and British Sea Power.
After a brief stint at VMS Live, Morris moved to TEG MJR, where he promoted 300-plus shows a year, and worked with the likes of De La Soul, Dinosaur JR, Eagles of Death Metal, Kiefer Sutherland, Alfa Mist, Starsailor, and Red Rum Club.
Morris joined Crosstown Concerts in 2022, where he promotes UK tours for the likes of The Sherlocks, Badly Drawn Boy, John Cooper Clarke, and Max Cooper, and is also booking artists, including The Lemonheads, We Are Scientists, and Hot 8 Brass Band. Retaining his love of grassroots music, Morris is passionate about new and developmental artists, working with Affleck’s Palace, Pip Blom, and Tide Lines as well.
Crosstown Concerts was founded in 2016 by directors and industry veterans Conal Dodds and Paul Hutton. “Maintaining its independent status, with a focus on nurturing a loyal stable of artists and protecting fans from secondary ticketing, the company has promoted over 2,000 live shows across the UK,” by its own admission.
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The new hires and promotions will significantly lower the average age in the office. Said Dodds, “Promoting live music has never been more vibrant, as we rise from the turmoil of the pandemic to shape a new landscape. I was keen to introduce new voices into Crosstown that face the future. This new breed of promoters each bring their own passion, individual ideas and ambitions that will bring progression to our business, the artists and fans.”
And he explained, “Paul Hutton is stepping back from front line promoting from the end of March to take up an advisory consultancy role, so our new team is the way forward for Crosstown. We celebrated our 7th anniversary in business earlier this month and we look forward to the next seven!”