Midwood Entertainment’s Reopened Artist Division Led By Lara Supan

Midwood Entertainment, a production company and boutique agency that offers guidance to venues, festivals and live events, announced Monday that its Artist Division has reopened and will be led by Lara Supan.

The company had discontinued its booking agency department during the COVID-19 pandemic and represented artists such as Doom Flamingo, Acoustic Syndicate, Certainly So and Wood Belly. With eight years of booking experience, Supan will look to build a diverse roster for Midwood Entertainment, which was founded in 2015 by Micah Davidson, with American and Canadian artists such as Carsie Blanton, Susan Werner, Kellie Loder, Kat Wright, Martyn Joseph and Seth Walker, a former booking client of Midwood Entertainment. She also wants to grow the renewed touring department with a “progressive and thoughtful approach” and new agents.

“It is important for me and this Midwood Entertainment division to focus on musical diversity as well as underrepresented groups of artists and agents,” Supan, a New York-based booking agent and a musician, said in a statement. “We will pride ourselves on being an artist-driven agency and strive to hire and collaborate with persons of color, members of the LGBTQ+ community, women and non-binary identifying individuals and other minority groups throughout our development and growth. I am excited for the opportunity to mold Midwood’s Artist Division into something we can be proud of as we look to the future of this industry. Highlighting integrity and ethical work practices, I believe we can, as an agency, prove that we can be kind and respectful while maintaining a high and consistent level of effectiveness.”

Supan still tours with her group South Rail and co-founded RoadNation, an artist-driven crowdsourcing marketplace, in 2015. She went on to start her own agency, Mile One Touring, before partnering with Fleming Artists in 2019. Veteran Agent Jim Fleming quickly promoted her to vice president and expressed gratitude for her contribution to the agency he founded, Fleming Artists.

“I’m very happy that Lara has found a new home at Midwood. She has done a wonderful job of running Fleming Artists for the past few years and having done so during some challenging times,” Fleming said. “Lara did this with great aplomb, confidence, and resilience. We will miss working with her, but it’s made easier knowing she’ll be using her multitude of skills continuing to benefit artists, her fellow workers, and the audiences who experience those gifted artists whom she represents.”

Davidson met Supan in person at this year’s Folk Alliance Conference. The two expressed admiration for each other’s work and share a similar goal of diversifying the entertainment sector and having more women in leadership positions within the music industry.

“Lara and I have been friends for a while, and she’s always been a very talented and knowledgeable agent,” said Davidson, who leads a team of all-women talent buyers and event coordinators. “When she approached me about restarting the Artist Division for Midwood, it was an easy and emphatic yes! She’s driven, as well as being respected by her artists, and buyers alike. The artists she represents are a perfect match to our overall mission for Midwood. I’m extremely excited to have her join the family and grow the artist division towards the future.”

Midwood Entertainment’s nationally recognized brands include Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion and North Carolina Brewers & Music Festival.