Skyline Artists Agency To Close After 35 Years, Founder Bruce Houghton To Remain Active With Bandsintown, Hypebot, NITO

Longtime talent agency Skyline Artists Agency is closing after more than 35 years in business, founder and president Bruce Houghton announced Dec. 4.

“We knew after the pandemic that it was time to wind things down, but I wanted to do it the right way and that took time,” Houghton said in an email announcing the agency’s closure.

The boutique agency’s roster in its early days was anchored by artists including Foghat, The Outlaws and Johnny Winter, with other long-term clients ranging from George Winston to Solomon Burke, to The Von Trapps, Merl Sanders as well as Americana artists like Roger McGuinn and Gangstagrass. Many artists including Pure Prairie League, Atlanta Rhythm Section, Firefall, Orleans and The Machine had been with Houghton for more than two decades.

Before Skyline, Houghton worked at regional talent agencies in Boston, including at Pretty Polly and for Tim Collins.

“I did regional booking with Skyline for a number of years until Foghat literally fell into my lap,” Houghton said. “Then it was off the the races trying to learn how to be a national agent. I remember going to Harvard Square to buy out of town papers for club listings and devouring Promoters-Online Listings (aka Pollstar), which if memory serves me right was printed on a photocopier at first.”

While the team “was always remote long before it was fashionable,” Skyline was based in Boston for its first 20 years, later New Hampshire, followed by Roanoke, Virginia.

Before announcing the agency’s closing, Houghton says it was important to make sure longtime Skyline Agents like Andrea Sabata and Mark Lourie, part of the agency from the beginning, found a new home.

“Rather than selling the company, it was important that the team and artists who made Skyline successful landed well,” Houghton said. “I think we achieved that.” Sabata is now at The Kurland Agency, Laurie at Madison House, and colleagues James Leslie and Ben Rossman joined Dynamic Talent. Further, Casey Bonilla opened a bakery and Katy Cates has retired.

Houghton will remain active as a Senior Advisor to Bandsintown, contributor to industry blog Hypebot that he founded 20 years ago, as a professor for Berklee Online and volunteering with the National Independent Talent Organization (NITO).

“For a music lover who had never worked at a major agency, Skyline had an incredible run,” Houghton shared. “I couldn’t have asked for more.”