Joe Litvag Joins Blackbird Presents As Partner And President Of Live Entertainment

Courtesy of Blackbird Presents – Joe Litvag
Joe Litvag is joining Blackbird Presents as Partner and President of Live Entertainment.

Longtime AEG executive Joe Litvag has joined Blackbird Presents as Partner and President of Live Entertainment, the events and entertainment company announced Thursday.

The newly created position is a big one: Litvag will oversee Blackbird’s portfolio of live entertainment projects and help to develop new live ventures. According to a press release, “he will focus on expanding and diversifying major concert events, music festivals & tours and music-driven content projects.”

Blackbird’s robust portfolio includes Willie Nelson’s Outlaw Music Festival, which will hit the road for a fourth year this summer with a lineup that includes Phil Lesh & Friends, Alison Krauss, The Avett Brothers, Robert Plant, Bonnie Raitt and more.

Blackbird regularly stages all-star celebrations, and in January staged a tribute show to Willie at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. Other acts to have received Blackbird-presented tributes include Jerry Garcia, John Lennon and Merle Haggard.

Litvag most recently spent 15 years at AEG Presents as Senior Vice President, helping to establish the company’s Midwest presence and building several large-scale festivals. (Litvag spoke with Pollstar about his work at AEG in 2016.) Before AEG, Litvag worked at Contemporary Productions/SFX Entertainment/Clear Channel Entertainment, eventually rising to Vice President of Concerts.

“Joe’s deep experience in creating, building and executing a range of business plans and projects int he live music industry is extraordinary,” Blackbird Presents’ CEO Keith Wortman wrote in a statement. “The respect and admiration he has across our industry makes him the ideal person to lead Blackbird Presents in our next phase of growth.”

The feeling’s mutual. “After meeting Keith and the team at Blackbird Presents, I knew I’d found the right place to start the next chapter in my career,” said Litvag. “Their business is build on their exceptional personal relationships with artists, managers and agents, and it’s refreshing to see such a wonderfully simple yet unique approach to its rapidly expanding portfolio: Focus on iconic artists, put their music and legacy front-and-center and celebrate them in a first-class way.”