Former Live Nation president of music Charlie Walker has left the company and joined forces with Charlie Jones and Charles Attal, co-producers of Lollapalooza and the Austin City Limits Music Festival.
Attal, Jones and Walker will be partners in a new event production and concert promotion entity, the name of which is being finalized, and the three have quickly added a new Texas country music mega-fest to their event roster. The event is set for October at Texas World Speedway near College Station.
Attal is president of promoter/talent buyer Charles Attal Presents (CAP) and Fourth Floor Management (Blues Traveler, Jack Ingram, Ben Kweller, Sparklehouse). Jones is a partner in Capital Sports and Entertainment, which will continue as a sports event marketing company. Walker was named president of Live Nation’s music division when it spun off from its parent company, Clear Channel Communications. He came into the Live Nation family through the acquisition of PACE Concerts in 1998.
“We are merging CSE’s music assets, CAP, and Fourth Floor Management into one new entity,” Attal tells Billboard.biz.
Walker will relocate from Los Angeles to Austin, Texas, where the new company will be based. When asked why the move was appealing, Walker tells Billboard.biz, “We have all been close friends for 10-plus years. We believe this is a great opportunity for all three of us, and there is no better time than now.”
As for a corporate philosophy for the new venture, Attal says that would be “Tee it high, and let it fly.”
Jones says the industry should expect more of what CSE and CAP have been doing: strategically-booked, multi-dimensional events that strive to be both band- and fan-friendly. “We’re going to continue to grow the festival model and continue to grow in the live music space, including our concert promotion division, and stuff that nobody hears about like the non-profits we work with,” says Jones.
Meanwhile, it is expected that Live Nation will announce a significant restructuring of its executive team in the wake of Walker’s departure.
