Todd Walker Launches Outer/Most Agency
Touring industry veteran agent Todd Walker has launched his own independent booking agency Outer/Most where he will serve as chief executive.
Touring industry veteran agent Todd Walker has launched his own independent booking agency Outer/Most where he will serve as chief executive. The former Paradigm agent’s rouster includes Nils Frahm, Christian McBride, Anoushka Shankar and Ólafur Arnalds and will be run with the help of agent and partner Kelly Deasy and director of operations Amy Butterer, both operating out of Chicago. Walker will be based in Boston.
“A lot of our artists tend to not fit in a particular lane but have some great opportunities in touring and different venues,” Walker tells Billboard. “I believe in a diversified tour strategy where artists can play anywhere from a club to a mainstream festival, or a boutique or arts festival or even a performing arts center. I really try and work with artists that have a mission in mind as far as a strategy towards cultivating audiences in a lot of different environments.”
Walker started his own agency in the late 1990s and worked as an indie promoter before joining tge International Music Network in 2000, where he worked with international including Buena Vista Social Club, Caetano Veloso and Baaba Maal. He joined The Windish Agency in 2012, where he became a senior agent heading the company’s Performing Arts department and helped greatly expand and diversify the range of bookings available for more left-of-center artists, from historic venues such as New York’s Carnegie Hall and London’s Barbican to emerging cross-genre platforms such as FORM Arcosanti, Big Ears and MUTEK.
“Working at Windish and later Paradigm taught me that indie artists and commerical artists had a lot in common and they could work together in different spaces,” Walker told Billboard. “We are seeing a new generation of creative directors embrace new artists and it’s creating some great new opportunities.”
Deasy, Walker’s partner in Outer/Most is, a passionate member of the Chicago music community who represents emerging Chicago artists such as Kweku Collins, KAINA and Tasha.
Learn more and see a full roster at outermostagency.com.
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