Mountain Music Entertainment, which recently indicated it would be shutting down operations, has announced that all its assets will be acquired by Make Welcome Entertainment. This comes as a result of Mountain Music principal Steve Johnson taking a position with Wilkes Community College in North Carolina to serve as artist relations liaison with MerleFest.
When his initial announcement about closing Mountain Music was made on October 4, Steve was representing Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road, I Draw Slow, Niall Toner, Brandon Rickman, and Mark Newton & Steve Thomas. Junior Sisk & Ramblers Choice had made the switch to Roe Entertainment the day before.
In a statement this morning, Johnson explained his reasons for relinquishing the agency he had built.
“With the opportunity to take the Artist Relations Manager position at MerleFest, I needed to find a home for the artists currently on the Mountain Music Entertainment roster and the events that we plan.
I am extremely excited about transferring the agency assets, some of the artists, the Jonesborough Bluegrass Series, and the events we supported as part of Bluegrass at the Rock in Valdese, North Carolina, to Make Welcome.
Both agencies have worked together in various capacities over the last two years. Given my changes and the need to help our artists find quality representation, this transition seemed like a great and natural fit.
I know Make Welcome Entertainment will do a superb job of working with the artists and events we once supported.”
The Mountain Music artists join a Make Welcome roster of notable grassers like Wildfire, Jett’s Creek, The Crowe Brothers, Volume Five, James Reams, and Circa Blue among them. They also work with country and roots acts in the areas of management, publicity and booking, as well as event planning and public relations for festivals.
Make Welcome was founded two years ago by Andrea Ball and Jennifer Jensen, and has offices in Nashville and Washington, DC.
Ball expressed confidence that their agency is well-positioned to do well for Johnson’s former clients.
“Make Welcome is very excited about the opportunity. The work Mountain Music Entertainment has performed for the music community and the efforts from Make Welcome are complimentary.
The acquisition of Mountain Music Entertainment will allow us to expand our scope to offer some exciting additions to our business model, which we plan to have in place by January.
We wish Steve the best in his new endeavor and look forward to representing our new artist family and supporting music events.”
Further details and contact information can be found on the Make Welcome Entertainment web site.
