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People on the Move: Brian Nelson
06/27/2008 - By Helene Dortheimer
A little bit country...A little bit jersey shore
Some people wait for opportunity to come knocking on their door. Not Brian Nelson. His long-time philosophy to “never take no for an answer” has served him well, getting him to where he is today.
Brian grew up in Long Branch, and attended Long Branch High School and Brookdale Community College. In the early ’90s he took daily acting classes in New York City and realized he, like all aspiring actors, needed a supplemental income. He got a weekend job as a bartender at a club in Long Branch, called Murphy’s Law. The owner, trying to increase revenue, decided to promote different musical themes nightly. Brian jumped in and volunteered to do “Brian Nelson’s Metal Mondays.” He knew nothing about promotions, but that didn’t faze him at all. He was given the chance, and Metal Mondays took off, marking the beginning of Brian’s concert promoting career. He never dreamed at the time that he’d end up in Nashville as a country music manager.
Brian’s road to success has been bumpy. At Murphy’s Law he booked local and regional groups and then small national acts. The owner of The Fast Lane, a club in Asbury Park, hired him to book bigger national acts. He started working with New York and Los Angeles agencies like William Morris and CAA (Creative Artists Agency), and remembers finding all the agencies’ phone numbers and realizing, “Oh my god! These guys can get me all these bands!” That’s when he became a talent buyer, putting club promotion behind him. Bookings started with “pickup” dates for acts testing out small venues before hitting the big arenas. One band, Mr. Reality, was the key booking that sent Brian’s career on the right path. He got them a record deal, left the club business, and became a full-time manager. He quickly realized that he should have kept his day job, a lesson he needed several times before finding success. He went back and forth between clubs and managing: he reopened the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, left to manage some bands, and then reopened the Birch Hill Night Club in Sayreville. A few years of success there allowed him to opt out of the club business forever.
Subsequently, Brian signed two bands (Val Emmich and Borialis) to major labels; then another act brought him to Nashville. As he familiarized himself with this new territory, he found himself drawn to the sounds, realizing that country was not as “twangy or corny” as he first thought. In fact, he recognized that country music was transitioning – crossing into other music genres. Brian found an atmosphere of family and hospitality, forged many new friendships, and was introduced around town. One new friend was James Otto, a struggling country artist. After working through some disappointing years, James, Brian, and new partner, Cory Gierman, have recently gotten Otto to the top of the charts. Otto’s first hit single, “Just Got Started Loving You,” hit #1 on the Country Billboard chart for 2 weeks in May. Brian says, “It all boils down to… bringing success back to the family.”
Brian’s career continues to grow (Otto is joining “The Rowdy Friends Tour” with the likes of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Hank Williams, Jr., and Brooks and Dunn), and he now spends 3 weeks in Nashville and 1 week each month in Long Branch with wife Kim and 5-year-old son Jack. As much as Nashville is in his blood, so, too, is the lure of the Jersey Shore. “I drive back and forth…when I get to Exit 105…I get so excited that sometimes, before I go home, I head right to the beach and breathe in the most beautiful smell – the ocean.”
STATS
Favorite restaurant: from where I am sitting, any Italian food from Jersey!
Favorite music: classic rock and new country
Favorite Movie: Kingdom of Heaven
Pet peeve: pick up your dog’s poop people!
Three people you would like to have dinner with: Jack Nicholson, Robert De Niro, and Will Farrell at one table. I think that would be funny!
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