We were lucky to catch up with Russell Reinhart recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Russell thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I put myself in the position to learn more. While in college I worked at a radio station, KTSU 90.9, and pursued other work within the industry. I was not 100% clear on what I wanted to do within the industry, at the time I was an engineer and producer myself and I was majoring in Radio Television and Film, but I knew I wanted to learn more about the music industry and see what other opportunities were out there.

I got a second job at House of Blues Houston just because I wanted to be around like minded individuals. I really wanted to be in production and learn more about live sound but there were no openings at the time. I took a job as security just to get my foot in the door. While working security I was producing for another local artist and we decided we wanted to put on our own event. This artist also worked at House of Blues and after she
was put on a few local events and we saw how the local scene was ran we thought we could do better. We wanted to take our experience from seeing how live shows were ran at the professional level and bring that standard to the local scene.

I did not realize how much I did not know. The main way I learned everything I have was from hard work in the industry. I moved up at House of Blues from working security all the way up to one of the heads of the Production department in just a few years. I learned a lot about advancing shows and live production as well as invaluable information on the back end such as settling shows, deal types for artists, and structure of a venue. I worked for many other venues and companies for 7 years all while still booking my own events.

I really developed a passion for producing live events. I have a strong background in production but my passion developed more for booking. The best way to learn is by doing so I booked as many of my own events as I could. I focused on concerts specifically and have also developed a few festivals. For 7 years I went to events pretty much every day of the week, no joke. If I was not working an event I was at a local promoters event or a local artists show. This really helped build my connections and gave me more opportunities for work and collaborations going forward.

To learn about booking specifically I booked as many events as I could, put out a lot of offers on different artists at all different levels of success and I became an agent where I handled booking for artists specifically. The learning never ends. I have booked and worked with some major artists and the biggest thing I have learned is every show is different so every deal is different. Everything is negotiation, EVERYTHING. Different situations still pop up to this day and I think they always will. I will never stop learning and the more situations I am in the more versatile I will become with my negotiations. The skill that has helped me the most is learning how to negotiate deals and figure out how to make them appeal to both sides so that everyone feels like they are winning.

The only thing I think I could have done to speed up my learning process is if I focused on just booking earlier on when I realized I had a passion for it. That and be more confident in my deals and earlier on. I already took a lot of risks and you have to but there is a way to minimize risk. Just sticking with my gut when I feel something is off would have helped and just like many people I may have needed to cut other people out earlier on and move on. All in all though I think all of my experiences lead me to where I am. I am still growing but I appreciate the lessons I learned and I don’t think I would make many changes in my own personal journey. I had to face many obstacles, everything from personal relationships to making bad deals or not knowing or checking on the deal as a whole that I was getting in to. I had to learn to have everything in writing early on and ALWAYS communicate and ask questions.

Russell, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I explained how I got into my industry in the previous question. It was something I sought after. What I wanted out of my field and my focus did change over time a bit but all in all I put myself in a position to learn and network.

I book shows and have my own company called Flight Concerts and I am the personal booking agent for up and coming artists Dende and Jono Jono. I book concerts and festival and I help other brands and artists put on their own events. With Flight Concerts we ensure that everything for your event is done at the professional level. We guide you through every step. Everything from conception to execution. I like to simplify it as much as possible so I break events down into four pillars. Production, Box Office/Ticket sales, Marketing/Promotion, and Talent Buying/Booking. My team and myself ensure everything fits to your budget and you have room to make money, even if you are doing it for just promotional reasons.

There are a lot of other companies that do this and even based out of Houston but what sets us apart is the level of experience we bring to the table. Not just myself but my team included all have experience in their field for each of those pillars and at various levels of the industry.

I am most proud of a few things. One, my passion project has been a festival called Space City Geek Fest (which you can find on social media) which is a festival dedicated to highlighting the connection between music and comics, movies, video games, etc. Our first one was this year in February and it did EXTREMELY well. We were able to work with Comicpalooza and a bunch of local brands. Normally festivals don’t do so well for their first year but this one was received very well with high turn out and profit. We are planning next years now (2024) and will announce more on it soon.

The other thing I am very proud of is my work with Dende. I can’t speak to everything that is happening with him right now but I can say he has an American and European tour, that as of the release of this interview should have been announced already. He is doing very well and I am extremely pleased with the deals we worked out for him in each city. That is absolutely a team effort with his management company CXR but it has been a blast working with them all.

Flight will have many more events coming up that you need to stay tuned for. With the Space City Geek Fest we do many smaller events that are related to that festival all throughout the year at different locations, such as House of Blues in the Restaurant, White Cup Ent. The Retro Exchange, and more. All of those events are dedicated to my fellow geeks who also love music. We also have another Festival later this year that will be announced soon and many concerts and a couple tours. Our concerts range from local level to touring acts. Just follow @FlightConcerts and @SpaceCityGeekFest to keep up with all the fun. You can easily reach out to us if you yourself want to put on your own event and do not know how or where to begin. Events are THE BEST way to market and promote your brand. Get people engaged and provide them with a memory that will resonate with them forever.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

As I said earlier, I am always learning. Going to workshops and panels and finding a mentor is really big for learning but also reading as much as possible. There are 2 books that have changed my perspective on how to run a business.

1. The most common book you will hear about in the music industry is “All You Need To Know About The Music Business” by Donald S. Passman. This is the most common for good reason. Everyone in the industry reads it and it has updated versions coming out regularly so it stays relevant. It really is the bible.

2. My favorite book EVER for entrepreneurs as a whole is “The E-Myth.” This book is about franchise model of business specifically but the author gives AMAZING real life examples of certain situations and how to navigate setting up a business as a whole. He really breaks down the different types of people that start a business, how to think about your business as you develop it and grow it, and the roles people need to fill.

I have read both of these books multiple times. For people starting their own business, even in another field, I cannot recommend “The E-Myth” enough.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

The best way to support artists is:

1. Go to their shows. They make the bulk of their revenue at their shows. Not from ticket sales but from merch sales. Most of that is sold at a show.

2. Share their work, both online and to friends in person. Don’t wait to support your friends. Jam their music and spread the word just as hard for them as you would for Drake and Beyonce.

3. When you hear a new artist you may like, follow them. Lots of openers at larger shows are just starting to build traction and need every follow they can get.

4. If you are an artist yourself, go support other artists and collaborate with them. Too many artists fell they are in deep competition with everyone else and they become reclusive. Supporting each other will allow both of you to come up and collaborating will diversify and further develop your own sound.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flightconcerts/ or https://www.instagram.com/spacecitygeekfest/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/russell-reinhart-24606095/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@FLIGHTCONCERTS

Image Credits
@cassidyboi