Alan Bearman Music is a primarily a music agency representing some of the foremost artists on the folk, roots and acoustic music scene.

ABM was formed in late 2004 and is based in North London. Prior to that Alan worked as Artistic Director of Sidmouth International Festival for eighteen years and programmed numerous prestigious festivals and events for Mrs Casey Music.

Alan is joined now in ABM by Ceri Wade, Lauren McCormick and Hester Chillingworth. Whilst agency is our core business we continue to work as programmers and consultants and are heavily involved in many aspects of the folk scene. Alan continues to programme Towersey Festival in Oxfordshire and has recently worked on the Festival of the Peninsula and Ards International Guitar Festival in Northern Ireland as well as programming Conferences and Showcases for FolkArts England and the Association of Festival Organisers.

ABM works closely with a number of associates including Navigator Records, Reveal Records and Agency, Topic Records, Stoneyport Associates, Mrs Casey Music, AFO, heypressco and Spiral Earth. Glass Ceiling PR tell the world about our artists’ gigs.

With many years of club, event and festival organisation behind us we provide a professional, understanding and complete service for our artists and bookers alike.

Consultancy

Current clients include:

Mrs Casey Music

Smallworld Music, Belfast

FolkArts England

The Association of Festival Organisers

Whilst specialising in artistic matters, Alan Bearman Music offers consultancy and support on all related aspects of festivals and together with experienced associates cover the whole range of event management.

Programming

Past work includes:

Artistic Director:
Sidmouth International Festival 1991-2004

Event Programmer and Consultant:
Festival of the Peninsula, Newtownards, Northern Ireland 2005-2007
Ards International Guitar Festival, Newtownards, Northern Ireland 2005-2008
Mrs Casey Music 1988-2005, projects included:

• Evolving Tradition Weekend - Barbican Centre, London
• American Music Weekends - Barbican Centre, London
• Concerts at Royal Albert Hall and Royal Festival Hall
• Farnham Folk Day- Farnham, Surrey
• Easter Festival for The Rank Organisation
• Arts in the Parks - Hampshire County Council

Concert Programmer and Consultant
English Folk Dance and Song Society 1998-2000

Director
Chestnuts Community Festival, Walthamstow, London 1984-1990

Programme Co-ordinator -
Bands in the Park, for Waltham Forest Arts Council 1985-1987

Training Programmes available

After many years of leading seminars at Association of Festival Organisers conferences, Alan Bearman Music can now offer training on all aspects of event programming- from a one hour session on Booking Artists for Beginners to a full day on Working with Artists and Agents. An experienced trainer, Alan can produce a programme appropriate to your needs.

Alan recently wrote the Promoters' Guide for FolkArts England. In November 2006 Alan was a speaker at the Traditional Music Gathering at Glor Traditional Music Centre in Ennis, County Clare and ran a training day for Folk ArtsEngland on Artistic Programming.

Programmes focus on developing a managed approach to artist selection, negotiations, contracting, programming and marketing.

Learn about

• Strategies for negotiating with artists and agents.
• Avoiding unexpected problems and costs.
• Getting the best from your artists.
• Working with Overseas Artists

The day covers the booking process from first ideas to the event itself and covers

• Preparing to Programme
• Negotiations
• Contracting
• From Contract to Concert

Individual sessions can concentrate on any of the above or related issues