Four young industry professionals – Danny Morris, Simon ‘Blaze’ Bailey, Hayley Thompson, and Richard Walsh – have joined the team at Crosstown Concerts to bring fresh vision and extend the independent promoters’ network of artists and live shows.
Crosstown Director, Conal Dodds has 32 years of experience promoting live music, forming Crosstown Concerts in 2016 with fellow Director, Paul Hutton. Maintaining its independent status, with a focus on nurturing a loyal stable of artists and protecting fans from secondary ticketing, the company has promoted over 2,000 live shows across the UK. But the average age in the office has come down recently, with the addition of new talent.
“Promoting live music has never been more vibrant, as we rise from the turmoil of the pandemic to shape a new landscape. I was keen to introduce new voices into Crosstown that face the future. This new breed of promoters each bring their own passion, individual ideas and ambitions that will bring progression to our business, the artists and fans,” Dodds said. “Paul Hutton is stepping back from the front line promoting from the end of March to take up an advisory consultancy role, so our new team is the way forward for Crosstown. We celebrated our seventh anniversary in business earlier this month and we look forward to the next seven years!”
Thompson ran her own website, Music Festival News, before joining Crosstown as a freelance digital marketer in 2017. As the Head of Marketing since 2020 (clearly a very challenging time!), Hayley oversaw all aspects of Crosstown’s digital and print marketing and from March 2023 is also making the move into the heady world of booking and promoting her own shows for Crosstown. Her debut showcase event “Do It Without You” begins on April 18th at London Lexington featuring the best new upcoming talent with Bekah Bossard, Rosie Shaw & Harriet Rock – @doitwithoutyou. Hayley is currently at SXSW in Austin scouting new international talent for Crosstown.
Treading initial footprints through a world of staunchly DIY music, Walsh’s label ‘Art Is Hard’ helmed early releases with Porridge Radio, The Orielles and The Golden Dregs, before making a move to Bristol to further steps in independent assembly, this time as a music promoter. For six years, his company, ‘1% of One’, promoted shows with the likes of Weyes Blood, Alex G, Bill Callahan, Mitski, Yard Act and Black Country, New Road. During this time, Walsh also founded Factor 50, managing the careers of Katy J Pearson, Happyness and Young Knives, alongside working as an assistant on the Adam Buxton podcast. Richard joined Crosstown Concerts in January 2023 as a national promoter and is busy confirming shows across the UK.
Blaze, meanwhile, is a seasoned concert promoter with over a decade of experience. Starting his career in the late 2000s at Wolverhampton Civic Halls in the booking team, he also has experience in venue, artist and tour management. He founded Future Perfect in 2015, bringing artists such as Loyle Carner, IDLES, Tom Grennan, Slowdive, Easy Life, Dermont Kennedy, Courtney Barnett and many more to Oxford. During this time, he also founded Ritual Union Festival in 2017.
Blaze has worked with Crosstown Concerts since 2018 and continues to promote UK shows with the likes of Katy J Pearson, Pale Blue Eyes, Kurt Vile, DIIV, Bellowhead, Thea Gilmore, Easy Star All-Stars, The Comet Is Coming, Warmduscher amongst many others. In 2020, he launched Ritual Union Festival in Bristol in collaboration with Crosstown’s Richard Walsh. Simon will promote over 150 shows in 2023.
Starting life playing in and booking DIY bands for grassroots indie venues, Morris generally punched above his weight booking artists such as Idles, Catfish & The Bottlemen and Bill Ryder Jones into 200-capacity rooms. Being a music fan at heart, he promotes a wide array of genres, from indie, rock and electronica to metal, punk and Ska.
Morris moved over to the Preston Guild Hall as the in-house promoter, booking artists such as White lies, Bowling for Soup, Pigeon Detectives, Soul II Soul & British Sea Power. After a brief stint working for VMS Live, Danny moved over to TEG MJR, where he promoted 300+ shows a year, and worked with the likes of De La Soul, Dinosaur JR, Eagles of Death Metal, Kiefer Sutherland, Alfa Mist, Starsailor and Red Rum Club.
He moved to Crosstown Concerts in 2022, where he promotes UK tours for the likes of The Sherlocks, Badly Drawn Boy, John Cooper Clarke, & Max Cooper – also booking the likes of The Lemonheads, We Are Scientists and Hot 8 Brass Band. Retaining his love of grass-roots music he is passionate about new and developmental artists, working with Affleck’s Palace, Pip Blom and Tide Lines.