Owen Orford
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Owen Orford is an Australian booking agent.
Early career
As a high school teacher with a BSc degree in Industrial Arts and Design in the early 1970s, Owen had aspirations of leaving the academic world to pursue his dream of becoming a professional rock singer. In 1972 as luck would have it his dreams came true and he joined hard rock group Finch. Blessed with a powerful voice and ‘a neat line in microphone acrobatics’ Owen was the perfect frontman for Finch and Contraband that included in its ranks Mark Evans (AC/DC) and Bob Spencer (Skyhooks). The band toured the country extensively and over the years released a number of high charting singles and albums, including the critically acclaimed Thunderbird in 1976. The band signed with US Label Portrait, changing their name to Contraband due to the presence of a Dutch band with the same name. After a string of line up changes the band eventually called it a day in 1979.
The following year Owen went to work at the agency that had booked his band, Harbour Premier. It was the 1980s and the era of the rise of the pub rock band. Owen quickly discovered a natural ability in his new found career as a booking agent, creating an elite roster of acts including Hoodoo Gurus, Models, Hunters & Collectors, Icehouse, Moving Pictures, The Radiators, The Cockroaches, Machinations, Kids in the Kitchen, Electric Pandas, Boom Crash Opera, Jenny Morris, Paul Kelly, Jimmy Barnes and Do-Re-Mi.
TPA
In 1989 Owen took a leap of faith, leaving Harbour Premier to take up the next challenge of his professional career, the daunting task of establishing his own agency.Trading Post Agency (TPA) was born. After a challenging initiation to the market TPA eventually found its feet, signing their first act for representation, none other than Australia’s biggest independent rock band, Midnight Oil. TPA hit its stride and throughout the years the company with Owen at the helm, represented such acts as Tommy Emmanuel, Savage Garden, Men at Work, Killing Heidi, Grinspoon and Spiderbait and also a number of international artists in Australia including Hothouse Flowers (Ireland), Crash Test Dummies (Canada) and The Pursuit of Happiness (Canada). TPA booked world tours for DIG, Karin Schaupp and sold out UK tours for Killing Heidi & Grinspoon.[1][2]
TPA quickly established a reputation as an industry leader overseeing the epic rise of one of Australia’s most successful bands Silverchair in the 90’s, culminating in the ground breaking Across the Great Divide tour in 2007. Throughout the years Owen’s dedication to the Australian music industry has been paramount, as evident from his involvement in various committees including the Commonwealth Government's Contemporary Music Touring Program as well as a stint as chairperson for MusicNSW. Industry acclaim has not eluded Owen either, taking out the award for Agent of the Year at the Australian Live Music Awards for 3 consecutive years.
New World Artists
2013 marks a new chapter for Owen taking up the role of Managing Agent at prestigious Australian booking agency, New World Artists.[3] New World Artists is an independent booking agency exclusively representing Artists for their live performances throughout Australasia with a roster of prominent clients including Daniel Johns, Drapht,[4] Grinspoon, RocKwiz Live, Silverchair and Sneaky Sound System.
References
- ^ Scott Ellis "Strike up the band", "The Sun-Herald", May 6, 2003
- ^ Christie Eliezer "Pokies Slow Local Touring", "Billboard", October 16, 1999
- ^ Christie Eliezer "Industrial Strength", "The Music Network", November 28, 2012
- ^ Christie Eliezer "Industrial Strength", "The Music Network", January 23, 2013
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