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Owen Orford

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Owen Orford[1] is an Australian booking agent and concert coordinator. Owen Orford transitioned from lead singer in Australian touring bands Finch, Contraband and Toys, to venue booker of Sydney venues throughout the 1980s. He went on to promote tours for local and international acts and has booked shows for more than 100 Australian artists over the past 38 years.

Early career

Owen Orford was a high school teacher with a BSc degree in Industrial Art 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, he joined hard rock group Finch. The band toured the country extensively and over the years released a number of hit singles and albums, including the critically acclaimed Thunderbird in 1976. The band signed with United States Label Portrait, changing their name to Contraband due to the existence of a Dutch band with the same name. After a run of line-up changes the band split up in 1979. The following year Orford went to work at the agency that had booked his band, Harbour Premier. Owen quickly discovered a natural ability in his new found career as a booking agent, developing an impressive 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 Orford left Harbour Premier to establish his own agency, Trading Post Agency (TPA). After an initial struggle, TPA signed their first act, Australian 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, Spiderbait, Falling Joys, Tall Tales and True, Clouds, Margaret Urlich, The Black Sorrows, The Screaming Jets, Kasey Chambers, Grace Knight, Wendy Matthews, The Living End, COG and Mammal, and also a number of international artists in Australia including; Hothouse Flowers (Ireland), Crash Test Dummies (Canada), NoMeansNo (Canada), Jello Biafra Spoken Word (USA) and The Pursuit of Happiness (Canada). TPA booked world tours for; DIG, Karin Schaupp, and sold-out UK tours for Killing Heidi & Grinspoon.[2][3]

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, initiating a joint venture with Powderfinger in the ground breaking Across the Great Divide Tour in 2007.

Throughout the years, Orford’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 Orford either, taking out the award for Agent of the Year at the Australian Live Music Awards for three consecutive years.

New World Artists

Orford is Executive Director and Tour Coordinator at prestigious Australian booking agency, New World Artists.[4] New World Artists is an independent booking agency exclusively representing Artists for their touring and live concerts with a prominent client list that includes; Tina Arena, Daniel Johns, Drapht,[5], Grinspoon, Spiderbait, Rockwiz Live, Silverchair, Watsky (USA), British India, The Potbelleez, The Superjesus, and Sneaky Sound System. In 2010, Silverchair headlined 5 Groovin’ The Moo one day events along with Grinspoon, and propelled this regional touring festival to national touring festival. In 2017, NWA activated milestone event tours for: Spiderbait (Ivy & The Big Apples), Grinspoon (Guide To Better Living) and Tina Arena (Innocence to Understanding - 40th Anniversary Tour), and all became the highest selling national tours for each of these Artists to date.

References

  1. ^ "ASCAP ACE Search: Writers: Owen Orford". American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  2. ^ Scott Ellis "Strike up the band", "The Sun-Herald", 6 May 2003
  3. ^ Christie Eliezer "Pokies Slow Local Touring", "Billboard", 16 October 1999
  4. ^ Christie Eliezer "Industrial Strength", "The Music Network", 28 November 2012
  5. ^ Christie Eliezer "Industrial Strength", "The Music Network", 23 January 2013
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