Dave Rose is the co-founder and co-owner of Deep South Entertainment, a record label, artist management, music publishing, merchandising, and concert event production company, with offices in Raleigh, N.C., and Nashville.

Dave launched Deep South in 1995 with college friend and co-music fanatic, Andy Martin, as a small independent record label out of the third bedroom of their apartment in Raleigh. The company started out by releasing "Deep" compilations where they would find new talent and feature Deep South artists on the compilations, such as The Marvelous 3, Far Too Jones, Collapsis, Cigar Store Indians, The Nickel Slot, and The Belmont Playboys.

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"Many of these titles still do quite well for us," Dave notes. Deep South quickly obtained national recognition as its artists and their releases began to achieve success, most notably, Five for Fighting, Sister Hazel, The Marvelous 3, and Marcy Playground with its #1 hit, Sex and Candy.

Deep South Entertainment's record label today is broken into two primary divisions: a company that manages artist-owned labels and an independent record label operating as Deep South Records. On the artist-owned side, Deep South manages record labels for Iris Dement (Flariella Records), Little Feat (Hot Tomato Records) and Stryper (Fifty Three Five Records). As an independent record label, Deep South acts "as a stepping stone for developing acts," Dave explains. "Our most recent artists include Parmalee, Pico Vs. Island Trees and Waylandsphere.

As Deep South expanded, it gradually shifted its focus to artist management. Over the years, it handled the careers of Bruce Hornsby, Little Feat, SR-71, Stryper, Vienna Teng, and many others. Today, Deep South's current management roster includes: Little Feat, Vienna Teng, Stryper, Kyler England, John Wozniak, Michael Sweet, and Bill Payne, "who recently released an amazing solo record called Cielo Norte, and we're working on a tour for him as a solo artist," Dave informs. As a record label, Deep South also manages the DVD and CD releases from Paul Barrere and Fred Tackett.

Deep South's merchandising arm, Choice Merchandise, is a supplier and on-line merchandise fulfillment company for more than two dozen national acts, including The Subdudes, Allison Moorer, The Outlaws, Little Feat, Stryper, Bruce Hornsby, Darden Smith, Archers of Loaf and, Iris DeMent, Crooked Fingers, Kyler England, Parmalee, and Michael Sweet.Continuing as a multi-faceted enterprise, Deep South, along with the Raleigh Convention Center, produces Bud Light Downtown Live, which, in its two years, has become North Carolina's largest free outdoor summer concert series featuring national recording artists, held in downtown Raleigh and attracting an average of 8,000 music fans from all over the southeast. The Violent Femmes, Better Than Ezra, Spin Doctors, Candlebox, Blue October, Butch Walker, Big Head Todd & The Monsters and many others are among the acts who have performed at the free event.

"Bud Light Downtown Live is just one of the many concerts we produce," Dave informs. "Locally, we handle most every major outdoor concert in Raleigh, but the others are typically annual events, whereas Bud Light Downtown Live is a summer series. We also produce The Capital City Bike Fest, a two-day Harley Davidson Rally in downtown Raleigh that features over 15 national and regional bands. That takes place the last weekend of September every year."

"Most of the concerts we produce locally are typically free outdoor concerts," he continues. "We don't do a lot of hard-ticket venues. Although we're not opposed to that, and we've done a few small regional shows in that fashion, we're primarily known as the outdoor free concert producers."

Some of the acts Deep South has promoted for events outside of the Bud Light Downtown Live series include Aaron Tippin, Miranda Lambert, Duncan Shiek, Drivin N Cryin, Royal Crown Revue, David Lee Murphy, Foghat, Vertical Horizon, The Smithereens, Cracker, Tres Chicas and Angie Aparo.

Deep South also produces smaller summer concert series for area malls, bars, radio stations. "Recently we co-produced an enormous event called Raleigh Wide Open, which was a celebration for the opening of Fayetteville Street--the main street that runs in front of the Capital building in Downtown Raleigh," Dave adds.. "Royal Crown Revue headlined that event, and over 50,000 people attended. We plan to continue to produce and promote concerts."

The Nashville office houses the newest addition to Deep South Entertainment: Songs of Deep South, the music publishing company headed by Greg Gallo. "We sign songwriters and artists and bring them to Nashville to write with local writers there," says Dave. "It gives great writers, from say Topeka, Kan., or wherever, a chance to get to Nashville and write with some of the A-level writers there. The Nashville office is located just a few blocks off Music Row and has been fully operational for about a year and a half now."

Some of the writers include Tery Anderson, who wrote songs for The Georgia Satellites and Jo Dee Messina; Mike Daly, formerly of Whiskeytown; and Jo Lloyd, formerly of Stretch Princess on Wind-Up Records.

Do you and Andy have different areas you focus on?
Just like any great partnership, we each have our areas of focus. But we also collaborate on everything. Although he may be more hands on with a certain aspect of our business, or vice versa, we both make decisions collectively and work very closely together in every aspect of our business. We both have strengths and weaknesses that work well together. I've never understood partnerships where the two partners had the exact same strengths. As I've lightheartedly said many times: If Andy and I were exactly alike, there'd be no need for two of us. It's a great relationship.

What kinds of artist labels do you look to sign for distribution?
An artist-owned label situation is obviously very different than what we look for as an independent record label. In an artist-owned label situation, we look for an artist who obviously has a loyal fan base, where the artist will benefit financially by retaining the rights to their masters and thus receiving a much larger portion of the profits than they would with a traditional record deal. As an independent label we look for talent we believe in. It's really that simple. We look for artists that we believe we can help get to the next level.

Can you take them to the next level or do you to place them elsewhere?
We certainly play a roll in that. For example, we released the first Far Too Jones and the first Marvelous 3 records. During that time we worked alongside their managers to assist in getting them deals with Mammoth and Elektra, respectively. Each situation is different. But yes, we're always active with each artist we release in helping to get them to the next level.

Does your Deep South imprint appear on their new labels?
Not typically, but each situation is different. Typically, though, they're just one album deals.

What kind of artists do you look to sign for management?
At the risk of sounding cliché, we look for artists that we believe in musically. Deep South was founded as an independent record label where we simply looked for great songs and great artists. We didn't care about the hype or politics of music and that philosophy still holds true today. We care about talented artists.

On that same note, it has to be a situation where we feel the relationship will be beneficial to the artist. I may love a really talented polka band, but I don't know a lot about the polka industry, so it has to be a situation where I feel as though the artist will genuinely benefit from our services.

What kind of tour support do you look for your management clients on other labels?
In the traditional sense of tour support--label gives artist money to cover touring expenses--it's rarely even a topic, as all of the artists we work with don't require tour support. Tour support for our management clients lie more in the sense of marketing, retail, radio and publicity support while on the road. Whenever possible, I try to shy away from traditional tour support and prefer that the label spend their money on marketing and publicity.

What kind of tour support do you offer artists on your label?
As a label we don't offer traditional tour support, but we handle tour publicity and marketing while on the road. I'm a big advocate of street teams and grassroots marketing, so we have a strong system in place to organize and motivate street teams surrounding our artists' tours.

How did you come to sign Little Feat for management?
We met Little Feat through their booking agent at the time, Joe Brauner, who was at Monterey Peninsula Artists back in March 2001. When I first met Joe, he was Bela Fleck's agent, and Bruce Hornsby was doing some dates with Bela. That's how we initially got to know one another. I remember it like it was yesterday. We had an initial phone call with Bill Payne and then just a few days later we were on a plane to California to meet with him and Paul Barrere about management. We began working together almost immediately after that. They had been self-managed for a couple of years, and Joe felt we would make a good team. He was right. As a company, we get what they are about. And they get us. It's an amazing relationship.

What is the story behind Little Feat's Hot Tomato Records?
It's actually quite a bit more than concert releases. It's also studio records and DVDs. We started Hot Tomato Records with the band in 2001, and it has been an incredibly successful venture for them, both financially and artistically. Hot Tomato initially started to release Little Feat titles but has branched into other areas as well. In addition to releasing solo projects for the members of Little Feat, Hot Tomato recently signed and released an album for Illinois based band, The Boat Drunks. They are all distributed through Redeye Distribution, another North Carolina based company. Right now there are about 15 titles on the Hot Tomato Records label and they are selling very well. We're all really excited about the future of Hot Tomato Records.

Little Feat is the perfect example of artists that benefits from owning their own label. The initial releases on the label were actually two CDs released individually but simultaneously, Ripe Tomatoes and Raw Tomatoes. Those have collectively sold over 50,000 units. Their studio album, Kickin' It At The Barn, has sold over 20,000 units.

Is a self-owned label ideal for all artists?
No. It's not right for all artists. New artists, for example, often need the marketing support of a major or a major-indie to help develop their career. And then there are some artists, like Stryper for example, who release some titles on their self-owned label, Fifty Three Five Records, and some titles on a major or a major-indie. You have to look at the overall goal for not only the artist but for that particular release as well. But in general, for an artist with a built-in loyal following, it's wise for them to consider starting their own label and releasing select titles on that label.

How do you feel about free downloads off the Internet?
In general, I'm against it. Certainly, when a young, new band records their first demo, and they're trying to be heard, I encourage them to get their music out in almost any way possible, including free downloads. But aside for promotional uses, people should pay for the music. You wouldn't walk into a Snickers Bar factory and just start taking Snickers Bars for free. Same concept. People have paid a lot of money and spent a lot of time making and recording this music. I'm almost baffled that anyone thinks it's okay to get this for free. Only in the music industry is this even a topic. I'd bet you never go to a fashion show convention and hear a panel discuss whether or not it's okay to take free Guess Jeans off the rack in the mall.

How did the Bud Light Downtown Live start?
2006 marks the second season of the Bud Light Downtown Live concert series. The concept isn't a new one, nationally, but it's something new for the Raleigh market. The idea came out of having our Deep South management clients play similar free outdoor concert series throughout the nation. I would go to these concerts and think, "Raleigh needs something like this."

So after two years of planning and preparation, we partnered with the Raleigh Convention Center to produce a free outdoor concert series featuring national artists in Moore Square Park, located in downtown Raleigh. Bud Light came on as the title sponsor very quickly. And 96rock (WBBB) signed on immediately as our first media partner, and it's been growing ever since. The average attendance for these events is 8,000 people, but we have seen crowds as much as 11,000.

Headliners in 2005 included: Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Better Than Ezra, Violent Femmes, Naughty by Nature, and Little Texas. In 2006, headliners were Lit, Arrested Development, Big Head Todd and The Monsters, Spin Doctors, Blue October, Butch Walker, Candlebox, Gin Blossoms and Presidents of The United States of America.

Do you put your label and/or management clients on the schedule as well?
Not very often, but occasionally. On a few occasions it has worked out to where it made sense for both our artist and for the event to have one of our management artists perform.

Why did you decide to go into producing/promoting concerts?
It was really sort of a natural extension of what we already do as managers. As managers, in addition to other things, we coordinate a team to let as many people as possible know about our artists' music, which is sort of what concert promoting is: Letting people know about a live music performance. Certainly there's much more to it than that, but the basic marketing concepts are very similar.

There's something incredibly gratifying about choosing an artist for a concert, marketing that concert, and then watching 10,000 people have an enjoyable experience at that concert.

Why did you start Choice Merchandise?
About 35% of the overall income in the Deep South Entertainment umbrella falls in the lap of Choice Merchandise. Choice Merchandise is an artist merchandise supplier and on-line fulfillment company. When, for example, you go to brucehornsby.com to purchase a T-shirt, or CD, or whatever, that order comes in to our warehouse, shipped, tracked and then accounted for financially in monthly reports--and checks--to the artist. This aspect of our business has grown tremendously in the past few years.

Choice Merchandise started out of lack of being able to find reasonably priced merchandise for our management clients. So we took it upon ourselves to help make the artist more money with merchandising. As the Internet took off, we then, of course, branched into online fulfillment, and we now handle merchandise for more than 25 national and regional artists, including The Subdudes, Allison Moorer, The Outlaws, Little Feat, Stryper, Bruce Hornsby, Darden Smith, Archers of Loaf and many others.

First concert attended
Mrs. Higgins' Annual Piano Recital. My sister was playing. She rocked. It was at Mrs. Higgins' house. Many years later I went to my first rock concert, which was Stryper/TNT in Greensboro, N.C., around l988.

First industry job
I've never worked for anyone else. Me and my 11-year business partner Andy Martin, started the company together, mostly because of just that--we didn't want a real job. Bosses and I never got along too well, so it was either start my own company or starve. And early on it was both: starting my own company often led to starvation.

Career highlights
The very first check Deep South received for selling records. That thought of "Wow, you really can get paid for this," was, and still is, amazing.

Career disappointment
Even a bad day in the music business is still a good day.

Greatest challenge
Figuring out how to operate one of the many electronic gadgets I own designed to make my life simpler.

Best business decision
When Andy Martin and myself decided, "Let's do this. Let's start our own music company." Sometimes not knowing what you're up against can be a good thing. Had we known in advance the obstacles that would lie ahead, we may have thought twice about it.

Best advice you received
"Be honest with everyone you deal with." Although I always knew, and for the most part lived by that, I once asked Dan Weiner at Monterey Peninsula Artists the best advice he could give someone and that's what he said. It stuck with me.

Best advice to offer
Don't argue with an idiot. People listening in may not be able to tell the difference.

Most memorable industry experience
There are too many to list. Deep South's newest venture is an outdoor concert series in downtown Raleigh called Bud Light Downtown Live. Three shows into our first season, we had over 10,000 people attending each event. There's something extremely memorable about knowing you play a role in providing something valuable and entertaining to the great city in which you reside.

Favorite team
The Carolina Hurricanes. They just won the Stanley Cup which has helped put Raleigh/Durham on the map as being known for something more than just great college basketball.

Favorite restaurants
The Rockford (Raleigh, NC), Virago (Nashville). Café Opera (Stockholm, Sweden), Bill's Hot Dogs (Washington, NC).

Favorite hotels
The Standard Downtown (Los Angeles), Hotel Borg (Reykjavik, Iceland).

What friends would be surprised to learn about you
I'm very into music so anytime my friends find out about interests outside of music, it surprises them. My non-music related talents are tennis and dog training. Odd combination, I know.

Industry pet peeve
E-mails, typically sent by someone on a blackberry that read: "Thrusdys ok c u thenn. Howz teh famly"

Office paraphernalia
Pictures of my nephews; an antique Admiral, circa 1940, radio; a map of the world; and most importantly, a bottle of aspirin.

If I wasn't doing this, I would be...
…trying to do this. I've always thought pizza delivery would be kind of fun too, though.

Industry mentors
In very different but uniquely valuable ways, the following have greatly influenced my career: Bruce Hornsby, Gene Simmons, Phil Zachary, Andy Martin, and my parents, Joe and Ruth Rose.

Dave can be reached at: 919-844-1515; e-mail: Dave@DeepSouthEntertainment.com