My Brief Career as a Musician’s Agent

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Tammy at home in Costa Rica

Being in a foreign land, a different culture where the language can be mysterious (even to those of us who’ve attempted to learn it), where the money is colorful and adorned with the exotic icons of local flora and fauna …  being far from home and out of your comfort zone can render you either greatly intimidated or uncharacteristically bold. Sometimes both.

Like the other afternoon.  I was with my special peeps Monte and Tammy from Bozeman, MT chillin’ at a joint named Coconutz, one of the local hotspots in downtown Coco, chowing down fish tacos and tossing back some cerveza and vino.

During their last trip here, the one that straddled Christmas and the New Year, Tammy had been invited by the owner to perform on stage at Coconutz during their next (this) trip. She does a three set gig playing the acoustic/electric guitar and singing like, well you name any of the outrageously popular female vocalists you hear on tour these days, and there you have it. She is dynamite.

Unfortunately, it turns out that Dan, the owner who was to confirm the gig, ended up being out of the country during our stay in Costa Rica this trip.  So the arrangements for Tammy to perform were down the tubes. Learning this during our mid-afternoon lunch and early happy hour, I could see the disappointment settling over her. Like the shadow that creeps across the land when thick, dark clouds drift between the sun and the earth. It’s like that with soul-mates. You kinda feel what they feel. You read their thoughts as though they were your own. I just hated the idea that she had so much emotional investment in having this opportunity, her first performance in Costa Rica, and…boom. Gone. The thing she had so looked forward to…evaporated right here on the front end of our stay in Coco.

So, in a rare moment of chivalry, I said to her this…  I said “Tammy darlin’ just don’t you worry. I’ll get you another gig here in town. You just wait and see sweetie-pie. I’ll be your agent. Nobody’s gonna pull the rug from under my Tammy-girl and get off Scot-free.”

“Oh, it’s OK”, she said somewhat down heartedly. “I guess it just wasn’t meant to be.” But, it wasn’t OK. Not with any of us. Not really.

Now, I’m not sure what the Hell I was thinking. I simply knew there must be some way we could square this insult. Erase this disappointment. Restore that excitement Tammy had felt during the preceding weeks in anticipation of this now lost opportunity to do what she loves most: entertain crowds from center stage with her musical prowess.

Emboldened now, by a few more libations, a little voice from inside began to chat me up. You know, convince me that I had a mission.  That I had a responsibility and needed to answer this, this call to action. So as we strolled along Coco’s main drag (OK it’s only drag), “the voice” whispered to me: “Woody’s“.

Woody’s is one of the other most popular restaurant/bars in Playas del Coco. The main competitor with Coconutz. It’s owned by a guy named Woody (duh). He’s an American ex-pat who along with his Filipino wife, Rochelle, manage this and several other establishments in Costa Rica.

As we approached the restaurant, I could see Rochelle behind the bar. That’s because it’s one of these places that you’re inside but outside at the same time. You know, covered but without true exterior walls. Kind of an open air type of deal. So as we strolled in, I quite boldly made a bee-line over to Rochelle saying, “Rochelle…we gotta talk!” Then with a simultaneous wagging of my index finger, one of those come hither gestures, I drew her to the end of the bar and said, “You see that beautiful blonde my main man Monte and I came in with?” Quick glance and a slight nod from Rochelle.

“Well she is a performer out of Bozeman, MT and they live here part-time. You wanna set some new records for food and beverage sales in here? Then you gotta get her on your stage for the happy hour and dinner crowd. She’ll pack the house!”

Tammy at home in Bozeman, MT

Rochelle gave me one of those “yeah, right” looks and said, “Jimbo, you’re gonna have to talk to Woody. He’ll be here in a minute.”

Sure enough, out of nowhere, Woody steps up to the bar.  I repeat my spiel. Amazingly enough, after a very brief chat among the four of us, bam! Woody agreed to a Friday & Saturday night gig for Tammy and they quickly negotiated a verbal contract which, truth be told, exceeded what I think any of the three of us expected was possible. Especially since Woody was clueless about Tammy’s musical abilities and there was never so much as a hint about an audition.

So there we were. Now basking in a renewed glow of anticipation. Recharged with the excitement of Tammy’s debut performance here in a foreign land. There was only one thing to do: celebrate our success in booking a gig that would give Tammy the opportunity to experience that joy which comes from thrilling a crowd, from putting smiles on a sea of faces, from making people happy due to the harmonious effect that well performed music has in bringing people together.

Whew! What more could a musician’s novice agent hope for his first day on the job?