Today we’d like to introduce you to Ethan Massey.
Hi Ethan, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Got started playing guitar at 14. Joined a band at 18, started playing shows and was hooked.
Found myself at Tomcats West one night and met Rustin Luther. Randomly offered to work security if he ever needed the help. Mind you, I had zero security experience but the venue world was always so intriguing and mysterious to me.
Sure enough a couple weeks later Rustin gave me a call and asked if I could work that night.
Continued to work at Tomcats on and off doing security and eventually running the front door for a handful of years.
Then when Rustin unfortunately got sick, I was asked to take over booking the venue and to run it for him.
That brief period introduced me to the business end of running a venue and booking bands full time.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Nothing about this industry is smooth…
It will chew you up and spit you out with no remorse.
Absolute labor of love. If you don’t love it, you won’t last long.
You will experience the highest of highs and in the blink of an eye the lowest of lows.
Most humbling thing I’ve ever done.
Never ending emails and messages from bands, agents, etc. always wanting something from you.
I know this all sounds kind of negative but I promise I love it and highly encourage people to get into the industry if they can. Just need to have a good team and a system in place.
Set boundaries with when you respond to emails and take calls because if you don’t, you will work 24/7. I learned that the hard way.
As you know, we’re big fans of The Rail. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
The Rail has had many MANY owners since it was established in 2010.
Each one bringing in their own flare and what they had the place known for.
I personally used to view it as the “dirty metal bar” or the “Pantera bar” when I was at Tomcats. But the more i went the more I grew to love it.
It started hosting some insane shows with huge names that had no business being in a random west side venue and that fascinated me.
Hearing that all these different fans came from all over the metroplex and even out of state for certain events was so cool. Thinking how all these people that’d never be in this part of town are now here going to bars after the shows or to get dinner and stimulating the area was so interesting to me.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I wear many hats at Rail. Too many to be honest but that’s how it goes when you’re trying to build it up.
When it comes to the booking side of things, almost all the bigger shows are a risk. To
Put it simply, all it is, is professional gambling. Hoping whatever band you book is able to pull the amount of people you need to cover the over head.
And believe me, not all of the events win.
But once you get into a groove and build up a history with agents and bands you start to realize what will and won’t work.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Therailclub.net
- Instagram: @therailtx
- Facebook: @therailtx
