Team Louis: The MTG All-Stars

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Messina Touring Group

The 28 people who work for Messina Touring Group’s Austin and Nashville offices, according to the firm’s founder and CEO, are all “superstars.” So much so in fact, that it’s near impossible to get Louis Messina himself to narrow it down to just a few. “I would say the same thing about everybody who works for me,” he says. “They’re all one of a kind.” The humble team leader then claims he’s “not very smart,” but the one thing he is “brilliant” at is “empowering the people working for me. I’ve got so many superstars, I’m not kidding.” Here then, in his own words, are the Top 5 we had to narrow it down to who help make the promoter so singularly successful.

– Mike Dugan

Mike Dugan | President

Mike worked with me when we used to own Starwood Amphitheater in Nashville. He was the GM there. When I first started MTG, I got the Nickelback account, I was looking for someone to go on the road with Nickelback, and Rome McMahon said, “What about Mike Dugan?” Mike went out, and we did four cycles of Nickelback, sold out everywhere, and then Mike became a keeper. He’s dependable, reliable, dedicated, smart as can be. He never gets frustrated at all. He’s calm. He’s dedicated to Taylor. Sometimes I have to figure out, “Mike, you know you work for me …” No, that’s how it is. Mike, and all of them, I feel like they’re an extension of management. Robert Allen, Andrea Swift, the whole Taylor team, they don’t need to call me. The whole Taylor team, they call Dugan direct. That’s besides him overseeing the day-to-day operation.

– Kate McMahon

Kate McMahon | EVP

She came out of Jam Productions in Chicago. She was a Bob Roux find when I was interviewing people. She came with experience. I always tell my people, “If I have to manage you, you shouldn’t be working here,” and Kate is one of those people. I don’t need to tell Kate what to do. She is so far ahead of her game, she’s a veteran now. She’s kind of a female Louis. She never takes no for an answer and she’s determined and she wins. Kenny and George are her two primary artists, but she also oversees half the staff. Kate kind of oversees everything we do in country. Kenny will call Kate direct, and Clint Higham, Kenny’s manager, will call Kate direct. Kate doesn’t have to come to me to make a decision. Kate makes her own decisions. She’s got a heart of gold, but she’s got a determination of steel, and that’s who Kate McMahon is.

– Rome McMahon

Rome McMahon | EVP

Rome came right out of UT and came to work doing contracts for me. Rome is like the greatest middle linebacker you’ve ever seen. Rome makes big plays, every day, but quietly. Rome and Kate’s personalities are so extreme. Rome is quiet, he’s a man of very few words. But, when he does speak, everybody listens. Every day you can always count on him. His No. 1 client is Kenny Chesney, but he oversees everybody else. He’s like the office mentor who everybody goes to. Rome is so consistent, it’s unreal. He’s the guy that you want to bat or take the last shot when the game is on the line. That’s who Rome McMahon is. I never have to worry about what Rome does, and what decisions he makes. He just keeps on going, and going, and going. Rome and Kate were the only two people that I took with me when I started at MTG, back in 2001.

– Sara Winter-Banks

Sara Winter-Banks | SVP

I call her Sara Smiles. She has a little plaque on her desk: “Always Hustling.” She started out with me at MTG out of college and she worked with my son when we used to book Warehouse Live in Houston, she did the marketing for that. She chipped away, chipped away, chipped away making a name for herself. Then I had the first Taylor Swift tour and someone who was doing the marketing left to go work somewhere else. Sara filled right in and just took over Taylor, this is from the first tour on. Though she oversees everything in pop, Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift are her two main responsibilities. We started working with The Lumineers last tour, and she did that day-to-day and she’s got a hand in Shawn Mendes. She’s got a hand in everything. She’s been with me for 12 years. This is her only job that she’s ever had.

– Bridget Bauer

Bridget Bauer | SVP

Bridget started out as an assistant at William Morris and then she went to work for Asleep At The Wheel for Ray Benson. You don’t want to get on the wrong side of Bridget, because she is such a fighter, man. She’s so dedicated. She started out as my assistant, and then she started doing the day-to-day stuff for George Strait. Before long, she just took over George Strait. George calls her all the time, directly. He needs something, he calls Bridget, and she oversees everything with George. I mean everything – she settles all the shows, she routes the tour. Her two main clients are George and Eric, but she also oversees Blake Shelton, she oversees everybody else in my office, too. Kelly Clarkson. She is like the mentor. She is the house mom, who everybody goes to – if they’re brave enough to go talk to her.