By Jake Crouse
On a fall day in 1994, Rick Booth ’87 was driving his car when a commercial came on the radio for the Dodge Intrepid. Booth remembers it like it was yesterday.
“It goes, ‘Merriam-Webster defines “intrepid” as bold, fearless, able to go where no man has ever gone before,’” Booth recalls. “It hit me like a ton of bricks. I about ran the car off the road, because I had been trying to think of a name for the longest time, and nothing was hitting. This was it!”
Booth finally had the perfect name for his new venture, a boutique music agency called Intrepid Artists International. After working for other music agencies over the previous few years, he was starting one of his own in Charlotte, N.C.
When Booth set out, he couldn’t have known that Intrepid Artists International would be in business for more than 30 years, growing steadily over the years. What started out as a two-person operation has become a group of seven, with six stateside associates and one international associate assisting him.
Booth believes that what sets his team apart and allows Intrepid Artists International to thrive are good communication and intentionality with everyone involved. It’s a lesson he learned when he graduated from Wofford and began working for his dad at Quail Hardware, the family business in south Charlotte.
“My dad taught me a lot about customer service and accountability, and I think, more than anything, it’s what I bring to the table,” Booth says. “I’m a stickler for it. I’m about accountability, honesty, character and telling it like it is.”
Booth tries to focus on the people more than “the hustle” — a term he used to describe some aspects of the music agency business — and it has led to his agency booking shows across the world, especially in the United States and Europe.
Intrepid celebrated its anniversary in November with a huge three-day event called “A Rock n Roll, Soul & Blues Revival … The Trilogy” at locations across Charlotte, drawing a crowd that speaks to its success.
Things kicked off Thursday with a sold-out blues night, then the party continued with a five-band bill Friday. Throughout the weekend, there were day shows at the Marriott City Center, where many buyers, clients and friends stayed. The bash reached its climax Saturday with upwards of 1,000 people in attendance. Four bands played that night, including one of Booth’s most popular bands, the Blood Brothers featuring Mike Zito and Albert Castiglia — and a special guest, legendary actor Bill Murray.
Murray learned about the Blood Brothers through his brother, John. He sat in with the band soon after, and suddenly, Murray was joining the band at festivals and sold-out shows across the nation being booked by Booth and Intrepid.
“I had seen him out in Las Vegas before I saw him in Charlotte,” Booth said, “but he and the band have played a number of shows now and added key members to the show, such as Jimmy Vivino, the longtime band director of the Conan O’Brien Show, and sax legend Jimmy Carpenter. So now it’s on a whole ’nother level. One of the best bands you’ll ever see.”
Booth's mindset is “expect the unexpected.” Sometimes it has meant pivoting based on world events. “There are always flights that are canceled, snow, fires, hurricanes,” Booth says. “It doesn’t matter where it is in the world. Any time that happens, it generally affects something I’m doing.”
Fortunately, the unexpected can be something like the budding union of a band and a celebrity to close out a special celebration for three decades of doing things the right way. “It was an electric time,” Booth says.
Learn more about Intrepid Artists International and check out their entire roster at intrepidartists.com.