When Austin Neal launched his talent booking firm, The Neal Agency, in 2022, he faced a steep learning curve.
“It was like I was dropped into the ocean. I had to figure out how to swim,” he says with a laugh as he looks back on that daunting period. From his years as an agent at prominent country music booker Buddy Lee Attractions and WME, he knew how to book and route clients, but he had no clue about setting up his own company. “I didn’t know what I needed to do to form an LLC. My assistant at the time, who is now an agent with us, jokes that she walked into my apartment and saw Business for Dummies sitting on the counter.”
With a little aid from the instructional book, a much greater assist from lawyer Elliot Groffman (the powerhouse attorney who represents Dave Matthews Band, Phish and more) and a business management team that handled everything including setting up payroll, “it’s like I blinked and we had an office, a lot of employees and new artists,” he says.
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Fast forward four years and, in addition to flagship client Morgan Wallen — who is performing double stadium plays in nearly every market on his current tour — Neal, 39, and his team have developed Riley Green (who Neal signed in 2017, when he started at WME), Ella Langley, Bailey Zimmerman and HARDY into arena headliners.
