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The Jay Franze Show: Music - News | Reviews | Interviews

Jerry Hines, Manager (Craig Morgan, Trey Calloway)

Jun 29, 2026 Episode 220

Jay Franze / Tiffany Mason / Jerry Hines

You can learn signal flow in a classroom, but you only learn touring when the bus doors close and the clock never stops. We sit down with Jerry Hines, a Tennessee-based tour manager turned artist manager, to unpack the behind-the-scenes reality of building a career in live music production and artist development. Jerry shares how a single phone call in 2004 launched him from side jobs into the deep end as a monitor engineer, then into production, front of house, and eventually the high-accountability world of tour management.

We talk about what makes monitors such a brutal seat, the kind of mistakes you only make once, and what it feels like mixing under pressure when the stakes are reputation-level high. Jerry breaks down arena vs outdoor show challenges, why relationships matter as much as gear, and the moment the job stops being “about the music” and becomes the business: budgets, staffing, leadership, and being the steady hand when everyone else is spiraling.

Then we pivot into artist management and the difference between operating with certainty for an established act like Craig Morgan and selling belief for a developing artist like Trey Calloway. Jerry explains how Broken Compass Management was born, the meaning behind the name, and what it takes to guide an artist through a path that’s rarely straight. We also dig into modern music industry shifts like independent strategy, record label leverage, and how AI could reshape management and touring.

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