10 Questions with ... Nadine Condon

1. What made you want to get into the music business and who were some of your early mentors?

I got into the business by managing musician Nick Gravenites (Electric Flag, Janis Joplin.) My biggest career mentors were Andy Allen and Bob Catania, from the time they were local promo guys for RCA through Island. So many radio peeps like Dave Logan, John McCrae, Dave Numme, Geno Mitchillini, Patty Martin, Bill Prescott are still pals. Friends of Jefferson Starship like, Dave Sholin, Johnny Barbis, Tom Ross became my friends too.

2. You were born in Louisville, but eventually made the San Francisco Bay Area your home and place of business. What made you make the move to Northern California?

Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit” was a siren call to me. Who didn’t want to run away to San Francisco and be part of the “San Francisco Sound?” After a magical visit to the baths at Esalen in Big Sur, I knew for sure northern California was the place for me.

3. I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and remember you back in the ‘80s working with the Jefferson Starship. How did you end up working with that legendary SF Rock band?

Pete Sears (Jefferson Starship bassist /keyboardist) helped me get a job as their publicist. Publicity was okay but I fell in love with radio promotion and working with the label (RCA). That is what really gave me the chops that carried me through close to 30 years in the music biz.

4. You owned your own consulting business, promoting artists like Melissa Etheridge and Steve Miller among others. What are some of your proudest achievements working with artists like these?

Nothing was more fulfilling than breaking Melissa Etheridge with Andy and Bob. I handled all of her radio promotions across the country for the first albums. I’m also quite proud of working “A Man Called E” record for Carter and Johnny Barbis. We took him top 10 alternative and Carter gave me a Picasso Paloma pen from Tiffany’s. Another legend I worked with for Island was legend John Mayall, on the “Chicago Line” album, in the early 90s. He didn’t fit radio formats, so I sent him to every classic rock station I could find on his tour. They loved him.

5. Can you give us the scoop on “Nadine’s Wild Weekend” music festivals you produced in SF from 1998 to 2002?

I started producing showcases of up-and-coming bands in SF for BMI, the performing rights organization in 1989, soon expanded to Portland, Seattle and LA. Counting Crows had 12+ label offers the day after I showcased them. Candlebox, Third Eye Blind, 4 Non- Blondes, Stroke 9, etc. In 1998 I decided to do a multi-day extravaganza of SF/Bay Area music, due to the vibrant music scene. My first Wild Weekend I had 70 bands and the last had 140 bands, including Echobrain, the first band Jason Newsted put together after he left Metallica.

6. During this time, you also gave educational seminars on the music business. What are some of the key things you tried to impart in those seminars that are applicable today?

Success is a process, and the result of hard work. It doesn’t happen overnight. Everyone you see on stage was once exactly where you are today, pushing demos, networking, fighting with club owners for bookings, trying to stand out from the crowd. Put your best songs first. If the song doesn’t hook you in the first 20 seconds, it’s not a hit song. Find alternative marketing streams.

7. Congrats on your new Memoir “Confessions- Stories to Rock Your Soul.” What made you decide to write this book?

I was compelled to write the book. It’s a book for grown-ups. People get hooked on the rock stories but find the second half most meaningful to them, as I speak to adult issues.

8. I’m sure there are lots of incredible stories in the book. Can you share a few that are suitable for printing?

The story of my first road trip with the Jefferson Starship is pretty wild. It was my initiation into big-time rock band perks. There is my story of “behind the scenes” at the first MTV awards at Radio City. There’s a story of my trip to the Super Bowl in Tampa in 1984, with the Raiders and more Raider stories…

9. After all your successful years working in the music business, you became a hospice volunteer and found a new calling in the medical field in the mid-2000s. Tell us about that?

I’ve only had two work passions in my life. Rock & Roll and hospice work. Live touring was my bailiwick. The immediacy and openness of live performance is not too different from the intimacy and vulnerability of someone who has a life limiting disease. When I reached my fifties, I began to want more meaningful work. I was literally called to hospice work and have never regretted it.

10. Finally, after having written your Memoir, you said you wrote the book to inspire people, and you hope the stories encourage others to step through their own fears. Can you elaborate on this?

I always worried if I was “enough”, despite my seemingly confident personality. Everyone has trauma or challenges to overcome. My book concentrates on finding what grounds you enough to live with love, compassion, acceptance and respect.