Let Us Now Praise John Lomax, III

I wanted to extend congratulations to my friend and client John Lomax III, the newest recipient of the Country Music Association’s Jo Walker-Meador International Award. I have always thought that John was a Renaissance man of sorts, having worked as a journalist and author, manager (Steve Earle, Townes Van Zandt, Kasey Chambers, and The Cactus Brothers), A+R man and music publisher. However, John received this award because of his work with his company Roots Music Exporters, which sells all types of music overseas.

Essentially John found an old school niche in the increasingly digital age- sending American music to Europe, Australia and Japan, to buyers who want to own the real thing, not an MP3. He’s found a way to export music that the labels have failed to distribute overseas, for whatever reason. I love John’s entrepreneurial spirit and as the grown up version of the kid who used to buy mail order records from all over the world, I admire that John is keeping this tradition alive. Also, his sales charts and want lists are always illuminating in showing international tastes (hint, they don’t always align with the Billboard chart).

I love to see small businesses succeed and get recognized, especially when they are this cool. Congratulations, John.