Draft:Jonathan Shank

Jonathan Shank is an American artist manager and producer of live entertainment events geared mostly toward the family market. He is the founder and CEO of artist management and production company Terrapin Station Entertainment, a joint venture with Sony Music Masterworks, and hosts the music industry podcast "The Jam." His career in music and entertainment has included collaborations with members of the Grateful Dead, the Bob Marley estate, many other artists, and American Idol.

Shank is known for pioneering application of the touring business model favored by jam bands – "strategic touring in volume," or turning a live act into an ever-present, ongoing experience – to family entertainment. He is also a music manager and producer known for his work with Victoria Justice, American Idol winner Maddie Poppe, Coco Jones, members of the Grateful Dead, and others. He managed Mickey Hart's Global Drum Project whose album won a Grammy award in 2008.

Early career
Shank was born November 8, 1975 and grew up in Hatboro, Pennsylvania. While attending Tulane University in 1994, he got an internship at House of Blues New Orleans. He then interned for producer Kim Fowley and in 1997 left New Orleans for Los Angeles, where he got a job in 1998 at booking agency American Artists. At American Artists he was the agent for The Marshall Tucker Band, Jefferson Starship, Dave Mason, Robby Krieger, Sally Taylor, Stargunn, OKB, Backbone 69, and AJ Croce, and he went on to run the agency from 1999–2001, beginning at age 22.

Artist Management, Mickey Hart Collaboration
Shank worked stints as an artist manager at agencies including Avenue Management Group and Direct Management. At Azoff, Geary, Paul Management, part of Front Line Management Group, where he began working in 2009, his roster included Paul Oakenfold, Eve, and Jerry Hannan.

During this period he also managed the Disco Biscuits, War, Particle, and Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann. With Hart, Shank put together the Mickey Hart Band, Hydra, and the Rhythm Devils. The Global Drum Project he managed, comprising Mickey Hart, Zakir Hussain, Sikiru Adepoju, and Giovanni Hidalgo, won the Grammy award for Best Contemporary World Music Album in 2008.

In January 2007, when Nancy Pelosi became Speaker of the House, Shank, at Mickey Hart's request, co-produced the inauguration, bringing in Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann, Warren Haynes, Bruce Hornsby, Mike Gordon of Phish, and Wyclef Jean to join Hart in a band put together for the event and called Your House Band as a play on words referencing the House of Representatives. The following year he co-produced with Hart, Weir, and Phil Lesh two benefits for the Barack Obama primary campaign in San Francisco, California and State College, Pennsylvania.

Red Light Management
From 2010 to 2020 Shank worked at Red Light Management where he led the family entertainment division. Initially the company was mainly in artist management, but beginning with one show, a live performance by the Fresh Beat Band, Shank started producing tours for family and children's entertainment brands such as Peppa Pig.

The artists he worked with or managed at Red Light included MAGIC!, Sam Tsui, Victoria Justice, Tal Wilkenfeld, Aly & AJ, Ashley Tisdale, Coco Jones, Maddie Poppe, and Alejandro Aranda (Scarypoolparty). He received three Pollstar Award nominations in 2019 and 2020.

In 2018 Shank began working with the rebooted American Idol. He managed and launched the careers of finalists and winners, including Idol winner Maddie Poppe and runner-up Alejandro Aranda (Scarypoolparty).

Terrapin Station Entertainment
Shank left Red Light Management in 2020 to form Terrapin Station Entertainment, which after two months became a joint venture with Sony Music Masterworks when Sony acquired a majority stake. He took with him to Terrapin his Red Light Management team and the roster of acts he had represented at Red Light. These include Scarypoolparty, Maddie Poppe, Victoria Justice, Laura Marano, and Sam Tsui.

He continues to produce large family event series, such as a 250-show run of Disney Junior Live on Tour in 2022-23, and other entertainment brands such as Gracies Corner Live and Deal or No Deal Live.

In 2020 Shank received the T.J. Martell Foundation's Trailblazer Award.

In the 2020s he directed and produced The Bob Marley One Love Experience, a multi-room, multi-sensory exhibit, in London, Toronto, and Los Angeles.

Expansion into sports venues, The Jam podcast
In 2022 Shank's Terrapin Station Entertainment began a sports division that books concerts at major league venues, such as a pair of Billy Joel and Stevie Nicks stadium shows in 2023, with the aim of booking more events for sports venues to help the associated teams. In 2023 the division expanded from Major League Baseball and National Football League franchises to take in Major League Soccer clubs.

In 2023, Shank expanded Terrapin further by acquiring production services company Black Ink Presents.

Shank often appears as a guest on podcasts and other media as an industry expert in live music and producing large-venue, family-oriented entertainment events.

In 2024, Shank began hosting a new podcast, The Jam, produced by Osiris Media. Guests booked for the first season included Robby Krieger, Randy Jackson, Billy Cobham, Dave Mason, Disco Biscuits, Dean Budnick, and Bill Payne.

Charity work
Shank has helmed charity concerts such as tributes to Otis Redding, Linda Ronstadt, and Ray Manzarek, and Homeward Bound benefit concerts in Los Angeles.

Awards and Nominations

 * 2019/2020: Pollstar Award nominations for Disney Junior Live (2019 and 2020) Best Non-music Tour
 * 2020: Pollstar Award Nomination for Peppa Pig Live (2020) Best Non-music Tour
 * 2020: Shank: T.J. Martell Trailblazer Award
 * 2022: Disney Junior Live Costumepalooza: Pollstar Award nomination, Best Non-music Tour

Personal Life
Shank lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two sons.