Date: Fri 05-Jun-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Quick Words:

Lucinda-Rowe-Dudeck-Essey

Full Text:

Proof Positive That With The Right Mindset, Dreams Can Come True

(with cut)

BY SHANNON HICKS

Lucinda Rowe Dudeck has grown up in Newtown, surrounding herself with music,

playing either her own compositions or those of others. She has always dreamed

of being in the music industry.

As a child, she was never sure where her music would take her, but she knew

she would be involved in the music industry to some degree. Today, she is

managing the careers of musicians who have the same dream.

Mrs Dudeck is the owner of Essey Entertainment and Essey Advertising, a

limited liability corporation (LLC) formed four years ago. Using her own

performance background -- over 20 years in the Connecticut and New York music

scenes -- Mrs Dudeck began managing musicians' careers six years ago.

Located in Danbury, Essey is a full-service management and promotional agency

for aspiring and professional musicians. Under the Essey Entertainment

management contract, personal and business management is conducted for a

musician.

The company's roster currently includes Benny Harrison, an adult contemporary,

pop and R&B performer; Thomas Eckel, a pop and rock theatre performer; and the

newly signed Box The Compass, a duo that performs original pop, adult rock and

adult alternative. Box the Compass, Mrs Dudeck says, is "making strides in

their development as artists." There are ten artists currently under the Essey

Entertainment management banner. Musicians range from alternative, rock and

folk, to pop, R&B, and fusions of any of the above.

On a limited basis, Essey Entertainment is also associated with Lisa St. Ann,

a remarkable singer with two albums under her belt. (St. Ann's band is doubly

blessed with Newtowners, in the form of drummer John Clancy and bassist Paul

Crowley.) Essey is working on licensing and distribution of St. Ann's albums

in Europe and Japan. St Ann's albums, called Conversations From The Sidewalk

and Curiously Strong , have already received great national press.

Looking For The Right Mindset

The Rowe family moved to Newtown in 1964, when Lucinda was three. Her parents,

Llewellyn and Marie, still live in town. Lucinda went through the town's

public school system, graduating from Newtown High School in 1979.

The year after she graduated from high school, she married her high school

sweetheart, Brian Dudeck. The couple lives in Bethel, and recently celebrated

their 17th wedding anniversary.

Lucinda is a self-taught musician, songwriter and photographer. She performs

on 6- and 12-string guitar, piano, flute, banjo and bass guitar, although she

admits she taught herself a few bad habits along the way, too. "I'm a complete

hacker," she laughs. "I have so many bad habits it's not even funny."

Lucinda never gave up on her dream of becoming a musician. She continues to

perform through the area, and is even about to release her debut CD, entitled

The Sky Is Falling .

"For a lot of reasons, my career never got off the ground," Mrs Dudeck said

recently. Her singing career may not have taken off, but her involvement with

managing the musical careers of others is what she may have been looking for

all along.

College was not for her, Lucinda decided. So after graduation from Newtown

High School, she immediately joined the full-time work force. After working

with her father in the banking business for over 15 years -- a career Lucinda

admits she never expected to find herself involved in -- Lucinda took the

knowledge she had gained and started Essey Entertainment.

"The risk [of leaving something as stable as banking] was not an easy one to

take," she says, "but I have an exceptional business background. I figured,

`That's it, I'm gonna take this flight.'" And so she did.

Working in the music business is not always fun, she maintains. You are no

longer driven by your own dreams, but the dreams of others. Perhaps it is the

strength of her own similar dreams that continues to propel Lucinda to help

others realize their own.

"This industry is no fun," she says. "You really have to love it. To be on the

management or business side, you really have to love it. There's no glamour

here."

For Lucinda, being very artistically driven helps her better understand

sometimes where musicians are coming from. Growing up, Lucinda lived in a home

where her parents not only understood her musical bent, but encouraged her

individualism. As a result, Lucinda remains "very artist driven," she says,

which is sometimes the hardest aspect of the business.

"On the other hand," she says, "[being an artist] also helps, because you

really have to know both sides of the coin."

Essey picks up artists who may need better business management, or a press

agent. Before an artist signs to Essey, the company looks through a band or

musician's credentials.

A musician, feels Lucinda, must have integrity in what they are doing and have

the mindset of treating their performances like a business. At this level --

when a musician is looking to "break into the professional world" -- playing

out is no longer going to be a weekend hobby, or a second job.

A musician must also have a sincere, but not overbearing, belief in

themselves. "A healthy ego is important," the manager says. Musicians must be

willing to compromise and take direction, and they must understand the levels

of growth they are expected to go through.

If Lucinda and musicians can agree on all four of these points, there is a

good chance Essey Entertainment may pick the musicians up.

"If we share this mindset," Lucinda says, "it's usually a fit."

Not all bands being managed by Essey are local bands (Tom Eckel and Lisa St.

Ann are two), although Lucinda says she does enjoy working within a region. "I

like to see what's going on locally," she says. "It's nice to be hands-on,

which is much easier when they're local."

While the challenge of her job -- 24-hour accessibility to her artists

(Lucinda's beeper is constantly buzzing with pages during the entire interview

in her office), last-minute haggles over deals and contracts by venues,

150-hour work weeks -- is not something that would agree with everyone, the

former Newtown resident can, and does, say, "This is definitely where I

belong. This business is what drives me."