About Nancy Carlin Associates...

Who does NCA represent

NCA's current roster is made up of world class musicians from the Celtic countries, Ireland and Wales, the English/Scottish border, Spain and now lute players performing Rensaissance & Baroque music. They are chosen not only for their ability to perform outstanding music, but also because NCA looks forward to having a long-range business relation with them.

The goal of the agency is to offer represent performers who have impeccable credentials in their home countries. As part of the long range relation with many of the performers, NCA develops tours and programs that will appeal to the North American market such as Christmas programs and packaging artists together. The agency is proud to be in the forefront of bringing Welsh music to North America. This is a Celtic country with an especially rich musical tradition that has been overlooked among all the interest in Irish and Scottish music in the United States and Canada.

History

The agency was started in 1976 when Nancy Carlin started booking other musicians in addition to the group she performed in herself. NCA became an established name in the San Francisco area "casual" market, booking up to twenty weddings and parties a week and the agency represented non-exclusively over 150 performers of all sorts. They booked over 5000 parties and events. The most memorable ones were the big parties, like the Democratic Convention, providing music to entertain Pink Floyd and some of the theme events. In addition to the parties NCA also was the talent buyer for a record-breaking 15 years at TR's, a club whose format included jazz, blues, oldies and R & B. While booking these events, NCA also began booking in the performing arts market, eventually coming to specalize in that area.

About Nancy Carlin

Nancy was the first person to graduate from SUNY Potsdam with a degree in Music History and Literature and went to graducate school at Syracuse University where she became increasingly interested in the music of the Renaissance. A move to California in the early 70s made it possible to switch from reading about early music to actually learning to play the lute (a 13-19 string predecessor of the guitar) and other related instrument - the cittern and orpharion. She went on work for the Lute Society of America as both Microfilm Librarian and Administrator and after a 25 year break has returned as Administrator and Publications Manager.

Nancy also enjoyed working as a sound engineer and mixed sound for live performances with a wide range of groups from Salsa to Eastern European music. She is again president of the Pacific Artists Representatives Consortium, a non-profit group of agents and managers in the San Francisco area. In 1998 and 1999 she was Artistic Director of First Night Martinez and organized fifteen stages of entertainment ranging from community groups to professionals in many styles of music for this annual New Years Eve arts festival. She produced independent showcases at performing arts booking conferences from 2001-2007.