Gentry leaves Show Me Center to pursue dream job in Seattle

The road to Brad Gentry's office at the Show Me Center is paved with celebrity.

Several feet before coming to the plaque that says "marketing director" and the door next to it, those visiting Gentry are greeted by the images of famous performers -- Styx, Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Harlem Globetrotters, Nickelback.

Many of them are acts Gentry helped bring to the Show Me Center in his six years there. Today the photos still hang, but no longer is the office of the marketing director occupied by Gentry.

Wednesday was Gentry's last day with the Show Me Center. Starting next week he'll begin the next step in his career as marketing director for Live Nation based in the northwest United States.

But Gentry still hangs on to those early days at the SMC. He'll be moving on to promote concerts for several venues. They range in size from about 20,000 to about 2,000 capacity. But no successful show may be as satisfying as his first at the SMC.

"The first thing I remember is a concert with Lynyrd Skynyrd and ZZ Top," Gentry said on his penultimate day working in Cape Girardeau. He had just started a job where he was the one solely responsible for marketing the SMC's entertainment offerings to the public. The success was a validation -- proof that the then-27-year-old with only a few years experience was up to the task.

"I was reeling a little bit because it's pretty much a one-man team here for marketing purposes," said Gentry. "We just have to do it all. If someone is out, you have to fill in. I've been there in the concession stands, I've been there rolling up the carpet after events, I've helped get the arena ready for a basketball game the same night after a graduation."

Not all concerts were as successful as Skynyrd and ZZ Top, which drew a crowd of nearly 7,000. Sheryl Crow drew just under 3,000; Bob Dylan about the same.

"Obviously, in my position you get really excited about a show, but this market is kind of hard to crack," said Gentry. "People hold on tight to their money."

But Gentry has good memories of them all -- like when Matchbox Twenty's Rob Thomas struck up a conversation with Gentry.

Or when he saw Bob Dylan's recently won Oscar for the soundtrack to "Wonder Boys" sitting on the folk legend's amplifier.

"He really does have a big ego," Gentry said laughing.

In his time at the SMC Gentry's primary duty was to generate interest in the events the venue would hold -- from family shows like "Sesame Street Live" to rock concerts with bands like Nickelback and Matchbox Twenty.

But Gentry went beyond that task, especially when it came to music. He spent hours researching what acts would fly in Southeast Missouri -- an area where country and classic rock are king.

"He developed an excellent rapport with the area media groups, and he was able to use those relationships to help get advertising and promotional programming," said Greg Talbut, assistant director at the SMC. "Part of his relationship, particularly with radio, was to be able to tap into that. He'd ask the questions, 'How often is this on your playlist? Do you get requests for it?'"

Gentry's love of music -- especially hip music -- is evident in subtle clues like the "Ryan Adams & The Cardinals" logo on his computer desktop.

But he and the SMC have been criticized in the past for offering a limited slate of performers and sticking too often to country and classic rock. The criticism has largely come from students at Southeast Missouri State University wanting to see more modern rock acts.

Not that Gentry's time has been devoid of such concerts. Moby and Bush played the SMC during his time, as have Nickelback, Matchbox Twenty and 3 Doors Down.

And Gentry hopes the future will hold more of the same. He said he hopes he's started a close relationship with the university's Student Activities Council that will bring more modern rock shows to the venue in the future.

In the rainy northwest he'll get to work even more closely with music promotion. His job will be to promote concerts for Live Nation Music Northwest in places like Seattle, Portland and Spokane. Those markets will draw the big acts and the hip, avant-garde rockers breaking into the mainstream.

"It's pretty much my dream job," said Gentry. "This is the kind of job that I had in mind before I even started at the Show Me Center."

Whether or not the next marketing director at the SMC will be so passionate about music remains to be seen.

"The position kind of adjusts with what you candidates bring to the table," said Talbut. "Some people are better at sales than other parts of it. You just have to kind of wait and see what your pool is."

But Talbut said the SMC will continue to offer diverse entertainment, and still look for ways to keep its entertainment schedule fresh.

A replacement for Gentry should be in place by August, Talbut said.

msanders@semissourian.com

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