Augusta performers to get tips on business at summit

Former James Brown manager Larry Fridie is planning on celebrating his late employer's birthday by giving aspiring performers what he sees as much-needed information.

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On April 30 and May 1, Fridie will play host at the Power Music Summit at the National Science Center's Fort Discovery, an event designed to educate local artists in what it takes to survive and thrive in the entertainment industry.

The event is slated to include six workshops covering the artists and repertoire system at record labels, management, using new media, legal affairs, psychology and publicity. It will also feature two showcases, during which local artists will perform in front of music industry professionals.

Confirmed participants include representatives from Interscope, Atlantic, Capitol and So So Def records. Fridie said professionals will also include legal and financial advisers.

"We wanted to give Augusta artists the opportunity to talk to the decision-makers," he said. "The summit will be an in-depth overview."

Fridie said he chose Augusta for the summit because of his relationship with local talent, which began while he was employed by Brown. He said he has long recognized the community as an underdeveloped pool of talent and wants to offer artists tools and contacts that might improve career prospects.

Lauminnia Nivens, an Augusta-based entertainment lawyer, said the idea of the summit is to offer insight before it's needed.

"There are a lot of people, a lot of artists, that might have gone a lot further if this opportunity had been available to them," Nivens said.

Although Fridie's experience is mainly in soul, hip-hop and pop, he said the summit is for anyone looking at a career in the entertainment business.

He said he hopes the summit will become an annual event, expanding and, at the same time, celebrating the music legacy of James Brown.

"That's why I chose this weekend," he said. "This is the kind of thing he would love."