Unique Montana gifts such as coffee from Missoula-based Hunter Bay and golf balls with Grizzly paws are among the items University of Montana Entertainment Management students are collecting to put in gift bags for nearly 50 musicians who will play at a festival put together by one of music’s biggest names, Eric Clapton.
Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival 2013, sponsored by Chase, will be held in New York’s Madison Square Garden April 12-13 and is a benefit for Crossroads Centre Antigua, a chemical dependency treatment center founded by Clapton.
Students are working with businesses throughout the state to get owners to donate locally made products and bring a touch of Montana to New York City, according to Scott Douglas, program director of UM’s School of Business Administration Entertainment Management program.
The gift bags will go to musicians, including John Mayer, Keith Urban, Jeff Beck, Brad Paisley, B.B. King and many others, who will donate their time and talent to raise funds for Crossroads Centre Antigua.
In addition to getting the donations for gift bags, entertainment management students will help publicize and promote the Crossroads festival. This is the fourth festival in which the students have been involved.
“This is an incredible learning opportunity for the students,” Douglas said. “Helping raise money for the Crossroads Centre is a worthwhile cause, and students will get to work on a festival featuring some of the world’s most legendary guitar players.”
Darah Fogarty, a UM business school graduate student who works with the Entertainment Management program is excited about promoting and attending the Madison Square Garden festival. An up-and-coming Montana singer/songwriter, Fogarty said she looks forward to seeing such talented musicians all on one stage.
Fogarty said the education and opportunities she’s gotten through the UM Entertainment Management program have influenced her career decisions. “I hope to take what I’ve learned and develop as an artist, entertainer and entrepreneur,” she said.
Montana businesses that have items they would like to donate for the artist gift bags can call Paul Tappon, a UMEM senior, at 541-979-2455 or email [email protected].
For more information on the Crossroads festival, visit http://www.crossroadsguitar festival.com.
The Entertainment Management program covers many aspects of the entertainment business including music, television, film, sports, live performance, literary and visual arts. The program introduces students to the business of entertainment while giving them the opportunity to speak with and learn from professionals in the industry.
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