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Founded in 2019, Kingmaker is a music management company focused on the rock music sector. Kingmaker is run by Nick Shilton.
Having advised various bands for many years on an informal basis, Nick launched Kingmaker to provide management services to a select number of musicians. The Kingmaker ethos is to work with musicians on a highly consultative, proactive and responsive basis, while seeking to maximise their careers and fully capitalise on their creative talents.
Nick began his career as a finance lawyer with a major international law firm, working in London and Paris. He subsequently spent 20 years working in recruitment, the last 15 of which involved co-founding and being CEO of his own London headquartered legal recruitment business.
Nick built this business to become the market leader in its sector with over 100 staff (across a dozen offices in the UK, continental Europe, the Middle East and Asia) and annual revenues of over £20m before selling his shares and exiting the business in 2018.
Nick has also worked for over 25 years as a freelance journalist for various major music magazines. In addition, he ran a record label earlier in his career. As a result he has gained considerable insight into and contacts within the music industry and combines these with his extensive business experience for the benefit of Kingmaker’s clients.
Big Big Train are considered to be one of the foremost bands in the modern era of progressive music. The band have enjoyed significant success with their studio albums and won considerable praise for their live shows. These have included headlining the prestigious Night Of The Prog festival in Loreley, Germany in 2018, a highly successful six date UK tour which concluded at the Hackney Empire, London in 2019 and most recently a sell-out appearance at the Aylesbury Waterside Theatre. They have been positively reviewed by numerous publications around the world and in national UK newspapers, including The Times and The Guardian.
Big Big Train albums have achieved various Top 10 UK official chart positions. They have also won a variety of awards including 6 Progressive Music Awards. In the Prog Magazine Readers Poll 2021, they were awarded the accolade of Best Band, Best Album and Best Singer.
Following the tragic death of front man David Longdon in November 2021, the band recruited new lead vocalist Alberto Bravin and completed a string of successful live shows in September 2022. The band are currently writing their next studio album and will be undertaking further live shows in 2023/24, including appearing on Cruise To The Edge as well as various European dates.
David Longdon, Big Big Train’s lead vocalist since 2009, tragically died on 20th November 2021 in hospital in Nottingham, UK following an accident at home. David made an extraordinary contribution to Big Big Train and enriched the lives of so many people with his music and his personality.
David was a hugely talented singer, song-writer, multi-instrumentalist and producer who had been active within the music business for more than 35 years. He leaves behind a vast legacy of work, not only with Big Big Train but also his solo projects and previous bands, Oh Strange Passion, The Gift Horse and The Magic Club. Over the years David also worked with a wide range of well-known musicians, including Genesis, The Charlatans, Louis Philippe, Geoff Downes, Jeremy and Paul Stacey, Theo Travis, Judy Dyble and producer Gary Bromham.
Door One, David’s posthumous solo album was released on 14th October 2022. At the time of his death, the album was 90% finished. A working party was created in order to realise David’s vision to complete and release the project.
Kingmaker Management are honoured to represent David’s musical legacy. We miss him deeply and will always remember him. His memory will live on forever through his music with Big Big Train, Dyble Longdon and his solo work.
Dim Gray are a trio hailing from Oslo in Norway. The three members – Håkon Høiberg (guitars and vocals), Oskar Holldorff (vocals and keyboards) and Tom Ian Klungland – (drums), met in 2012, whilst studying music at university and soon began playing and writing together. Boasting contrasting musical backgrounds in genres as diverse as black metal, progressive rock, blues, folk and chamber pop, they have fused these influences together to develop their own distinctive and unique sound.
Following their critically acclaimed debut album Flown (2020), the art rock trio returned with their sophomore album Firmament in September 2022. With twelve direct, vivid and melody-driven songs, the album is bursting with life and colour, making an engaging and constantly surprising journey. The release received across-the-board effusive reviews.
In May 2022, Dim Gray supported Marillion at their Stockholm band convention. In September 2022, the band went on to support Big Big Train on a string of live dates. On both occasions the band received a rapturous reception. At the Aylesbury Waterside Theatre concert they enjoyed a standing ovation from a sell-out crowd, proving that they are a live act not to be missed.
2023 sees Dim Gray begin work on their third studio album as well as embarking on a number of live dates in the UK and Europe.
Nick D’Virgilio is an award winning drummer, vocalist, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Since the late 1980’s Nick has drummed for world renowned bands including Genesis and Tears For Fears as well as for Frost*, Fates Warning, Jonatha Brooke and Mike Keneally.
Nick played with progressive rock band Spock’s Beard for almost 20 years until 2010. Nick recorded 10 studio albums with Spock’s, also singing lead vocals for the last four releases and toured the US and Europe on numerous occasions.
In 2007 Nick joined Big Big Train as their drummer. His solo album Invisible was released in June 2020 through Entertainment One in North America and English Electric Recordings/RSK in the UK and continental Europe.
The album features numerous well known guests from the worlds of pop, rock and progressive rock, including guitarists Paul Gilbert (Mr. Big), Rick Nielsen (Cheap Trick) and Carl Verheyen (Supertramp), bassists Tony Levin (King Crimson, Peter Gabriel) and Jonas Reingold (The Flower Kings, Steve Hackett) plus keyboard players Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater) and Jem Godfrey (Frost*).
Nick is regarded as one of the pre-eminent drummers playing today and is regularly asked to perform for a variety of artists. Most recently Nick played with Steve Hackett on a string of dates in North America.
The Dave Foster Band is led by British guitarist and member of Big Big Train, Dave Foster and Dutch vocalist Dinet Poortman. Foster is also a member of Marillion guitarist Steve Rothery’s solo band and previously played in progressive rock quartet Mr So & So.
The Dave Foster Band have released three studio albums, most recently 2019’s Nocebo, which features guest appearances from Steve Rothery and Marillion bassist Pete Trewavas.
Having played their first headlining shows in the Netherlands in October 2019, the Dave Foster Band played three shows in London, Manchester and Wolverhampton in January and February 202, alongside Oak.
Their brand new album, Glimmer, was announced in December 2022 and is due for release in April 2023.
League of Lights are a British electro pop-rock duo comprising vocalist Farrah West and musician/producer Richard West (Threshold).
The band’s eponymous debut album was released in 2011 and featured guitarist Ruud Jolie (Within Temptation), bassist Jerry Meehan (Robbie Williams) and drummer Mark Zonder (Fates Warning). In 2012 League Of Lights recorded the single Forever with Threshold vocalist Glynn Morgan as a guest and performed live with a 40 voice choir.
Their acclaimed second album In The In Between was released in late 2019 and contains 14 original songs with a sound that makes room for electronic rock, organic pop, piano, cinematic soundscapes and everything in between. Two singles were released from the album, Kings & Queens and On A Night Like This. Extended versions of three songs from the album were released as Extended Light in March 2020.
In 2021, the band released a brand new album, Dreamers Don’t Come Down to great acclaim. This was followed by the single Persephone. Since then the band have undertaken a number of live performances including most recently supporting the legendary xPropaganda at the Poppodium Boerderij in the Netherlands.
Space Elevator are led by guitarist David Young and flamboyant lead singer The Duchess. The line-up is completed by drummer Brian Greene and bassist Chas Maguire.
The band’s 2015 self-titled debut album was followed by Space Elevator II in 2018. SEII was released by German record label SPV and entered The Official UK Rock chart top 30 and the UK Indie chart top 20. SE II included the single Queen For A Day, which showcases Freddie Mercury/Queen collaborator Mike Moran on piano.
The album also featured We Can Fly, the video for which was show in Canada on top of the largest privately owned satellite dish in the world. The dish is owned by Thoth Technology, designers of the world’s first 20km high space elevator.
In February 2022, the band released their third album Persona Non Grata, recorded during the pandemic. The album has been supported by a busy and dynamic touring schedule which is set to continue into 2023.
With Flying Colors, Casey has released three critically acclaimed studio albums and toured North America and Europe, most recently in autumn/winter 2019.
Casey also fronted The Sea Within (featuring Marco Minnemann, Tom Brislin, Roine Stolt & Jonas Reingold) for their debut shows at the Night Of The Prog festival in Loreley, Germany in 2018 and Cruise To The Edge in February 2019.
Casey is currently writing a debut progressive solo band album.
November 2022 – New Dave Foster Band album ‘Glimmer’
The Dave Foster Band will release a brand new studio album, Glimmer, on 21st April 2023. It is described as a cornucopia of musical delights that will appeal not only to fans of guitar-based rock but also fans of crossover acts as varied as Air and The Anchoress. Produced by Foster, the album features a number of guest contributors that include bassist Neil Fairclough (Queen + Adam Lambert), drummer Leon Parr (Steve Rothery Band), pianist Anthony Hindley and string arranger Stephen Boyce Buckley.
November 2022 – Big Big Train announced as co-headliner for Cruise to the Edge 2024
We are delighted to announce that Big Big Train will play Cruise To The Edge in March 2024. This is something that many BBT fans have waited a very long time to hear! We are so pleased that we can finally make it happen. BBT will play alongside fellow prog rockers Marillion, Steve Hackett, Flying Colors, Queensryche, The Flower Kings and Alberto Bravin’s old band mates PFM.
September 2022 – League of Lights for Fusion 4 Festival
League Of Lights will be performing at Fusion 4 Festival on March 5th, 2023. The band performed a virtual set for the festival during lockdown, so being able to actually appear in person feels extra special. The band will play alongside the likes of Solstice, IQ, Cyan and I Am The Manic Whale.
September 2022 – Dim Gray launch show
Dim Gray will play a special album launch show in their home town of Oslo on October 8th. They will perform an extended set consisting of songs from both their albums Flown and Firmament, as well as welcoming several guest musicians to the stage. The band will be supported by fellow Norwegian act Chaos & The Calm.
June 2022 – SiX by SiX sign with Kingmaker
Kingmaker Management is excited to announce their representation of SiX By SiX, an exciting new power trio formed by Ian Crichton (SAGA), Nigel Glockler (Saxon) and Robert Berry (GTR, 3). The band have an eponymous album set for release on August 19th 2022 via InsideOut Music/Cony Music. This hugely accomplished trio of musicians is also pleased to announce their debut single “Yearning To Fly”.
May 2022 – League of Lights to support xPropaganda
We are delighted to share with you that League Of Lights will be supporting the legendary xPropaganda at the Poppodium Boerderij on November 10th 2022.
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