About Angie Carlson

I love a challenge. There’s nothing more gratifying than working with an artist and their team to strategize on a campaign targeted to reach the right eyes and ears and propel their career forward.
Angie Carlson

After a lifetime in this crazy circus we call the music business, I have a unique insight into how it all works. As a former performer and recording artist, I’ve ridden in the van/bus, sat through a ton of soundchecks and studio sessions and I understand the incredible amount of work that goes into that short time on stage. I’ve been the editor getting pitched on music coverage as well as the label person working to construct that pitch. At the end of the day, it all boils down to the “story,” and how that story is told.

I’ve spent my entire life immersed in and obsessed with music and it’s given me a unique perspective into how to craft and maintain a compelling press campaign. I graduated from Hibbing High School in Northern Minnesota (Dylan’s alma mater) where I spent my high school years as a music nerd, playing oboe and piano and driving great distances to attend national rock shows. After a study abroad in the UK, precipitated by a desire to be a part of the burgeoning punk/new wave scene, I returned to Minnesota and attended the University of Minnesota Twin Cities’ School of Journalism, where I wrote for the MN Daily, local alt-weeklies and national zines. Highlights included spending time with The Replacements for a MN Daily cover story (shot by renowned Minneapolis photographer Dan Corrigan) and interviewing all the key local and touring bands of the day,  from The Jayhawks to Echo and the Bunnymen, Gang of Four, Black Flag and The Minutemen.

I was invited to join indie-pop group Let’s Active in the early ‘80s touring both as a headliner and as support for acts including REM, The Church and others and recording for IRS Records at legendary studios Rockfield and Abby Road. After Let’s Active, I moved to Chapel Hill, NC and started a rock trio, Grover. We released an album on Zero Hour, touring the US and abroad.

A dare by a friend prompted me to start writing again, this time for North Carolina alt-weekly The Independent Weekly. I was invited to join the staff, first as calendar editor and then as music editor. I’m a huge pop culture buff as well as music fan, and was able to interview Bob Moog at his Asheville, NC factory (he was re-launching the Voyageur synth) along with many of the buzz artists of the day. I was able to interview The Strokes, Tenacious D, Paul Westerberg, The Magnetic Fields, and Hell’s Angel Sonny Barger, to name a few. I enjoyed the pace, working on deadline and getting to work with and edit pieces by a talented pool of freelancers while building relationships with label PR reps. 

An offer from then-launching NC label Yep Roc Records brought me into the PR world, with an offer to head their new publicity team. I set up the label’s first national press campaigns, hired and coordinated campaigns with national PR firms (Big Hassle, Sacks, Shore Fire, etc.) and worked releases for Bob Mould, Billy Bragg, Dave Alvin, Jason Ringenberg, Big Sandy, Southern Culture on the Skids, John Doe, The Sadies, and many others.

In 2007, I joined Press Here Publicity in NYC as a senior publicist, working with Squeeze, New York Dolls, Indigo Girls, Amy Ray, Steve Jordan, John Butler Trio, Todd Rundgren, The Wombats, Tim and Eric, The Mighty Boosh, Roky Erickson,  Spiritualized, The Specials, Trampled by Turtles and many others.  Highlights included coordinating a Live At the Artists’ Den taping for Squeeze and setting up national TV appearances for artists including The Specials, Squeeze, Indigo Girls, The Wombats, and John Butler Trio. The most surreal were the months I spent with Andy Kaufman alter-ego Tony Clifton.

I initially launched Propeller Publicity while living in Brooklyn, NY, working projects for Fat Possum, Vanguard, ATO, Yep Roc, Sony, Single Lock, Six Shooter and others, including longtime clients Indigo Girls and Amy Ray as well as campaigns for Matthew Sweet, Steelism, The Meat Puppets, The Mother Hips, The Sadies, Jonny Fritz, The Kernal and Jimbo Mathus. I also was brought on as publicist for 30A Songwriters Festival in Florida and worked to coordinate what became the Folk Alley sessions.

An invite to join respected Minnesota folk and roots label Red House Records brought me back to the Twin Cities. Initially Director of Publicity, I was promoted to Vice President of Publicity and Promotions and signed The Cactus Blossoms, Charlie Parr, The Mastersons and Chastity Brown to complement their respected roster of artists, which included The Wailin’ Jennys, David Bromberg, Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams and folk greats Eliza Gilkyson and John Gorka. Red House was acquired by Compass Records in late 2017, which precipitated a move to Nashville, TN to join Compass Records Group.

During my time there as Director of Publicity, I wrote bios, worked on playlist pitching, social media, national campaigns and tour press as well as coordinating campaign roll-out with radio promoters, setting up sessions with SiriusXM shows and regional radio. After four years at Compass, working with artists including Amy Ray, Steve Poltz, The Whitmore Sisters, Colin Hay, The Small Glories, Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley, A.J. Croce, Special Consensus, I left to focus on Propeller Publicity, with initial projects for Eliza Gilkyson, Allison Moorer, Steve Forbert and other projects.

With decades of experience on all sides of this industry, I’m dedicated to handcrafting each campaign, tailoring it to fit the specific needs of the artist and project.

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