Mike Kappus

Mike Kappus (born May 24, 1950) Kappus was chosen to induct Eric Clapton, Elvin Bishop (2016), Mavis Staples (2017), Pops Staples (2018), and Bettye Lavette (2022) into the Blues Hall of Fame.

Biography Mike Kappus was born in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, United States. In 1971, he joined an established agency based in Milwaukee. During the next five years, Kappus procured various musical talent for several clubs and music festivals and universities. These included booking Asleep at the Wheel, Jimmy Cliff, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, plus jazz musicians including Grover Washington, Jr., Weather Report, Rahsaan Roland Kirk and George Benson, and rock acts such as the MC5 and Styx. He also established relationships with future Rosebud clients such as Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, John Lee Hooker, Mose Allison, John Hiatt and John P. Hammond. In the early through mid-1970s, Kappus also gained further experience while curating a stage at Summerfest in Milwaukee.

In 1976, a few months after relocation to San Francisco, California, Kappus started his own Rosebud Agency. After signing Mike Bloomfield, John Hiatt and Eddie Harris on the first day of the new business, on which the band toured 50 U.S. states in the space of 50 days. Signing with the agency in 1983, Los Lobos grew from playing Los Angeles clubs when they first joined the roster to supporting U2 and touring the world in the wake of their No. 1 single, "La Bamba", from the chart-topping soundtrack album of the same name. Artists with over 20 years tenure at Rosebud included John P. Hammond, who was represented by Rosebud for 37 years, Loudon Wainwright III, The Blind Boys of Alabama and The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Robert Cray (22 years), and the late John Lee Hooker (25 years). Charlie Watts was represented by Rosebud for his rare jazz performances for 17 plus years.

In his role as a music manager, Kappus has worked for Hooker, Cray, Hiatt, John P. Hammond, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Duke Robillard, Loudon Wainwright III, and represented J. J. Cale for thirty years until the latter's death in 2013. which saw Hooker win a total of four Grammy Awards. Kappus also acted as associate producer on film documentaries on both Cale and Hooker, and made an appearance in both. The former, To Tulsa and Back: On Tour with J. J. Cale was released in 2005. He has also facilitated recording deals for Mavis Staples (Have a Little Faith (2004)), Bettye LaVette (I've Got My Own Hell to Raise (2005)), Charlie Watts and Buddy Guy, including that which led to Guy's Damn Right, I've Got the Blues (1991). The Blues Foundation named Kappus 'Manager / Agent of the Year' four times.

As head of the Rosebud Agency, Kappus incorporated environmental policies and social responsibility issues, which saw the company offices fully converting to solar power in 2000. Kappus' environmental concerns also drove him to coordinate two compilations for non-profit, Earthjustice, featuring artists from Tom Waits and Willie Nelson to Norah Jones, Tina Turner, Bob Dylan, Rubén Blades, Michael Franti, Ani DiFranco, Keb Mo, Ruth Brown, Lou Reed and Etta James. which carries on the history and mission of Arhoolie Records. In addition, he has consulted for San Francisco's Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, The booking side of the Rosebud Agency closed in December 2013. In 2022, Rosebud completed its transfer of over 250,000 items to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Southern Folklife Collection archives. This included over 45,000 live performance contracts Rosebud negotiated for its artists.

In addition to naming Kappus 'Manager / Agent of the Year' four times, Kappus was chosen to induct Eric Clapton (2015), Elvin Bishop (2016), Mavis Staples (2017), Pops Staples (2018), and Bettye Lavette in 2022, as well as inducting John Lee Hooker's The Real Folk Blues album, into the Blues Hall of Fame. Highlights of the Rosebud Agency and Kappus' history were presented in a featured exhibit at the Blues Hall of Fame, which ran from May 2017 until March 2018.

In 2019, Kappus was the project coordinator for J. J. Cale's posthumous album, Stay Around. The same year, Kappus was the producer for Betty Reid Soskin's narrative album, A Lifetime of Being Betty (Little Village Foundation). Kappus also worked as a consultant on BBC Four's 2019 televisual documentary, John Lee Hooker: The Boogie Man.

Executive record production credits Year Album title Artist 1988 Nobody But You John P. Hammond 1989 The Healer John Lee Hooker 1990 "I'm in the Mood" (single) John Lee Hooker with Bonnie Riatt 1991Mr. Lucky John Lee Hooker 1992 Boom Boom John Lee Hooker 1992 Peace to the Neighborhood Pops Staples 1992 Got Love If You Want It John P. Hammond 1992 History Loudon Wainwright III 1993 Shame + A Sin The Robert Cray Band 1993 Career Moves Loudon Wainwright III 1993 Trouble No More ≠ John P. Hammond 1994 Temptation Duke Robillard 1995 Chill Out John Lee Hooker 1995 Grown Man Loudon Wainwright III 1997 Don't Look Back John Lee Hooker 1996 Found True Love John P. Hammond 1997 Little Ship Loudon Wainwright III 1997 Dangerous Place Duke Robillard 1998 The Best of Friends John Lee Hooker 1998 Long You As I Have You John P. Hammond 1999 Conversations in Swing Guitar Duke Robillard 2001 Live J. J. Cale 2003 Time Will Tell Robert Cray 2003 So Damn Happy Loudon Wainwright III 2003 More Conversations in Swing Guitar Duke Robillard 2003 Face to Face John Lee Hooker 2004 To Tulsa and Back J. J. Cale 2006 To Tulsa and Back On Tour With J. J. Cale (DVD) J. J. Cale 2006 Hooker (box set) John Lee Hooker 2009 Roll On J. J. Cale 2010 Backatown Trombone Shorty 2019 Stay Around ≈ J. J. Cale 2019 A Lifetime of Being Betty Betty Reid Soskin 2020 Heaven Forever Casey Van Beek and the Tulsa Groove ≠ - co-produced with J. J. Cale ≈ - project coordinator

Associate and compilation record production credits Year Album title Artist 1992 The Late Show (BBC production) John Lee Hooker and guests 1999 Heavy Picks Robert Cray 1999 Fish-Tree-Water-Blues Various artists 2000 That's My Story (DVD) John Lee Hooker 2002 The Best of Robert Cray - The Millennium Collection Robert Cray 2002 In Session At Paradise Studios Los Angeles, 1979 (DVD and CD) J. J. Cale featuring Leon Russell 2003 Where We Live Various artists