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How Music Biz Mainstay Edward Crowe Helps Emerging Artists
Thinking big and following through
Edward Crowe is a music business executive, entrepreneur and mentor recognized as a leading voice in culture and entertainment. As a teenage magician in Nashville, Edward was struck at age 16 by a one-in-100,000 syndrome that left him fully paralyzed and on life support. He relearned to walk over a years-long recovery, and the discipline forged in that fight became the foundation of everything he has built since.
Edward began by selling merch on tour, unpaid. By 2020, he’d risen through the ranks to manage Yelawolf. Under his guidance, the Slumerican brand has prospered and grown into a force on the indie music scene.
Edward helps develop artists from their first show through an infrastructure he built, including House of Sebek, a full-service publishing and global distribution platform.
He is also a Freemason, part of a 300-year fraternity of builders raising builders; a trusted psychedelic guide and mentor within his community; and the producer of the groundbreaking Phoenix Rising Psychedelics Speakeasy in Nashville.
Additionally, Edward is the CEO of Murder Cigars, a Dominican hand-rolled line in which every cigar is a crow and every pack of four a murder, honoring heritage, craft and tobacco’s ancient role as a sacred plant.
We spent a few minutes with Edward to learn about his background, inspirations and the ways artists can interact with fans is evolving.
Where did you grow up, and where do you live now?
I was born in Wilmington, Del. I lived there until I was 10 years old. My mother and I moved to Tennessee to live with my stepdad while he was pursuing a career as a singer-songwriter. I grew up in a part of town called Antioch, outside of Nashville.
What’s your earliest musical memory?
When my stepdad used to come upstairs at the apartments we lived in. He would sing and play his guitar for my mom before they decided to be a couple.
Who are your fave artists today?
Led Zeppelin, Mozart, Egyptian Sufi music, Three 6 Mafia, Cypress Hill, Pink Floyd, 2Pac.
Tell us about one of your favorite projects you’ve ever worked on.
My annual blotter art released on Bicycle Day. I started my journey in life as a creative child. As I grew older I found success in the music business. I’m thankful, but at a point it removed creativity from my life. The blotter art gives me an “excuse” to be creative annually. I work on these throughout the year and they have deep symbolic and sentimental value to me.
What’s a recent project you’re proud of?
The Yelawolf 5150 tour photography coffee table book that I released with Slumerican, Estevan Orial‘s Joker Brand, and Draco Publishing. I shot the photographs, and my partner Kyro Wolf did the design and layout. It was a labor of love. Estevan Oriol is one of the most iconic hip hop, gangland, and lowrider culture photographers alive, and the fact that he personally told me he wanted to release my book was major.
What excites you about how the music world is evolving?
It’s a positive for the fans to be able to interact with artists via social media, live streaming, etc.
Someone else’s work, in music or beyond, that you admired lately?
First answer: Salvador Dalí Second answer: I’m lucky to have some of the most incredible people as friends. Yelawolf‘s level of creative genius from music to visual art continues to blow my mind. Adrian Baxter, Daniel Martin Diaz, Kyro Wolf, PD Newman, and Mr. Babies are all visual artists I really appreciate and am inspired by.
Name a book, movie, TV show or podcast you recently found inspiring.
The Art of Memory by Francis Yates, Grow a New Brain by Dr. Alberto Villoldo, and The Great Secret by Eliphis Levi.
Who’s worth following on social media?
@Forbes—I love the quotes.
Your main strength as a marketer?
My ability to execute. Being delusional enough to have big ideas and focused enough to see them through.
Your biggest weakness?
Being constrained by time. The intensity that fuels me can also become a source of overload.
Something people would find surprising about you?
I obsessively collect books, and have amassed over 1,000 on tour. The hunt across the country is therapy to me.
One thing that always makes you happy?
Being in the forest, specifically on my land. That’s where I start my day before I touch the phone or laptop.
One thing that always makes you sad?
People hurting animals.
What would you be doing if you weren’t in the music business?
Traveling the world as a photographer, experiencing and learning about other cultures.
2 Minutes With is our regular interview series where we chat with creatives about their backgrounds, creative inspirations, work they admire and more. For more about 2 Minutes With, or to be considered for the series, please get in touch.
