Carol Young has been a lifelong music fan since watching American Bandstand and Soul Train on TV and raiding her big brother David’s record collection including Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Carole King, Phoebe Snow, Janis Joplin, and The Beatles.
In the early 1980’s, Carol founded an independent concert production company in western Massachusetts presenting The Roches, Sweet Honey in the Rock, and others while at the same time pursuing her M. Ed in Counseling at UMass/Amherst. Carol went on to work as Assistant Director of a counseling program for minority undergraduate students.
Later, she formed a management company, Young/Hunter, with Charlie Hunter, representing artists including Bill Morrissey, Casselberry-Dupree, Dar Williams, Chris Smither, Peter Mulvey, and many others.
Carol left the higher education world and began working for George Wein’s Festival Productions, both the New York and New Orleans offices, on notable events including but not limited to the Newport Folk Festival, Newport Jazz Festival, Ben & Jerry’s One World, One Heart festivals, President Bill Clinton’s inaugural event Reunion on the Mall, the Essence Music Festival, and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (Jazzfest).
She cites Robert L. Jones, aka “Bob”, and Quint Davis as her mentors in her music business life. Carol has previously served on boards including Club Passim and Folk Alliance. She has an MFA in Writing and is a Kwame Dawes Mapmakers Scholar and Anaphora Arts Fellow.
Carol continues to work for Jazzfest and manage Chris Smither.