Edward Crowe makes juggling his vast responsibilities look effortless. As a music manager for former Shady Records artist and Slumerican founder Yelawolf, photographer, entrepreneur and noted mushroom connoisseur, the Tennessee native can go to sleep in one state and wake up in another on any given day. Crowe has grown accustom to a life of constant motion. After a short break in Nashville, he'll continue on the road with Yelawolf and ultimately link up with Jelly Roll in Denver on 9/3.
Even with his heavy tour schedule, he's managed to get a cigar company off the ground, Murder by Edward Crowe, put together a photography book capturing Yelawolf's 5150 Tour and craft another book about his experiences with psychedelic mushrooms. Being a creative himself, Crowe finds that only compliments his executive duties.
"For me it’s easy to balance personally being a creative as well as an executive," Crowe tells us. "They feed each other and don’t compete. My ability to let loose and express my own personal creativity keeps me cool. Being creative brings me back to that feeling of no worries in the world and losing track of time like we all experienced as a child.
"I have a lot of things in motion. My cigar line—Murder by Edward Crowe—is dropping under Slumerican. I have a photography book called 51/50 Tour: Photography by Edward Crowe and another book about my personal experiences with psilocybin mushrooms written from the perspective of the mushroom titled Hello From Another Lifetime set to release August 2024."
Crowe didn't set out to be a manager. In fact, he thought he was going to be a musician himself. But in 2008, he signed his first artist and realized it was something he could seriously pursue. After reconnecting with Yelawolf, who he'd met in high school, he decided he'd become "the illest manager/executive to ever do it." Over the years, he's learned plenty about what it takes to succeed as a manager.
"To be a true leader, you have to form a strong reliable team, know how to delegate and remember to empower, encourage, and uplift your soldiers and the people you have in your corner who keep the ball bouncin' and fire anyone who doesn’t get it—immediately," he says, matter-of-factly. "This business is cut throat, so my way of finding balance is by being professionally bipolar. Also, management is all about the relationship with the artist. Whether you’ve known them 20 years like me and 'Wolf or you just met them, if you’re both on the same frequency you’ll thrive. But a mutual respect and matched hustle are important for the business to evolve."
The 51/50 Tour book is being released in February 2024 via Joker Brand Publishing, owned by legendary photographer and director Estevan Oriol. As for the cigars, they'll be available 11/14. In the meantime, for all things Edward Crowe, head to his website. We'll be over here basking in our own mediocrity.
(Photo credit: Tyre Grannemann)
