Ron Kitchener
President
Launched in 1992, Ron Kitchener established RGK Entertainment Group as a concert promotion and event marketing company. By early 1994, RGK had evolved into an artist management driven company, with Kitchener managing then up-and-coming country star Jason McCoy. Since that time, he has led his team to all new heights as a multi-faceted company.
With a global focus, RGK Entertainment Group has become a highly regarded and innovative force in today's competitive entertainment industry. The umbrella of RGK Entertainment Group includes: Open Road Recordings, Canada's award winning record label; Roots Three Music, a growing domestic and international publishing division; DART Events, a touring events planning company; and RGK One Shot Productions, a television production and development company.
RGK remains strongly focused on artist management. Having won Management Company of the Year from 2009 to 2011 and Manager of the Year nine times at the Canadian Country Music Awards (CCMA), Kitchener's management style and business acumen has built his roster to include JUNO winners Doc Walker and Corb Lund, Dean Brody, Tara Oram, and up-and-comers High Valley and Steven Lee Olsen. Previously, RGK has managed multi-Platinum selling artist Johnny Reid and JUNO nominated and CCMA winning group The Road Hammers.
Open Road Recordings, founded by Kitchener, won Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) Award for Record Company of the Year in 2009, 2010 and 2011. It is home to JUNO and CCMA Award winning artists Doc Walker, Dean Brody, Emerson Drive, The Road Hammers (certified Gold in Canada) and classic Canadian roots group Prairie Oyster. The award winning label roster also includes break out success stories High Valley, Ridley Bent and Tara Oram. Open Road Recordings represents Big Machine and The Valory Music Co. in Canada, which includes Taylor Swift (certified six times Platinum in Canada), Reba, Rascal Flatts, Justin Moore and Brantley Gilbert, and is a partnership with MapleCore Ltd., distributed by Universal Music Canada.
Roots Three Music, RGK's publishing arm, co-ventured with ole music in 2006, is dedicated to developing song writing talent both domestically and internationally. Roots Three has a diverse catalogue with cuts by Montgomery Gentry, Craig Morgan, The Judds, Mark Wills, Dean Brody, The Road Hammers, Doc Walker, UK super group Westlife, Howie Dorough (Backstreet Boys) and sync placements on Oprah, Good Morning America, ESPN, NASCAR, Fox , Friends and many more.
RGK One Shot Productions is the television production and development division of the company. Meet The Wilsons, the company's first official production, debuted in September 2009 on CMT. The show has aired on CMT in Canada and the US.
DART Events recently produced and toured the CMT Hitlist Tour featuring Dean Brody, Aaron Lines and Deric Ruttan. The tour played twenty six shows across Canada, including a number of sold out dates. A previous tour, 2009's CMT on Tour, supported some of the hottest new stars of Canadian country.
RGK Management clients have achieved recognition internationally, with several artists touring overseas to great success. Artists Corb Lund, Dean Brody and Doc Walker have all been well received in Australia, garnering a strong fan base down under. Doc Walker's album Go debuted in the Top 15 on the ARIA (Australian Recording Industry Association) Country Album Sales Chart. Contributing to the growth and enhancement of Canada's phenomenal talent, Kitchener organized Canadian Country on Show in Australia, a tour developed to take established and rising country artists 'down under' and perform numerous shows across Australia.
An entrepreneur and an innovator, Kitchener embraces the future of today's business. He combines professional business strategies with a grass-roots philosophy, creating the best all-around opportunities and atmosphere for his artists. In 2008, 2009 and 2011 Kitchener was named CCMA Record Company Person of the Year. With all of his professional successes, it is no surprise that Kitchener was nominated and elected to sit on the board of the Country Music Association (CMA), as International Director in November 2009. In addition, he has held positions on the MMF (Music Manager Forum) Canada Board, the CCMA board and the CCMC (Contemporary Coalition of Country Music) board based in Sydney, Australia. He is a class of 2008 (Nashville) Leadership Music alumni and served as co-chair for Leadership Touring Day.
Kitchener is married with two children, and splits his time between his offices in Nashville and Toronto.
Weblinks: www.rgk.ca | www.openroadrecordings.com
