Variety Playhouse, Terminal West and Georgia Theatre launch Zero Mile

The management and promotions teams behind Terminal West and Agon Entertainment have joined forces to launch Zero Mile, a new partnership that will oversee booking for Athens’ Georgia Theatre, and Atlanta’s Variety Playhouse and Terminal West. Anyone who’s attended shows at the Georgia Theatre, Terminal West or the newly refurbished Variety Playhouse will recognize that each room shares similar aesthetics in terms of decor and high-level production. And each venue has regularly co-promoted shows with each other. This new partnership makes their relationship official, while giving each room a leg up in booking music in a city where AEG, Bowery Presents South, Live Nation and City Winery are becoming increasingly competitive.

“[Booking shows together] has continued to be a great working relationship, and it’s time to bring the physical assets together,” says Alan Sher co-owner and general manager for Terminal West. “Whether it’s the team at each venue, or just a better marketing reach, taking this step together happened very organically.”

This kind of natural growth is also a move that Scott Orvold, who works as a talent buyer for all three venues, and is a co-owner of Terminal West, says will guide a burgeoning brand whose labors are already ingrained in the city’s nightlife. “The city is growing and more opportunities are bubbling up as a result,” Orvold says. “Part of this was honestly to avoid confusion. Like when we’re doing 'Georgia Theatre and Terminal West present so and so at the Buckhead Theatre' it started getting convoluted. So with Zero Mile, we want to make one company that represents all of these companies, and clarifies it for the public.”

The new partnership — which also includes Walker Beard, Katie Carmody, and Sarah Smith — allows each venue to work together in making a better fit for each room while better serving performers and the audiences they draw.

Zero Mile will also book other rooms throughout the city. On June 16, the group is presenting Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth and Steve Gunn at Smith’s Olde Bar. On July 14 they're bringing Sturgill Simpson to the Fox Theatre for an already sold-out show. Zero Mile has also recently announced that singer-songwriter Gillian Welch’s Harrow and the Harvest Tour will make a stop at Atlanta Symphony Hall on Aug. 5. In addition, Zero Mile will oversee booking and promotion for the music venue being built as part of the Atlanta Dairies development project on Memorial Drive. “As Atlanta continues to establish itself as the most important city in the Southeast, and one of the most competitive cities in the country, new rooms are being built, and people are going full-throttle in the entertainment sector,” Orvold says. “As a result, the level of quality is elevating as well. With this new partnership, we’re creating an environment where there’s more synchronicity between each of these venues, and we can better utilize the resources that we have to keep improving that level of quality.”