The behind the scenes work that goes into tours and promoting music is the backbone of the music industry, and West 22nd manager Conner Kanaly can concur. He has been working with the Austin based indie rock band West 22nd ever since they released their debut single “Sunburns” in 2023. I was able to chat with Kanaly this past week and discuss his experience being a band manager while also balancing studying corporate finance at the University of Texas at Austin. 

Kanaly, a graduating senior in college, began his journey with the West 22nd his freshman year before the band even met, when he was roommates with one of the members. Full circle, he now lives with the whole band, hearing music playing from all corners of the house.  He recalls “I never thought I’d be in the music industry; I always loved music but it’s a hard industry to get into – you just have to fall in the right place.” Falling in said right place, he began working for the band by building a website. From there, he began booking their shows and, slowly but surely, became their official manager. “I liked their music, I knew them, and I wanted to help so since I was a corporate finance major I could at least get their finances together and start funding a tour,” Kanaly explains. He always had a passion for music but never thought he would end up in the music industry. When the opportunity came to manage a great band, though, he was not going to pass it up.

 The band initially met through a series of open mics and began performing at frat parties. Kanaly describes the band getting together as dumb luck; they simply ran into each other playing music and all had the same love for it. After playing a cornucopia of cover songs, rhythm guitarist Gabe Acevedo made the executive decision to switch to original songs and the rest is history. 

A typical day in the life of Kanaly, consists of countless emails. He is currently in the process of renting a van for West 22nd’s upcoming tour. With this, he has to balance all the needs and wants of the band: from making sure there is a removable back row to store equipment to a television to play xbox, he has lots of factors to account for. Once he rents the van and the band is off on tour, though, you would never know he is there. “I’m definitely behind the scenes; most people will never see my face or know who I am, which is just part of being a manager. The only people who care about managers are other managers, record labels, and booking agents,” he explains.

Kanaly has dabbled with managing other bands such as Edgehill and Hallpass, booking some shows for them. While he is not the official manager for the bands, he just wanted to help them succeed. He expands, “I just loved it; it was awesome to be a part of bands that are up and coming, fighting and clawing as much as they can.” His passion for music shines through in his work for bands. His dedication and hard work has opened many doors for West 22nd, such as being the first current UT Austin students to play Austin City Limits. He spent four months sending the festival emails, updating them on sold out shows and new song releases. Kanaly laughs, saying he “annoyed ALC into letting the band play.” This hard work paid off though, when the band made the cut and was absolutely starstruck once they saw the stage!  

Finding a passion for the music industry, Kanaly is planning on attending law school this fall, focusing on entertainment law. He wants to help bands like West 22nd reach their full potential. Kanaly’s dedication to those he works with was clear within the first five minutes of chatting, and he will be someone to look out for in the coming years in the industry.