Nina Baldridge Fast Forward Management is a fraud! Do not pay her to manage you! Dacula, Georgia

There's a lot to cover here. I'm not going to pick it apart. This is a permanently damaging website with no way to recover from. Things got heated, the investor backed out because he didn't think there was enough "management" going on. Nina was putting the ball in our court a lot as she was doing other things working with other bands. Rightfully so. I can't expect her to drop everything.

 The studio that was calling her about me being late for whatever reason was a studio that expected me to be up at 9am to record, which is crazy in itself knowing that I play 6 nights a week and sometimes twice in one day since January of 2007 and still going at that pace. Being in the scene that regularly does promote drinking. I have no defense for that. 

 Since then, I have detoxed, and am doing well physically and mentally. I'm not going to comment further on the cocaine remarks or try to defend anything else, because what I want to do right here and now is squash this whole thing.

 I forgot I even wrote it as well as the other report I wrote around the same time, and if I would have known there was no way to get rid of it, I definitely would have not written such a damaging blog to anyone's career. My apologies to Nina as well as any other parties affected here. I was under the impression that her duties were different than what I got, and so did my investor. So, that being said, this has been an experience we have all learned from, and I am grateful for the opportunity to have had a chance to gain more knowledge about the industry on all levels.

 I am a solo acoustic artist. I'm not trying to be a rockstar, just trying to write and record some music and have some fun making a living and traveling. Perhaps that's where I fall short. It's ok though. I'm grateful. I too wish the best for Nina and all of her clients. She will be an asset to many in the future I'm sure. In fact, I do believe the award she was nominated for, she did win. That being said, there's nothing more to say here. 

P.S. Beware of this website. It is permanent. It does not go away no matter what you do. 

4/2013
I was not going to reply to this posting and I am only doing so at the continued urging of my current clients, family and friends who know how unfounded this story is. My opinion about such things is you do not have to defend yourself against untruths. However to set the record straight, heal the energy surrounding this and satisfy the urging of those who know and love me, I am here to reply some three years later.

I want to preface this rebuttal with this email I received from the author of this post (Jamison H**** of South Carolina), when I asked him for a recommendation. This email was sent AFTER we terminated our consulting agreement together which I will explain in detail.

From: Jamison <jamisunllc@xxxxx.com>
( I will not post his private email out of respect for him, even though he has shown me none here, but I will forward this email and any other to proved validity to those in disbelief. The truth stands.)

Date: February 23,
2010 3:19:25 PM EST

To: Baldridge Nina
<nina.baldridge@XXXXX.com>
(I just read that this forum does not allow any email addresses

Subject: Re: A humble request....

Sheeeeeit......I was just tellin it like it is. You rock Neen!

 
On Feb 23, 2010, at 11:20 AM, Baldridge Nina wrote:

Aw thanks J..you rock!

On Feb 22, 2010, at 5:50 PM, Jamison wrote:

 Most friendly and professional person in the business I've ever worked with. Works in all aspects of the business from writing and producing to communicating with the people that matter the most, and it's pretty much all of them. Great spirit and heart, and very fair in all areas of business. She understands the laws of Karma and treats everyone with the utmost respect. Not to mention has connections like no other. Despite who she knows, it's what she knows and what she does with it that has really impressed me the most. 

 She got my music mixed by Russ Fowler (Shawn Mullins, Indigo Girls, etc.) as well as gave me direction as to what to do next. I will be working with her again in the future. I found a gold mine. 

JamiSun
Guitarist/Singer/Songwriter

Our story together started August 2nd  2009 when Jamison contacted me to assist him in the release of his upcoming record as his consultant.

I presenting him and his investor with a consulting agreement, which clearly stated that I was to be his consultant not his manager, and the duties I would perform for him would be strictly those of a consultant.  The document we signed was not a management agreement, the two are VERY different.

We signed a 9 month consulting agreement in October 2009 at a meeting at a Mexican restaurant in Canton Georgia near a great studio he was working (on the record) in at the time: Virtuo Sound, which he has subsequently trashed on this site as well.  During that business meeting they both drank what I felt was excessively ( I would call 3 yager bombs and beers excessive in a one hour span)  which should have been a big red flag for me and in hindsight, I probably should have walked away, but I believed in his music and stayed.

He said that I spoke about cocaine at our first meeting and that is true. The only reference I ever made about cocaine was that I do not work with clients who have any kind of chemical dependencies. I make that very clear to all prospective clients. I bring it up in conversation and gauge their reaction to it.  I now include those who abuse alcohol as well to that list; it can derail a project equally as swiftly. It is an all to familiar tale with musicians who play in bars every night unfortunately.

Although he was only a consulting client, I think Jamison expected me to give him the same attention I give to my clients who are in fact signed to a management agreement. As I said, the two agreements are very different and I made him and his investor very aware of that in several conversations and emails prior to and during our term. Managers handle the day to day of their clients, while consultants are hired on a per task basis. I tried to service Jamison's project per our agreement but he was very unorganized and I could not get even the basic assets from him to do anything with for his project. I needed photos, final mixes and a direction from him.

All of those things were "in the works" as he kept telling me, so I waited for those things I needed. He did send me some photos finally, but in my opinion, they were not appropriate for the direction he stated he wanted for the project and I told him so. He did not like my assessment, nor did he like when anyone involved in the project told him what he was doing was not, in our opinion, the best that could be done for what he "said" he wanted to accomplish and the direction he was conveying to those involved.

I did get an award winning engineer/producer to mix a song for and it was an amazing mix, as he stated. That was not a duty I had agreed to do, I was just trying to help move things forward.  During the term, I also arranged a meeting with a person from LA who has the inside track on putting music in movies and TV shows who had come to see my other clients in a showcase. I told Jamison that I felt it would be a great opportunity for him to meet this person, and it would have.

Jamison obviously did not feel that way as he left Atlanta the day before the showcase and the opportunity was lost. After that, he continually went back into the studio (several different studios) to re-do tracks over and over, and his record was costing him way more than it should have if he had had some focus and a proper team working the project doing production coordination and monitoring the budget. Those are task I can do but tasks I was not contracted for and was not being paid to do. He was trying to do it all himself and also trying to finish the record in the studio as well.

It is a complicated task to release a record even when you do have a team.

On December 14th, 2009 I got a call from his investor who said he was pulling funding from Jamisons project and that he felt he was as he said in over his head and did not know the workings of the industry enough to continue. I settled my agreement with them with 30 days notice although I could have litigated and been paid for the entire term. I was finally paid for 4 months of the 9 only.

And to be honest, it was a struggle to even get the 4 payments I received. I only received the first one on time as it was at the first meeting we had in person. In order to get the other payments, I had to email and call about them for weeks before they were paid.  And what he said about threatening me with his investors attorneys was real, and I wanted no part of a legal struggle, it was not worth it to me.

In making room on my schedule for Jamisons project that year, I had turned down other clients at a financial loss to myself and my company. After the termination of the agreeement I received several apologetic emails from Jamison and we had a good rapport still. He realized that his project was not at the right state of readiness for me to have come on board at that time. I agreed.

I wished him well, we were done and that was that.  Then I received a call from the owners of one the studio he was still trying to work at in SC asking me what was "wrong with this guy? He shows up hours late and gets drunk all the time". I simply told them I was sorry they were experiencing that with him and that I did not work with him anymore. The studio owner did tell me that money had become an issue and that he had become aware that the projects investor was asking to be repaid on his debt.

I can imagine that news scared Jamison and he then started going back to all of us who worked on the project asking us all for his money back stating various reasons (and posting awful things on this site about us). I assumed so he could repay his debt to the investor. He continued to contact some of us for a few months, usually in the middle of the night and so badly intoxicated that he could hardly be understood. If you have ever tried to reason with a drunken person you know what I am talking about here. That was the last I heard from him and then I got the call from a friend about this post shortly after.

When an artist puts out an independent CD, it is at huge emotional and financial expense to them. And if that release hits a production wall and stalls, or after release does not do well, they sometimes look for anywhere else to place the blame. Unfortunately, we are his scapegoats, those of us who had worked to try and give that artist his shot. My belief is, Jamison is a very talented guitarist/singer songwriter, I have always believed that. If I did not, I would not have worked with him in the first place. I never said his CD was bad when he finally did send it to me. There are things I would have done differently, but it is his baby, not mine. I actually never spoke to him directly after I got the CD. I did speak to Josh however and told him of the things I thought I would have done differently. He must have conveyed those to Jamison and he did not take it well as always.

The last point I would like to address is this...For him to say that I get my channels to people from "whatever party" I was at last night is ridiculous. First of all, for anyone who knows me, it is hard for anyone to get me to even come out to a show, even less to a party. I am well over that part of the industry and have been for many years. For me it is all about the work, the creation, and the music. If it is not one of my artists or a friend playing I would rather just stay home. I have been in the music industry since 1980, thats a very long time. As a Studio Manager in Los Angeles and Atlanta in I have been blessed to have worked with artists such as Stevie Nicks ( as production coordinator as well) , Michael Jackson, Matchbox 20, Collective Soul and Elton John and that is to name only a very few. I know how it is done, I have been a part of it and I know how to do it.

In closing, and because we are all one the planet and especially in music, I would like to extend my best wishes to Jamison. I hope that his music lives on and that he has a long and prosperous career. If you ever want to see a great live acoustic show look him up. He will not disappoint. And on a personal level, I would like to wish him health, happiness and healing. I know he must have been in a very bad place to write this report and I choose to believe he is a way better person than this displays.  I will not post again on this subject although I fully expect him to ( as Josh had been through this with him before and said he probably will)  and hope that this explanation will suffice for those who prodded me to respond and those who may want to consider working with me.

Here is a recent recommendation from the mother of my new 15 year old consulting client and songwriting partner Emily Vance: She has just been nominated for Best New Artist 2013 / Youth Country Rock by the GA Music Awards.

3/15/13

Nina Baldridge has been working with my daughter Emily about a year and a half. She spotted Emily at an outdoor concert performing with Gwinnett School of Music. She recognized Emilys potential and started developing her as an artist. Emily has grown by leaps and bounds since she began working with Nina. Emilys voice and stage presence have improved 100% with Ninas help. Emilys confidence to be an artist has grown as well. Not one time has Nina ever tried to take extra money from our family. If anything she has been very cautious to help us save money and has protected us from scams that are out there. Nina is a detail-oriented businesswoman who is both artistic and gifted in many ways. She is a true professional who gets things done and does it right. She is a perfectionist at heart and takes pride in all
her projects. The thing that we love most about Nina is she is a Christian woman with high Christian morals and is always in a good cheerful mood. We consider her to be family. Thanks Nina!

Leslie Vance