Troy Blakely

Blakely was born just outside Detroit, Michigan. The son of a steel worker, he was raised and schooled in Southgate, Michigan. In his teens, he performed and played guitar with numerous Michigan bands. After starting college in 1968, he left in 1969 to become the tour manager for Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels, who were then managed by Barry Kramer, owner of Creem magazine. He moved to New York in 1970 to work as Assistant Tour Manager for Johnny Winter under Teddy Slatus, at that time one of the best tour managers in the music business. After assisting in putting together Edgar Winter and White Trash, he returned to Michigan to work as tour manager for Detroit featuring Mitch Ryder, who had just released their album "Detroit" on Paramount Records with Danny Goldberg. In late 1972, he was offered the position of agent for Diversified Management Agency (DMA) located in Sterling Heights, Michigan. While at DMA, representing artists such as Ted Nugent, Bob Seger, Iggy and the Stooges,