Kohl Almire Chats About His New Artist Management Company Under Color
After seven years of working at Red Light Management, Kohl Almire, one of the few transgender artist managers working in the music industry, founded Under Color in 2024, his own artist management company. Almire officially launched Under Color this year. He is very passionate about creating opportunities for artists that showcase their unique visions and celebrate their identity.
OFM chatted with music manager Kohl Almire about his new artist management company, Under Color.
“I was at Red Light Management for almost seven years, and I honestly wanted to start pursuing A&R, so I left Red Light and started looking at A&R jobs,” says Almire. “While I was talking to people in those sorts of positions of power at labels, they started recommending that I manage baby artists and bring them to them. At that point, I discovered two artists that I fell in love with and got back into management, and decided I wanted to do it independently, and so I decided to open up Under Color in February 2024 as a way to reconnect with artists that I had worked with in the past. I actually worked with Maddie Medley while I was at Red Light for five years. When I went independent, she hit me up, and she was like, ‘We should work together.’
“I think I got burned out from management for a little bit and needed a break, and got more into the A&R space … I was just really fired up about getting more involved with the music. Luckily, I get to work with artists who are already super open to my input, being in the studio, and being part of the process. I got the best of both worlds.”
Working at Red Light Management has given Almire some valuable experience that he has used while working at Under Color. “Even though I got most of my experience in artist creative collaboration, management, I feel like I also got some pseudo-label experience just from being at Red Light and working with their tour marketing department, graphic design department, radio department, video department, marketing, and managing,” he states. “They have a bunch of different sectors that make it really easy to plug into and learn. That was really cool. I took a lot away from that.”
Under Color focuses on three key areas: artist-first strategy, creative collaboration, and inclusive representation. “Creativity is the pinnacle of everything in the industry to me,” comments Almire. “When I can align with an artist on their creative vision, it’s when I do my best work. That’s why that’s such a big part of the company. As a trans manager in the industry, I’m used to kind of being the only one in these spaces, and I love working with other artists that are also queer, or trans, or nonbinary, or anyone that is in underrepresented communities. It’s just a passion of mine. Also, I just tend to connect with them better as people, and our working relationship tends to be a bit stronger because we understand each other in that way. It’s really important to my clients, obviously, by selecting a trans manager, and that means a lot to me. We just take care of each other.”
The biggest obstacle for Almire so far has been funding. “I’m very fortunate to work with artists once they got into the studio, so making the music is the easy part, but just working on funding to get their projects off the ground and to kind of keep myself afloat has probably been the trickiest piece,” he says. However, being part of mtheory’s Equal Access Development Program, a year-long artist and management initiative designed to uplift and support underrepresented voices in country music, has been particularly beneficial. “Every day has been a gift. Being on my own for a year versus having the support of mtheory and Equal Access has been a game changer.”
Currently, Almire manages singer-songwriter Maddie Medley and former bassist of Rainbow Kitten Surprise, Charlie Holt. Almire is thrilled to represent both artists. “They’re both two of my dearest friends, and I’ve just been a massive fan of theirs for years,” he says. “Both of them are just incredible people. They’re such talented musicians. I feel like they really have incredible stories and something to say that isn’t being said … Getting to work with artists that I respect so much and I really believe in has been so exciting.”
Recently, Medley has been hard at work recording new music. Unlike previous releases when she was on a major record label, Almire shares that Medley has had a significantly larger role in producing these songs. For example, “Good Clean Fun” is co-produced by Medley and her partner, Luke Krutzke. “That’s been a really freeing process for her,” comments Almire. “She’s learning to trust herself and her art more, and that’s been really beautiful.
Additionally, Almire highlights that Medley has been working with some “heavy hitters” on her new music. “She started working with this engineer named Sean Sullivan, who worked on Tyler Childers’ Purgatory and Long Violent History, so they have a lot of the same influences and have just really clicked. She’s also been working with this incredible fiddle player, Josey Tony. Josey used to play fiddle for Sierra Ferrell.”
Almire shares that Medley’s new music sees her blending her old sound with her new one. “When she was signed to a major label, she dropped six songs, but she also shelved some songs that were older ‘cause the label was interested in some of the newer songs. She has all these songs from when she was, like, 19 that she’s starting to release and that fans remember from her shows back in, like, 2017 and 2018. It’s been really cool just to see all the growth … Songs like ‘Good Clean Fun,’ that’s a song she has been playing since she was 19.”
Almire has big plans for the future of Under Color and is super excited for what is to come. “I would love just to expand the roster and get to work with different types of minorities,” he reflects. “I would love to have a small staff and be able to employ other minorities. We have our own little creative community right now, just with the artists I work with. I would love to grow that community. I’m so lucky that right now that both of my artists love to work together. Maddie and Charlie are always writing together or doing something together. I would also love just to create this family unit where people can rely on each other, work together, and make art together.”
Photo courtesy of Under Color
