The CEO Sound

Executive Sessions will kick off with the Loomers, featuring Tom Simons, PARTNERS+simons, April 17, and Ernie and the Automatics, with Ernie Boch Jr., May 15, at Cafe 939.
April 11, 2008

Executive Sessions, a new concert series that showcases bands whose members include Boston-area CEOs and corporate executives, will kick off with folk-rockers the Loomers with Tom Simons, president/creative director, PARTNERS+simons, Thursday, April 17, 8:00 p.m., at Berklee's Cafe 939. Tickets are $10.00 and are available at the Berklee Performance Center box office, 136 Massachusetts Avenue, through Ticketmaster at 617 931-2000, or at ticketmaster.com. Cafe 939, Berklee's new all-ages, student-run coffee house and music venue, is located at 939 Boylston Street, and is wheelchair accessible.

Executive Sessions will run several Thursday evenings from April 17 through early summer. Upcoming shows include Ernie and the Automatics, featuring Ernie Boch Jr., CEO and president, Subaru of New England, Inc. (May 15); and the Limitations, with Jim Januzzi, director, Cardiac Intensive Care Unit, Mass General Hospital (May 22). All proceeds from the Executive Session series, including a financial contribution from PARTNERS+simons, will benefit Berklee's scholarship programs.

"There is an obscure German poet who said that music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life," noted Simons. "Truer words were never spoken. We are calling all Boston-area CEOs who have night jobs in bands to express their interest in playing a Thursday night session and wash away some office dirt, while also supporting the next generation of gifted musicians."

Tom Simons—president/creative director of the independent, full-service marketing communications firm PARTNERS+simons—is a guitarist by avocation and a long-time Loomer. Along with Jon Svetkey (acoustic guitar, harmonica, lead vocals); Everett Pendleton (electric guitar, harmony vocals); PARTNERS+simons controller Jack Cavalier (bass guitar, background vocals); and Michael Cahill (drums, background vocals) who owns his own business, CK Environmental, Simons continues to perform in the great tradition of corporate bands.

The Loomers, whose latest album Tomorrow Today is available on iTunes, have twice been finalists in Fortune Magazine's Corporate Battle of the Bands, and they also have performed at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. For more information, visit loomers.com.

Cafe 939 is Berklee's new all-ages, student-run concert venue and coffee house. Located at 939 Boylston Street, Cafe 939 showcases emerging student talent, local artists, and national acts seeking a more intimate performance space. The 200-person capacity venue is open to the general public and features high-end PA and lighting systems, video and DVD capabilities, and flexible seating. Music business/management majors are responsible for all booking, marketing, publicity, and promotion. Berklee students also work as ushers, as box office clerks, and in the stage crew. For information on upcoming events at Cafe 939, visit berklee.edu/events, or call 617 747-2261.

PARTNERS+simons is a marketing services firm with deep domain expertise in technology, healthcare, life sciences, and financial services. With its ability to help clients (such as Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in MA and NJ, Genzyme, Agilent, EMC, and Sovereign Bank) realize the game-changing potential of media fragmentation, audience segmentation, and addressability, PARTNERS+simons is an indispensable CMO partner in the development, measurement, and analysis of marketing tools, programs, and processes.