About Us

Rick Whetsel, Talent Buyer/Partner
In 1989, while attending the University of Pittsburgh, Rick Whetsel began his career in the music industry, working for a local artist management firm. After gaining experience in everything from concert production to album promotion, he relocated to Nashville in 1992. Continuing to gain valuable experience, Rick worked with events as varied as touring Broadway shows to the Atlanta Summer Olympics. In 1996 Rick began to exclusively promote concerts. Starting small and developing relationships, he settled into a talent buying role at Nashville’s legendary club, the Exit/In. Following two successful years and seeing an opportunity for an independent concert promoter, Rick left to form his own company, Great Big Shows. After two more years of sharing rooms with other promoters and presenting a variety of events throughout the region, Great Big Shows became the exclusive promoter at two Nashville venues: the 1,200 capacity 328 Performance Hall and the 350 capacity Belcourt Theatre. In the fall of 2002 Rick purchased the Exit/In and since that time it has once again become one of Nashville’s premiere concert venues.

In the past few years, Great Big Shows has continued to grow has promoted concerts featuring artists such as Disturbed, Vince Gill, Flaming Lips, Linkin Park, Dwight Yoakam and many more. Great Big Shows has also been involved in producing such events as Dancin’ in the District, Uptown Mix and The Franklin Jazz Festival, all in Nashville. As well as On the Bricks (Atlanta), D.C. Sessions and, and Sundown in the City (Knoxville) and tours such as The Virgin College Mega Tour.

Shanna Dickerson- Production Manager
Originally from North Carolina, Shanna relocated to Nashville in 2001, after graduating from North Carolina State University. In 2002, she accepted an executive assistant position at what was then called Clear Channel Entertainment. For the next three years she was responsible for a variety of duties, including talent buying, artist settlement, contract fulfillment, and event production. Shanna was offered the position of tour manager by rock legend Steve Winwood in 2005 and left Clear Channel to pursue this opportunity. After spending the remainder of the year on tour, Shanna came back to Nashville and accepted her current position at Great Big Shows. She is responsible for the majority of event coordination and concert production for Great Big Shows.