3 days ago
Man who claims to be event promoter accused of stealing $13,000 from metro Atlanta musicians
A Cobb County man is accused of stealing thousands of dollars from musicians that he failed to pay for six holiday shows in 2024.
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Royce Watson Productions promoted the Vintage Vibes as a supper club serenade with tunes from a well-known singer and musicians.
A $120 ticket gave customers a gourmet dinner or brunch while being serenaded by timeless hits.
The Cherokee Chophouse says it agreed to the deal with a certain percentage from ticket sales.
Some of the bands' musicians told Channel 2 Cobb County Bureau Chief Michele Newell Watson agreed to pay each of them different amounts totaling $13,000 immediately following the last show.
'Royce was a great customer. He would come maybe once or twice a week. He just told us he had a great idea, a great band. He organizes nice events, he told me he is good buddies with Hayden Rider, who is a backstreet singer he starred in big events on Broadway. We took it as a great business opportunity. We saw nothing wrong with it. We are closed on Mondays, so we took the opportunity to open on Mondays just for the show,' said George Tselios, General Manager of the Cherokee Chophouse.
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Some of the musicians told Newell, Watson called some of them individually before he formed the band.
'Royce found me online through a booking website,' said pianist John Burke.
'He was friendly, and he also seemed like he already had a relationship with The Chophouse. He said that his great friend, the owner Gus, was putting together the show, and he was going to pack the show. As a musician, that's really all you need to hear,' said musician Hollie Pritchard.
The band spent hours practicing before the show.
'We did six shows over the course of late November through December,' said Pritchard.
However, after the last show, Pritchard said the band never received the money they were owed.
A text message Watson allegedly sent the band states that he was sick. In the message, Watson apologizes for the delayed payment and blames it on a delay from the credit card company. Pritchard said Watson eventually stopped communication with the band altogether, before police were contacted.
'He made about $80,000 from what the report said,' Tselios said.
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'This has been pretty upsetting for all of us. Super devastating both personally and financially,' Pritchard said.
'We would feed the customers for free just cause they paid but we wouldn't let him in unless we got paid. We got jipped on a few things the VIP meet and greet wasn't our plan,' Tselios said.
Tselios said Watson paid the restaurant what was owed because they refused to let him enter without receiving the amount Watson agreed to pay.
Pritchard and some of the other musicians said they did all they could to get the money they were owed, but they said Watson went ghost.
Police eventually got involved, and now Watson is facing numerous criminal charges that include felonies.
Some of the musicians told Newell they will be sure to sign contracts with promoters they don't know, moving forward.
The Cherokee Chophouse is stepping up in a big way, forming some sort of silver lining to what's been a nightmare for the musicians.
'We want to make it up to them; they are great people, great musicians,' Tselios said.
Some of the musicians are now hired for three months of shows beginning June 22 at the Cherokee Chophouse.
Newell tried to contact Watson, but hasn't heard back. The website for his production company and the phone number he used for ticket sales are inactive.
