Article Contributed by Gratefulweb
Published on 2026-10-07
Backstage Organics, the artist hospitality and wellness company founded by Scott Franklin Manning, announced today that it has signed singer-songwriter Pat Simmons Jr. as its first artist-management client. Simmons, 36, the son of Doobie Brothers co-founder Patrick Simmons, is currently routing his first official national tour for summer 2027.
“I like to say I’m a surfer by dawn, farmer and father by day, and a musician at night,” says Simmons—and it is not a tagline. He lives on a family farm on Maui with his wife and four children, where he homesteads, runs a small-scale organic farm and reforestation project, and carries the Hawaiian principle of Aloha ʻĀina—love of the land—into everything he does.
Born on the Mendocino coast in 1990 and raised on Maui’s North Shore from the age of six, Simmons grew up inside two worlds at once: the touring life of one of America’s defining rock bands and the tight-knit island community that raised him alongside Willie Nelson’s sons, Lukas and Micah.
“When I was about one and a half, two years old—just starting to walk even—I would get out on stage with my dad, and I just wanted to be out there,” Simmons told Good Times Santa Cruz in 2019. “They used to put these big soundproof headphones on my head to protect my ears, and I would walk out on stage in front of thousands of people with my little plastic guitar and just rock out. Like, I had no fear of it. I was totally having fun, and I just wanted to do that—every night I had to do it. Nobody was pushing me to do it. I wanted to.”
At 12, he formed his first band with Lukas Nelson on lead guitar and Micah Nelson—now known as Particle Kid—on drums. They called it Kalice, after the calluses forming on their beginner fingers.
“Pat was our best friend, and still is,” Lukas Nelson told Good Times. “When we were young, we were all just kids skateboarding and playing video games. At a certain point, Pat decided—as we all did—that being conscientious and aware of our social and environmental responsibilities as humans was an important part of our growth.”
Surfing has always been a huge part of Simmons’ life—he grew up in the water around Maui’s local pros. It was through surfing that Jack Johnson’s music first captured his attention: Matt Meola showed him Johnson’s early surf film September Sessions when Simmons was 11 or 12 years old.
His first-ever solo gig came at 16, opening for the Doobie Brothers at Mountain Winery in Saratoga. He has since toured as an opener for the band in 2007, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2015 and 2017, and has shared stages with G. Love, Mike Love, Trevor Hall, Gregg Allman, Don Felder and Steve Earle.
In the fall of 2013, at 23, Simmons was diagnosed with testicular cancer and endured three months of chemotherapy. He came through it and wrote many of his songs while recovering on his front porch. He has been cancer-free since.
A year earlier, he had earned a degree in Ecology from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, with a focus on forest ecology, soil biology, permaculture design, regenerative agriculture and ethnobotany—the science behind the farming life he leads today. On Maui, he works as an edible landscape architect, designing food-growing landscapes for prominent clients across the island.
“My message is Aloha ʻĀina,” he told Good Times. “People expect that I’m this fancy, riding-the-high-life, rock-star kind of person. And in some ways, I did grow up with that, because I was on tour with my dad and grew up backstage. Whereas at home, I grew up in the country with all the local Hawaiian kids. I grew up where most of my friends had never even heard the Doobie Brothers.”
His 2017 debut EP, This Mountain—co-produced on Maui by his father and featuring Kealiʻi Reichel, Willie K., Elvin Bishop, Hutch Hutchinson, John McFee, Bill Payne and John Cowan—earned two Nā Hōkū Hanohano Award nominations, Hawaii’s highest music honor: EP of the Year and Most Promising Artist.
Simmons’ signature project reimagines the Doobie Brothers catalog through a roots-reggae lens alongside his own originals, sung in English and Hawaiian, with ukulele woven throughout. His influences include Jerry Garcia, Bob Marley, Jack Johnson, Ben Harper, Israel Kamakawiwoʻole (IZ) and Xavier Rudd. In 2015, he sat in with his father and the String Cheese Incident at LOCKN’ for a much-talked-about set of Doobie Brothers classics.
The homesteading impulse runs in the family. At the height of the Doobies’ fame in the 1970s, Patrick Simmons Sr. kept a farm in Santa Cruz—goats, chickens, apples and what he still calls a legendary raspberry patch.
“My parents have always kind of been homesteader people,” says Simmons Jr.
Now the next chapter begins. In late spring 2027, Simmons will leave Maui—his home of three decades—and return to the Northern California coast, where he will homestead on his family’s compound, grow an organic garden and small farm, and record. The coast will serve as his home base while he tours the mainland, and he plans to bounce back and forth between Maui and Northern California for many years to come.
For Simmons, the summer 2027 run will be his inaugural official tour—his chance to finally jump on the Doobie train, in his own way.
Manning, Simmons’ artist manager, is currently in the process of routing the summer 2027 tour—putting out feelers to see which venues make sense for the run, which will travel from Northern California to upstate New York and back. The priority, Manning says, is establishing long-term relationships with intimate venues the team will stick with for many years to come—something he calls hugely important to both management and the artist. Backstage Organics is looking to build those lasting ties with the nation’s most notable rooms—from intimate 500-capacity venues to 1,500-capacity theaters—as well as jam band, bluegrass and reggae festivals.
“Pat is one of those artists whose success is going to be very obviously very successful in a very quick way,” said Manning. “He’s spent his life inside great music and he’s ready. We’re building this the right way—real rooms, real relationships, and a long career, not a moment.”
As Simmons’ manager, Manning is steering his career toward collaborative recordings and partnerships with prominent artists drawn from the reggae and jam band scenes, and is actively seeking interesting opportunities for Simmons to dive into.
Backstage Organics is also in discussions to align Simmons with several notable artists for collaborations and appearances. Details will be announced as they are confirmed.
About Backstage Organics
Backstage Organics, founded by Scott Franklin Manning, provides backstage hospitality and wellness services to touring artists and festivals, and now artist management. The company is based in Sarasota, Florida.
About Pat Simmons Jr.
Pat Simmons Jr. is a Maui-raised singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, cancer survivor and organic farmer. The son of Doobie Brothers co-founder Patrick Simmons, his music blends roots reggae, folk and classic rock, performed in English and Hawaiian. His EP This Mountain (2017) received two Nā Hōkū Hanohano nominations. He lives with his wife and four children.
