For more free music, visit Bloke MySpace page.

Finally someone is doing something that makes sense in this town.  Will it work?  Based on the demo segment who purchase music from Taylor Swift I think it will.  The price points may be a little high for the basic CD and digital download pre-sale and they probably should have given an incentive along with it.  Although, Taylor does have a passionate fan base, so they may need no bonus enticement.

If it falls short, then it was a good move in forward thinking.  It is only the beginning of what can be accomplished with innovation, incentive, and creative marketing.  I noticed the "Pink Ticket" gimmick is taken right from the Chocolate Factory.  Willy Wonka would be proud.

We have to be of the thinking that Wal-Mart and Target do not sell music any longer.  It's not very far fetched.  How do we engage our consumer, give them a real reason to purchase music online (or the incentive w/ free music), and make them long term partners in a career?

Nashville typically lags behind the curve and likes to make excuses for it which only perpetuates the lag.  Yes, times are tough and present many challenges for the future, but within those challenges are huge opportunities.  We do indeed have to be Fearless.

I'd like to use the remainder of this blog entry for my own shameless self-promotion. Shouldn't all self-promotion be shameless? Let's Fight! is my solo intuitive that has been mentioned on this blog numerously. Accomplishment is supposedly important for one's well-being, thus, I have finally accomplished my goal of covering "La Mort" or "My Death" by Jacques Brel, Scott Walker, David Bowie, Tom Waits, and our own record label pal Tim Kinsella. If you are not apathetic, please listen and lend an opinion.

More news is always to arrive.

I’ve was gone for a few years. I went and worked on a political campaign for awhile, I spent some time on a nonprofit, I went to work for a newspaper, I went starkers for awhile, hahaha — lessons to learn, you understand? I'll catch up on some of those adventures as I go, but this blog  is going to mostly going to be about what's happening now, and where I'm going.

Where I'm going right now is out for a little wandering; there's hours to go before I play, so I'm going to take in a little bracing New York State air (feels cold to a Texan, hahaha, it's in the 80s out there), see what's up in these fair dominions, so familiar, so sorely missed.

But I want to proclaim here and now that a fearless and adventurous record label has returned, and I'll be sharing this sojourn with you, dear reader, right here in these pages.

Excelsior!

Sinead Breathnach-Cashell ... (for more: http://www.myspace.com/draw_in)

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Neil Brogan ... (for more: http://caff-flick.com)

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Margaret Hagan ... (for more: http://penelopebox.etsy.com)

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David Timlin ... (for more: http://www.creativematch.co.uk/portfolio/david_timlin/ or d_timlin@mac.com)

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Stuart Sloan ... (for more: http://www.youtube.com/user/sloanowski)

And for those of you who can’t make the show, don’t fret! We’ll be making the CD available via mail order on the website on September 10th as well. We’ll also be tossing in a limited edition set of badges based on the album design—all for $10. Can’t beat that!

Due out on October 28th will be the full debut from Silverlake’s Light FM. Here’s a sneak preview of the album cover. Mark your calendars for the San Francisco CD release show on October 29th at the Knockout here in San Francisco.

UPCOMING LIGHT FM LIVE APPEARANCES

August 29th, 2008 San Francisco at Amnesia with The Music Lovers
August 30th, 2008 Merced , California at The Partison (with The Happy Hollows and Le Switch)
September 6th, 2008 Los Angeles, Ca. at The Pehrspace (Rademacher EP release party)
October 21st, 2008 Hollywood, Ca. at Boardners “Black Magic Marker” release party
October 29th, 2008 San Francisco, Ca. at The Knockout “Black Magic Marker” release party

Faced with the inability to generate money and faced with higher internet music fees, many large internet music broadcasters like Yahoo Launchcast and Pandora are making overtures toward giving up, which will further restrict your ability to listen to music on the internet, at least without paying fees for the privilege beyond the cost of internet service and maintaining a computer.

Internet radio broadcasters faced an unprecedented hike in fees because of a Court of Appeals decision back in July of 2007. Many small internet broadcasters saw the writing on the wall and closed up shop quickly. Other more stalwart or more hopeful broadcasters kept the faith, believing that the politics of the music industry round table would save them. Those of us in the music industry know better. The music industry is little more than a collection of legal false walls that are moved around in an effort to generate revenue for music recording labels, music rights companies and anyone else closely tied enough to make a few cents. Everyone else, including all but the most famous recording artists are left out in the cold.

The internet radio community breathed a sigh of relief when the July 15 deadline for web music broadcasters to start paying new royalty rates and per-station fees was temporarily put on hold in lieu of Digital Rights Management promoted by "SoundExchange." Apparently, this transition isn't working well since broadcasters have learned that working with Digital Rights Management demands "enforceable technology mandates that are unreasonable, unworkable, and way off-topic." Whether that reasoning is right or not, SoundExchange has sought to leverage absurd fees against imposing control mandates that they have promoted.

In an attempt to derail the possibility of congressional action, music licensing authority SoundExchange has made a couple of overtures to webcasters. Initially, they offered to delay the onset of higher royalties for "smaller" webcasters until 2010, although larger, commercial webcasters would still be on the hook for the higher fees. SoundExchange offered a temporary cap on minimum royalty fees. Whether this action is generosity or outright manipulation is up to the reader.

Back in 2006, the PERFORM Act or "Platform Equality and Remedies for Rights Holders in Music Act of 2006" sponsored by Feinstein, Graham and Frist proposed changes to the Copyright Act would force the use of protected formats for all streaming media services for online services, cable, satellite radio and TV. The idea promoted was to ensure that songwriters and performers continue to be fairly compensated for their works. The idea died on the vine in the name of personal recording rights. The idea of fair compensation hasn't truly happened. With lawsuits and other stalling by big money in the industry, most songwriters and performing artists are still waiting to see a single penny for their efforts in the last few years. In the meantime, attorneys, music rights organizations and music labels hold in limbo any money that is in play as they decide what legal false wall to move next to keep that money.

SoundExchange offered a potential reprieve from proposed royalty hikes in lieu of Digital Rights Management. Like the conniving business politicians that they are, SoundExchange was able to initiate a retroactive and massive rate hike through our lawmakers for a royalty hike on Internet radio stations, imposing per-user fees for each song. Adding insult to injury, the royalties on Internet radio will double for big stations by 2010. Without getting into a slew of mumbo-jumbo, rates on Internet radio are now double what satellite radio pays. SoundExchange is working on fixing that problem.

SoundExchange has had DRM and radio broadcast efforts on its agenda for quite a while. Representatives of the company have justified its stance on higher royalties from revenue and profit standpoints in order to justify their existence. SoundExchange wants to arm wrestle internet broadcasters into oblivion or force profitability based on their standards.

California Representative Howard Berman is attempting another last-minute deal between web broadcasters and SoundExchange in an effort to head off a huge rate increase that will put many large web broadcasters out of business entirely. Clearly, there is an attempt to go berserk on both consumer rights as well as the rights of songwriters and performers in the name of rights, lobby and protection for the industry.

So what is SoundExchange anyway? SoundExchange is a spin-off of the RIAA, a "non-profit" performance rights organization that collects royalties on the behalf of sound recording copyright owners and featured artists for non-interactive digital transmissions, including satellite and internet radio. The board is comprised of some of the largest record labels, a few artist management firms, independent labels and the Recording Industry Management Association of America.

In short, this is more of the music industry that you have come to hate and love as they work for their own good over the good of those they claim to represent. The Government Copyright Office has handed our rights over to them to administer in most recent legislation. Songwriters and performers are grossly underinformed and have lost many rights until they claim them anew. It isn't enough to be a member of ASCAP or BMI. You have to be a member of the system to claim rights to your own music. The right to be paid royalties is no longer retroactive. SoundExchange takes an administrative cut from all your royalties as well to compensate themselves.

The music industry a/k/a, the corporate oligarchy has what it wants: the money of everyone involved on all sides. SoundExchange IS the music industry, combined and regurgitated in a new non-profit form to promote self-interest while you weren't watching. Welcome to the brave "new world" of music broadcasting that seeks world domination with a legal flourish. ~ E. Manning

Legendary record producer Jerry Wexler, who helped shape R&B music with influential recordings of Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles and other greats, and later made key recordings with the likes of Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson, has died, said his son, Paul. Paul Wexler said his father died at a hospice in Sarasota, Fla., about 3:45 a.m. Friday of congenital heart disease; the death was first confirmed to The Associated Press by David Ritz, co-author of Wexler's 1993 memoir, "Rhythm and the Blues." Both his son and daughter Lisa were present at the time of his death. Paul Wexler told the AP his father's death was "a tremendous loss." "The number of artists that he was involved with and helped significantly or just made great records with, the list is almost unbelievable," Paul Wexler added. "And many of them are gone now."  Wexler earned his reputation as a music industry giant while a partner at Atlantic Records with another legendary music figure, the late Ahmet Ertegun. Atlantic provided an outlet for the groundbreaking work of African-American performers in the 1950s and 1960s. Later, it was a home to rock icons like Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones. He later helped Dylan win his first Grammy by producing his 1979 "Slow Train Coming" album.  Wexler helped boost the careers of both the "King of Soul," Charles, and the "Queen of Soul," Franklin. Wilson Pickett, Solomon Burke and Percy Sledge were among the other R&B greats who benefited from Wexler's deft recording touch. He also produced Dusty Springfield's classic "Dusty in Memphis," considered a masterpiece of "blue-eyed" soul.  Burke said Wexler was the ultimate music man.  "He loved black music, R&B music and rhythm and blues was his foundation. He had a feeling for it, he had the knack to keep it going in his heart and recognize the talent that he felt was real," Burke told the AP after learning of his death. "Jerry Wexler didn't change the sound of America, he put the sound to the public. He open the doors and windows to the radio stations ... and made everybody listen."  Among the standards produced by Wexler: Franklin's "Respect," a dazzling, feminist reworking of an Otis Redding song; Sledge's deep ballad "When A Man Loves A Woman" and Pickett's "In the Midnight Hour," with a horn vamp inspired by Wexler's admittedly rhythmless dancing. Wexler was named to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. "No one really knew how to make a record when I started," he said in a profile on the rock hall's Web site. "You simply went into the studio, turned on the mike and said, 'Play.'" In the studio, Wexler was a hands-on producer. Once, during a session with Charles, the tambourine player was off the beat. Wexler, in his award-winning autobiography, recalled grabbing the instrument and playing it himself.  "Who's that?" asked Charles.  "Me," Wexler told the blind singer. "You got it, baby!" Charles said.  The son of Polish immigrants and a music buff since his teens, Wexler landed a job writing for Billboard magazine in the late 1940s after serving in World War II and studying journalism in college. There he coined the term "rhythm and blues" for the magazine's black music charts; previously, they were listed under "race records."  While working at Billboard, Wexler befriended Ertegun — a life-altering friendship for both. Ertegun and a partner had started Atlantic, then a small R&B label in New York. In 1953, when Ertegun's partner left for a two-year military hitch, Wexler stepped in as the label's co-director. He never left.  "In the early sessions, I just sat there watching (Ertegun) while I was cowering in fright," Wexler told The Associated Press in 2001. "But as time went on, we proved to be a very successful team. ... We went on the road together, we hung out together." He recalled that Ertegun "wrote many of the songs in the early days, and he drew upon his knowledge of jazz and the blues, because songs always have to have a source. ... This is not to say that there is not great originality."  While Ertegun enjoyed the more bohemian aspects of the music business, Wexler was a working partner. Wexler produced 16 albums and numerous hit singles for Franklin, who switched to Atlantic in the mid-1960s and rediscovered her gospel roots after several unhappy years singing show tunes for Columbia. "When it came to the studio, you could say the two of us were joined at the hip," he once said.  Franklin, in a 1980 interview with Rolling Stone, said their collaborations were "among my favorite sessions. I feel the things we did together were dynamite." In 1967, Wexler and Ertegun sold Atlantic to Warner Bros. for $17.5 million. Although they stayed on to run the company, the pair began moving in different directions. Wexler began working with a collection of Southern musicians in the 1970s, including guitar genius Duane Allman, Dr. John, and Delaney & Bonnie. He also produced albums for Willie Nelson.  In the 1980s, Wexler worked with Dire Straits, Carlos Santana and George Michael. In April 1988, Atlantic marked its 40th anniversary with an 11-hour concert at Madison Square Garden, with the stage shared by performers from Crosby, Stills & Nash to the Bee Gees to Ben E. King.  Wexler was the quintessential Jewish street kid who found a home in black music. He was born in 1917 in Manhattan's Washington Heights section, north of Harlem. He didn't take to school, preferring to hang out at places like Artie's Pool Room on 181st Street.  In his teens, he began haunting Harlem's jazz clubs and record stores, developing a lifelong passion for jazz and blues. When his mother tried to refocus his energies by sending him to Kansas State University in 1936, Wexler instead began taking the 100-mile drive to Kansas City, Mo., to see performers like Count Basie and Joe Turner. His poor grades put him back in New York within two years. Days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Wexler was drafted into the Army. He spent the war stationed in Texas and Florida, then returned to college to earn a degree in journalism in 1947. Paul Wexler said a private service will take place in the coming weeks in Sarasota, and his tombstone will read: "He changed the world."  "I don't think I'm overreaching," he said. - Hillel Italie (Associated Press)

Thanks to the good folks at Beat Marketing for the lead.  Go Check them out.

First, on August 27 at The Knockout in San Francisco we’ll be hosting the talents of Leopold and His Fiction, L.A.s’ The Happy Hollows and from the East Bay will be Thousandnames—another well rounded rock experience! Following that blockbuster line up will be our first night at the Café Du Nord in San Francisco on September 10. We’ll be hosting All Smiles—who is Jim Fairchild of Grandaddy fame. Jim’s an amazing guitarist and songwriter-the album he just finished in Omaha is mesmerizing. And speaking of amazing, this show will serve as the record release party for The Aimless Never Miss. Rumor has it that every member who has ever played in the band will be there. Devil in the Woods#112 is the number on The Aimless record. Harbours, who consistently blow us away, will open the show. Our good friends over at Bandloop.com will be co-hosting the event with us.

Volume Two of our compilation series will be sequenced and mastered by time next week. It’s a nice September mix of music. The release show will be on September 24th. Details will be following soon.
We have a lot going on right now, hope to see you at one of our events.. Come up, say hello, shoot the shit, and watch some great bands.
Mike and Zoe
San Francisco, California

Suiteside is a little different than the usual people I interview- this time it's the label and management behind new bands. The people that work behind bands do just as much work as the actual bands themselves! This amazing crazy and fun yet professional woman has worked her way up in the music management industry in order to make a name for herself as well as the artists she represents. With her attitude (which shows through her interview - especially last random question), she makes an often difficult job look easy!

How did you come up with the name?
It's a kind of joke. When I started the label I used to collaborate with people from the italian electronic label Suite Inc., and we wanted to find a related name. And Suiteside makes you think about luxury hotels but also sounds like the word "suicide", and sometimes it is a bit, with so much hard work and few money coming in. But we're romantic beautiful people, aren't we?

Tell me a little about yourself?
Sometimes I feel as I am the kind of person who'll never accept to live an adult, ordinary life. I'm into rock-indie music from my teens, and it seems I will never be able to live without being in this crazy business. But I try to work seriously and professionally.

What is the point of your business and what do you do?
My actual goal is to develop the bands I'm working with and for, establishing for them new connections with audiences worldwide. Being a record label doesn't mean so much in 2008, cds are dead! I'm a booking agent as well, for lots of foreign bands. I set up tours in Italy for Xiu Xiu, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, Azure Ray, APSE, Ex-Models and many many others.

What did you do before you started all this?
Well, I studied music criticism at the University, then I worked as music journalist for local and regional mags, I've been for years Head of Music in the staff of an alternative radio station in Bologna, and I wrote a few books about rock music too.

How did you start out/ was it hard?
Honestly it was less hard when I started, than now! In 2001 there were just a few indie labels and bands around, now everybody can promote himself on the net, and there are lots of new bands struggling for gigs and exposure. Two years ago I had to decide if go on or give up....luckily I found some refreshment in working with younger and more rocking bands.

Any big plans for the near future?
World domination!! ahah, I'm joking....the BIG plan is to work more an more on a global perpective. One positive thing of the internet is that I can contact people like you on the other side of the globe and do a quick interview like this.

--Random questions--
What song have you been listening to most in the past few weeks?
"Violet Hill", the new Coldplay single. Keeping singing loud "won't you let me know?" in my office.

What one materialistic thing can you not live without?
Coffee. If I don't have one in 5 minute after I'm out of bed I'm lost!

Do you have a secret name for your favourite inanimate object?
No. But I have a favourite little inanimate object :)

Has anything crazy or embarrassing ever happened to you on the job?
Lots of things! Like being really sick in a toilet at a venue in Lugano (Switzerland) after a gig. Or losing a UK band I hosted in Genova and spending hours with their driver calling the police and the hospitals just to find they slept in a dirty hotel 'cause they were too numb to get back home. Or spending a crazy night in Klagenfurt (Austria) waiting for the train to Italy in a pub with a band made of an italian guy, an english, a spanish and their french roadie. The owner of the place was a really kitsch middle-age blond woman who forced all of us to drink lots of beers and whisky and tequila. And there was also a mad slovenian old guy speaking about his war experiences. I could fill pages with strange stories, but I'm sure the best has yet to come!

If you're a big music listener keen to find out about new bands before they hit the big time- there are several ways in which you can keep up with this type of news. OR alternatively, if you're a band or musician who's in need of help to hit the big time- definitely click on the links and get some information! As you all know, no such thing as too much information!

Links:
Suiteside Official Site
Suiteside Myspace
Last.fm Suiteside
Skype: monica.melissano

AVAILABLE SEPTEMBER 30!

Plies is helping Warner Music Group stay afloat. If I were running a major label I would look for rappers like Plies. Why?

1. Plies has an incredibly loyal core audience. I mean look at me! I've been following him since his mixtapes and am now a certified goon fan.
2. He makes a personal connection with his fans through in depth interviews on his YouTube channel. Here's an example.
3. Plies doesn't wait for the major label to promote his project. He grinds on his own. For this album alone he has independently produced 4 straight-to-YouTube music videos. That's in addition to the videos he has on MTV and BET.
4. He doesn't sound like anyone else on the commercial scene. I mean he pronounces back like bike. It's the Florida drawl. Right, bruh?
5. He's street and the ladies still love him.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Warner Music Group posted a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss on Thursday, as improved sales in Europe softened the effects of the slowdown in the global music industry.

The world's third-largest music company's net loss for the fiscal third quarter ended on June 30 narrowed to $9 million, or 6 cents a share, from $17 million, or 12 cents a share, a year earlier.

Revenue rose 5 percent to $848 million, although factoring out the benefits of the weak dollar, sales declined 1.1 percent.

Wall Street analysts polled by Reuters Estimates had been expecting a loss of 18 cents on revenue of $766.5 million.

U.S. sales declined 6.5 percent but were overshadowed by a 17.2 percent rise in sales in Europe and Canada. On a constant-currency basis international revenue grew 3.6 percent.

Digital revenue rose to $166 million, a rise of 39 percent from a year earlier but flat from the previous quarter.

Major sellers during the quarter included Madonna, Disturbed, Plies and Frank Sinatra.

John Pisciotta

Ripcord, Inc.

Previous employment/companies: Session Guitar, (Vince Gill, Pink, Amy Grant, Peter Cetera, Michael Omartian), Sony Tree writer/producer, Paradiso Music, Founder Lead Producer, Ripcord Entertainment,  Founder, Creative Director

Years in the biz:         14       

Marital Status: Married to Robin Welty

Children: None          

You do a wide variety of things at Ripcord.  Can you give us a rundown of everything you are involved in?  Sure, Ripcord inc. is an Artist Experience company.  A music business 2.0 company committed to expanding how artists are experienced in a post record label world.

Under the Ripcord umbrella we have three Divisions: Paradiso Music Productions, which is a production/artist alignment company, Ripcord Music Publishing, and Ripcord Entertainment, the Artist Experience Company.

Artists nowadays are on two trajectories, 1: I wanna be a rock star trajectory, and 2: I want to build the empire myself. So what we are seeing is a pretty drastic shift towards the “build you empire” trajectory.  A perfect example, we recently finished production/artist alignment for a new artist. I think the total production budget was around $40,000. Before were done with the record we have recouped the entire budget. So the artist is able to be profitable from record one.  It’s a different model, so for the right artist, it works amazingly well.

There are rarely average days I’m sure, but how would you describe a normal day?  Meetings in the morning, in sessions during the day.

How did you get started in the music business?  Hmm, big question, Technically, I would say, writing and producing at Sony.

What do you look for in artists and songwriters?  For Artists:  Talent is a givin; you have to be amazing at what you do. But really talent is the easiest part of the equation, what is rare is the drive and passion that coincides with building a career. 

For writers: people that are amazing at their “thing”.  Lyrics, hooks, and beat making are important on a song level, but on a personal level, being pleasant to be around is a big part as well, work ethic, the list goes on an on.

Do you feel most traditional record labels have dropped the ball in A&R and artist development?   I don’t know they have dropped the ball, things have just shifted, if you look at the development of the artist, and open it up, you have a lot of things that are hard to quantify. Labels have to quantify and measure the profitability of the artist. And they should, Finding your voice, re-invention, experimentation, connecting with and finding your audience, a lot of these right brain elements have never fit in the label model. In the past, labels could try things and a few would work, and system supported it. Now the system doesn’t hold. So creatively speaking, labels gotten out of “the music” and really become marketing divisions. I see it a good thing where every body does what they are best at rather than the old school A&R model.

 If so, why do you think that is?  I think you’re looking at 2 completely different ways of thinking, there are “creators” and there are “sellers” or right brain/left brain, either way. In the last 10 - 12 years we’ve seen a split. Labels used to try to do all of the above, now they can’t afford to. I started a company in 94 built around this. Paradiso Music Productions is a creative catalyst company that works with pro artists, creating the right world for the artist to thrive in. So we see A&R, managers, and booking agents coming in wanting to hear what were working on.  It really is a win-win.  Everybody does what they are best at.

It just takes a while to do it right, you can do it fast but it’ll sound that way.  Paradiso Music Productions, has three legs under it: Songwriting, Production, and Artist Alignment. We are song people and songs matter more than ever.  Nothing is harder than producing a “good song” and by good I mean completely adequate, “ok” song. These are the songs we try to keep “off” our artist’s records. Good really is the enemy of great, ESPECIALLY with songs.  I describe a great song as “a song that makes you feel like your flying”, those are the ones that we look to cut for our artists. Songs FIRST, songs Last.

What is the most pressing problem the music industry faces today?  Impatience, the tyranny of the familiar, Inability to change

Where do you see the music industry going within the next 5 years?  The center of the pie, the label, is pretty much gone, so I would put in its place “a sustainable artist career”.  The future is going to be built on an artist centric model, rather than label centric. Taking “care” of right brain people is gong to take more and more of a place in the conversation. Instead of signing an artist and 18 months later their broke divorced and working a star bucks.

The Music Business 2.0 will be built around protecting the right brain artists (the golden goose) and surrounding them with people who can serve them rightly.  Understanding the creative mind will be very important, you can’t force an artist to be in output mode 24/7, because it will, and it has, killed artist’s careers.

A perfect example is what Mark at Echo music here in town is doing great stuff with their online central hub model. Very artist centric, very well structured.

I’ve thought of it as resembling Russia in the 80s.  You had a superpower that was fragmented out and Balkanized into littler countries, this is what’s happening in music. Everything is still being made, but it is just split out differently. We just have to watch out for the “Russian mafia” effect happening.

Many Nashville indie labels still try to compete with the bigger labels in attaining radio airplay.  What means do you use to reach the audience for your artists?   Radio comes when you’re ready for it, when you’ve earned it, when your audience is well established. Ripcord is an artist’s experience company, so multiplying ways for the audience to experience their artists is huge for us. Creating an unbelievable experience is what we think about, and work towards. We’re really more interested in listening to the fans and how they wish to engage with an artist that moves them. We really get back to basics, building the right team around the artist.  Intangibly, we see an amazing connection with the audience as paramount. Tangibly, digital downloads, touring, merch, online, endorsements, and silver CDs are a few of slices of the artist experience pie.

Who has had the most influence on you in your career thus far?  Why?   Wow, I’m a huge believer in having mentors and being a mentor, so I would say a handful of people:

Randy Cox, who poured into me big time, during my time as a writer/producer at Sony Tree

Jody Williams, Jody Williams Music and VP at BMI, who has been a priceless in regards to new joint ventures, and structuring them rightly.

Rory Bourke, Hall of fame songwriter, a mentor to our writers and us. Just the kindest man on the planet, and oh yeah, amazing songwriter.

I would also say Michael and Stormie Omartian, A hero of mine, who I remember watching win the Grammies in 1981, working with him, and seeing how he works and approaches things has been unbelievable.

Ripcord also bucks the industry trend and accepts unsolicited demos from songwriters and recording artists.  How has that worked for you?  Well, you don’t know where greatness will come from; we get recommendations from all over, our peirs in marketing, management, BMI ASCAP. Again it goes back to our model, is not about competing with Clear Channel, we are attempting to create some great, not something HUGE. We like being small.

What is a highlight of your career thus far?  I would say the American Music Award or a song of the year nomination last year, anytime we bring an artist to CAA, William Morris, Warner, and Virgin.

What advice would you give artists wanting to get into the music industry?   Create the job you wish for. Treat people unbelievably well.

How do you keep motivated?  Seeing artists multiply their talent.

What is the most important thing you have learned within the last year?  I would say two things “God makes it grow”, and “We have no idea what we can’t do”

What are you looking forward to most?  Well it stated out as a hobby, I guess we can talk about it now, but recently, I am creator and co-author of “The Fear Killer”. It’s a series of books and built around the idea of “How to Dismantle Fear in Your Daily Living, Dreaming and Doing”. It is really been cool to work on and see God grow this thing. Its first event is in March with 10-12,000 people. There are some very exciting things going on with it, which are still being put together, but suffice it to say, it is a very exciting, humbling, thing to be a part of.  I could talk for hours about it. I think has grown from a desire to multiply talent, and fear just mucks it up.

What do you like to do when you “unplug”?  Read, break-dance, and run with the bulls. Not really.

What is the best music or artist you have recently discovered?  We have a new artist David Ask who is amazing. His voice will lift you an inch and a half off the floor. You’ll be hearing a lot form him in the near future.

THANKS JOHN! 

JJ Grey & Mofro - War
(Alligator Records, mp3, 2007)
From the album "Country Ghetto"

Since the past few months, I've had an idea or two regarding this label. One of these ideas involves my self-released solo intuitive known as Let's Fight! Once, the Annapolis Chosen had invited Let's Fight! to carefully place together a collection of songs that would become a limited ten-display from the label. It seems that the offer felt apart at both ends, so I have been mentally knitting the concept of a remix ten-display of Let's Fight!, rather than an original album. This display would centralize upon a collaborative guest-list featuring members of Heart Heart Julia, Seamus of Needles, and the visionary Julia LaDense. At the moment, all of us are living our lives in very busy and somewhat divorced manners though. For now, this display shall be nothing but a possible pipe-dream.

Another toying idea that I've yet to discuss with anyone is my pseudonym-less double volume set entitled, "Seashore Music, Vol. 1 & 2." I've created a few handcrafted double jewel cases for this set and a few of my local friends have them. It is basically my amateur tribute to fluxus art and audio philosophy. Both volumes as a whole create 61 tracks and four movements of sound. I feel that it is a special release that ought to be distributed eventually, but who knows?

Whenever I receive some money, I intend to purchase the latest IHAA releases that I've been musically craving. I also plan on submitting a few Heart Heart Julia lyrics to the popular website, SongMeanings.net for purposes of promotion.

I will never forget her.

"Hello Mr. Scott or whatever you would like to go by,

I won't even bother introducing myself. In the days of the internet, it seems that there is no need for a name but rather a cleverly concocted pseudonym behind which you can hide and say whatever you like. In my case, I'm not saying whatever I like in the sense that I'm going to badmouth you in a realm where I can't get punched in the mouth. Instead, I'd like to commend you for the fantastic work you and the people you know do.

To tell you honestly, I didn't come across your label by some noble words that were said of you in an exciting album review. I discovered you through a few people whose work I am a fan of. These people would be (again pseudonyms) "Shh... This is a Library" and "Tim Kinsella." (if that is his name) Both of them are wonderful artists whom I would be so sad to see "drop out" so to speak if they were to ever decide that being a musician doesn't cut it for them.

I'm so glad that I did find you and the label you call "I Had An Accident." It's about time that someone stands out there against an industry that is full of worthless music and hypocritical claims of being "independent." (not to mention that horrible being that is the RIAA)

There is something to be said about how special it is to buy an album that is hand-made from the artist and label instead of something from an assembly line megacorp. I'm so glad that this is something that IHAA does, and I must say that I'm impressed by the lovely things that are produced at IHAA. I only wish that I had the money laying around to buy a few of the things that interest me. (most notably Shh... This is a Library if it was still in print and Mothers and Lovers: The Journey Westward) I personally do this sort of thing on my own. My own semi-musical project "Minimalism The Band!" has released 5 hand made copies of it's first EP entitled "Minimal EP" to be handed out to friends That may not sound like much, but to me, the little guy in the picture, it's monumental. Please, never forget what happiness you bring not only the listeners, but the people you represent.

I read your blog, or at least some of it. I hear that you are working a number of jobs these days in order to keep everything alive. I really do hope that things turn out for the better for you in the end. Your label is brilliant to put it simply. While this may all sound like a bunch of lame fanmail, please consider it as a letter of appreciation for your hard work, and not only that but a letter to let you know how awesome you are for working hard to keep such a lovely project alive.

So, before it sounds like I'm kissing your ass too much, I'll just stop writing.

Regards,

Kevin"

From allmusic.com: When rock artists, including Bob Dylan and members of the Beatles, began to record in Nashville, Pete Drake [at left in photo with George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Billy Preston and Peter Frampton, apparently on the day Drake gave Peter Frampton his famous "talking guitar."  Check out the video below to hear how it was originally done!] was the natural choice as steel guitarist. Although he had a Top 30 hit, “Talking Steel,” in 1964, Drake recorded very little on his own. Instead, he used the trademark mellow tone of his steel guitar to strengthen albums by other artists. In addition to working with country artists, including Marty Robbins, Bobby Bare, Johnny Cash, the Louvin Brothers, Dolly Parton, and Ernest Tubb, he pioneered the use of the steel guitar in rock, performing on recordings by Buddy Holly, the Everly Brothers, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Elvis Presley. He played on such seminal recordings as Lynn Anderson’s “(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden,” Charlie Rich’s “Behind Closed Doors,” and Tammy Wynette’s “Stand By Your Man.” Featured on Dylan’s albums John Wesley Harding, Nashville Skyline, and Self Portrait, Drake also produced and assembled the band for Ringo Starr’s country album, Beaucoups of Blues, and played on George Harrison’s solo debut, All Things Must Pass. The son of a Pentecostal minister, Drake began his career with a group, the Drake Brothers, that he shared with his brothers, one of whom, Jack, went on to play with Ernest Tubb’s Texas Troubadors for nearly a quarter of a century. Drake’s melodic steel guitar playing made him one of Atlanta’s top young instrumentalists. He joined with future country music superstars Jerry Reed, Doug Kershaw, Roger Miller, and Joe South in a mid-’50s band. Although this group failed to record, it provided Drake with the impetus to move to Nashville in 1959. Drake’s involvement with Elvis Presley, which began in May 1966 when he played on Presley’s How Great Thou Art album, lasted for more than a year and included appearances on the soundtracks of Presley’s films Double Trouble, Clambake, and Speedway. Launching his own record label, First Generation, in the late ’70s, Drake signed Ernest Tubb, who had left MCA after 35 years, and released an album, The Legend and the Legacy, in 1977. Comprised of reworkings of Tubb’s greatest hits, the album included guest appearances by Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Paycheck, Charlie Daniels, Conway Twitty, Marty Robbins, Loretta Lynn, Vern Gosdin, George Jones, Merle Haggard, and Johnny Cash. Drake occasionally stepped into the spotlight, releasing solo album of pop-gospel standards, Steel Away, and a eponymously titled album that included steel guitar interpretations of Dylan and Beatles tune. - Craig Harris

Pete Drake passed away of natural causes on July 29, 1988.

Please visit Pete Drake's original First Generation Records and grab yourself a few classic country CDs by the artists he signed to his label. Ernest Tubb, Charlie Louvin, Ferlin Husky, Pete Drake, and more. You can't beat the prices!

WSJ is reporting that Wrigley's (the gum people) are going to announce tomorrow that they are the sponsors on R&B singer Chris Brown's top 10 hit "Forever"

"Sharp-eared pop-music fans may have noticed a brief reference to an old chewing-gum jingle buried in "Forever," Chris Brown's top-10 hit. "Double your pleasure/double your fun," the R&B singer croons in the chorus.

What listeners don't know -- and what Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. planned to reveal Tuesday -- is that the song is a commercial.

"Forever" is an extended version of a new Doublemint jingle written by Mr. Brown and scheduled to begin airing next month in 30-second spots for Wrigley's green-packaged chewing gum."

Many, like Gawker, are up in arms, saying:

"This was all done in secret. Tomorrow the company holds a big press conference revealing the whole scam, presumably with the expectation that music fans will clap with delight and declare Wrigley to be their new favorite gum manufacturer. I would suggest that the more fitting response would be a bonfire of Doublemint, angry sloganeering, and boycotts of the company and Chris freaking Brown and his record label."

Personally, I'm not sure what the big deal is.  First, we all know people would much rather not pay for the music they listen to but the musicians still have to make money somehow.  Second, how different is this from having an existing song used for a commercial campaign. If we start condeming every band and every product that has worked together there wouldn't be much left.

Maybe it is the lack of transparency that folks find upsetting.  That's understandable but it's still not a reason to start a revolt.

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Multiple Grammy winning producer Michael Berniker has died, reports the New York Times.

From the Times: Michael Berniker, a prolific record producer whose diverse projects won nine Grammy Awards over four decades, died on Friday in Great Barrington, Mass. He was 73. The cause was complications from kidney disease, said his wife, Heather. Best known for producing the first three Barbra Streisand albums on Columbia as well as numerous Broadway cast albums, Mr. Berniker also produced Latin jazz, spoken word, comedy and classical records. Other pop artists he produced included Eydie Gorme, Johnny Mathis and Perry Como. Ben Webster, Charlie Rouse and Paquito D’Rivera were among the jazz musicians he produced. “Irakere,” his recording of the Cuban fusion band of the same name (produced with Bert DeCoteaux), won a 1979 Grammy for best Latin recording.  His Broadway show albums included original-cast recordings of five musicals — “Barnum,” “City of Angels,” a revival of “Sweet Charity,” “The Will Rogers Follies” and “The Life” — all with music by Cy Coleman. “The Will Rogers Follies” won a 1991 Grammy for best musical show album. Other cast albums included “My One and Only” and “Side Show.” Born in Brooklyn on June 30, 1935, Mr. Berniker studied music and philosophy at Columbia, then served in the Army for two years at Fort Bliss, in El Paso, where he had a local radio program and organized a jazz festival. In 1960, he enrolled in an in-house A&R (artists and repertory) training program at CBS Records. One of his first projects was a jazz series on Epic. Mr. Berniker had a special creative empathy with pop divas. The songs on the Streisand albums, the first of which won a Grammy for album of the year in 1963, were impeccably chosen to illustrate the breadth of her talent, and their arrangements, by Peter Matz, demonstrated an artistic rapport between singer and arranger comparable to that of Frank Sinatra and Nelson Riddle. These albums stand among the most expressively uninhibited of Ms. Streisand’s career. A similar dramatic electricity infused his recordings with Ms. Gorme, whose version of “If He Walked Into My Life” from “Mame” won a 1966 Grammy for best female vocal performance.  After leaving CBS in 1968, Mr. Berniker worked as an executive with several major record companies, including RCA, where he signed Daryl Hall and John Oates, Dr. Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band and Juice Newton. Returning to CBS in 1977, he originated the Columbia Jazz Masterpieces series. During a brief stint at Angel Records he produced “American Dreamer,” a recording of Stephen Foster songs sung by Thomas Hampson. Besides his wife, Mr. Berniker is survived by a son, Mark, of New York; a daughter, Judy Powell of Boulder, Colo.; and two grandchildren. - Stephen Holden

Thanks to Number1Albums for the info.  Please visit it!