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Newsletter
December, 2007x

I’ve been in the music business now for over 20 years, but really it’s been a lifetime of music. I read my baby book over Thanksgiving while my parents were here and my Mom actually wrote that I like to “listen to records” at 5, and by 6, “he listens to The Beetles (sic)”.

So, it is who I am. This year, working with country radio for the first time, I’ve been telling programmers that I grew up listening to The Beatles, Alice Cooper and Johnny Cash, and it’s true. When I was a kid, all three were heard on the same stations. I also listened to my dad’s Herb Alpert, Lettermen and Glen Campbell albums. But the most enduring, besides the Beatles, has been The Beach Boys. You cannot listen to them and not appreciate the harmonies. Truly, Brian Wilson, and his family of collaborators, is a gift for us all.

As proof, I played Midlake singer Tim Smith “’Til I Die” and I think it was at that point that he understood The Beach Boys were much more than “Surfin’ U.S.A.”! As we were listening, the phone vibrated in my pocket. It was friend, David Shaw, who had brought me into the country music promotion world back in April. The label we were at was closing its promotion department and we were out of jobs. It was the second label to fall apart for me that year, but this one had nothing to do with the state of music business. We’ll leave that discussion to another time.

So, that, coupled with the ending of the year and the prospect of another, leaves me listening to a lot of music. I’ve certainly come to appreciate the music being made for country radio. It’s much like the music we heard in the 80s on rock stations, or so it seems. There are also the elements that make it country, but I’ve always enjoyed a weepy lap steel guitar and real-life lyrics, harmony and melody.

I had the chance to work with two country artists this year, first Donovan Chapman and then Jerrod Niemann, who are both true artists. The two of them would have made a great base for new label to build upon. They couldn’t have been more different, though. Donovan was a beach guy, playin’ his native Big Island sound, trying to make it work in a country framework. Jerrod is, in a word, “authentic.” Jerrod is from Liberal, Kansas, he’s written with Garth Brooks, who has recorded 3 of their songs, including “Good Ride Cowboy” and “Midnight Sun”. I like the fact they’re both writers. It starts there, for me.

As I enter the year, I’m going to be working on music from Emerson Drive, Whiskey Falls and Emma Mae, a 16-year-old Californian who has a powerful voice. I also want to help Jerrod make his dreams. He’s such a good writer, singer, performer and man. Country radio listeners will love him. I’m sure of that. I’m also going to be interested in what Donovan does with his approach.

LUCE is ready to get it back into gear, the gear that’s going to take them up to the top of the hill. The third will be the charm! Tom Luce is ready for the challenge. The band is ready to follow him. They recorded 6 cover songs so they could understand how each other worked in the studio, since Tom and Adam Rossi had not recorded with Dylan Brock, Brian Zalewski and Kevin White. It was a great experience for them all. And they turned out some great songs, including “In Every Sunflower”, originally recorded by Irish band Bell X1. They also recorded “Eleanor Rigby”, a live favorite, Neil Finn’s “Anytime” and “Somebody More Like You” by Nickel Creek, plus The Kinks “Better Days”. The toughest song they said they recorded was “Bridge Over Troubled Waters.” Look for the band to be out on the road, too.

Megan Slankard is also ready to record. She’s been going through the process a talented young artist such as Megan must travel. Megan recorded her first CD when she was 16 without a band. Then she found one, but of course that was her first band. Now, it looks like the pieces have come together for her and she feels she has the songs. You know she has the voice. So, hopefully this will be a catapult year for her, too.

I have been a fan of Maplewood for quite some time. I’ve gotten to know Steve Koester over the phone and via email during that time and he’s told me about his other project, Two Dark Birds. They’ve finished the debut CD, expected out in March, and it’s a great listening experience. This is real - Koester calls it “American” or “Soul.” Go to their Myspace page and listen to “Cut Down To Size” and “Blown”. Do I ever feel the need for this music! Neil Young will love this stuff.  

I’ve been with three labels over the last two years, including one that I went back to after being on my own for 5 years. And that had been the only other label I worked for. While there, I met John Porter, who had been Aqualung’s U.S. manager. At my next label, I worked for Drew Murray. Now, John and Drew are together at bluhammock music and they have Cary Brothers, who opened for LUCE in front of 1,200 in October at the Fox Theater in Redwood City, CA. You should check out Cary’s music. You hear him on Grey’s Anatomy occasionally, as well as other places. You should hear him on the radio, too.

Mocean Worker again has one of the most interesting albums of the last year with Cinco de Mowo! You can hear “Shake Ya Boogie” on Lincoln Navigator ads. It was also on the NPR ballot for album-of-the-year. And I hear the shows with a full band are amazing! If you want to get a party rolling, Mocean Worker will get the Mowo flowing!

Finally, I just received this link and think this 20-minute video is a very valuable lesson on the “The Big Picture” and I’d like for everyone to take the time to watch this, then share it, especially with your kids. It’s “The Story Of Stuff.” Go to: http://www.storyofstuff.com.

As always, thanks for listening. I hope 2008 is your best year yet!