Country singer Jason Aldean barely concealed his bigotry with the “Try That In A Small Town” single. It’s reassuring to know that these violently evil views are not the norm. Not in music, not in country music, not anywhere.
Basslines and Protest Signs is Brett Callwood’s column looking at the intersection of music and politics. This week stands up in the defense of the Dixie Chicks.
Harp magazine, which folded last month, is at least the third music magazine to cease publishing in 2008, joining alt-country title No Depression and indie rock mag Resonance in the dead pool. For a certain section of the indie world focused on a more mature, college-educated demographic, the loss of Harp and No Depression hit especially hard. “Those two outlets really spoke to our consumer,” says John Biondolillo, general manager at Dave Matthews’ ATO Records, which handles such critical darlings as singer/songwriters Patty Griffin and David Gray. Josh Wittman, group marketing director at Redeye Distribution and Yep Roc Records, home… Read more »
Partial list of winners at Sunday’s 47th Annual Grammy Awards: Engineered Album, Classical – “Higdon – City Scape Concerto for Orchestra,” Jack Renner, engineer – Robert Spano. Producer of the Year, Classical – David Frost. Classical Album – “Adams – On the Transmigration of Souls,” Lorin Maazel, conductor John Adams and Lawrence Rock, producers. Orchestral Performance – “Adams – On the Transmigration of Souls,” Lorin Maazel, conductor John Adams and Lawrence Rock, producers. Opera Recording – “Mozart – Le Nozze di Figaro,” Rene Jacobs, conductor Patrizia Ciofi, Veronique Gens, Simon Keenlyside, Angelika Kirchschlager and Lorenzo Regazzo Martin Sauer, producer –… Read more »
Artemis Records chairman/CEO Danny Goldberg is leaving the independent label he founded in 1999 due to what sources said Wednesday were “philosophical differences” with its owners. Artemis president Daniel Glass has been elevated to president/CEO of the label, which is the home of such acts as Steve Earle, Pretenders, Kittie and the late Warren Zevon. New Artemis releases from Better Than Ezra, Black Label Society and bluesman Hubert Sumlin are due soon. Goldberg will continue as a consultant. He launched New York-based Artemis after a long tenure as a top executive at the Mercury, Warner, Modern and Swan Song labels… Read more »
Los Angeles – Better Than Ezra, the New Orleans trio famed for its 1995 hit “Good,” has signed a North American recording deal with Artemis Records, home of Steve Earle, Jill Sobule and the late Warren Zevon. The group’s as-yet-untitled new studio album, its first in four years, is slated for a spring 2005 release. “Good” spent five weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s airplay-based Modern Rock Tracks chart and propelled its Elektra debut “Deluxe” to platinum success. After parting ways with the label, the group released “Closer” in 2001 on Beyond Records.
Good Charlotte is slated to appear on a compilation album titled Rock Against Bush, which is being assembled by Fat Wreck Chords president and NOFX frontman Fat Mike. Good Charlotte, Green Day, Sum 41, and a number of other punk acts will contribute songs to the record as part of a campaign to vote George Bush out of office next year. Good Charlotte guitarist Billy Martin revealed that the band isn’t afraid of the same kind of backlash that hit the Dixie Chicks. “I mean, we considered that at the same time, you know, but I think that the Dixie… Read more »
With his lawsuits threatening to outnumber his album releases, Boston leader Tom Scholz has revved up the litigation machine again and is suing his label, Artemis Records, for more than $4 million. Scholz filed suit in New York on Tuesday, claiming that the band’s first album in eight years, 2002’s Corporate America, failed to take off because the label didn’t promote it properly, despite promises that Boston’s fifth album would be a priority. The suit claims Scholz signed with Danny Goldberg’s Artemis because of Goldberg’s “repeated promises that his label would give the highest priority to promoting [Corporate America]; that… Read more »
Terrorism struck the United States on a Tuesday, the day labels release albums, and that day had its share of potential blockbusters: Jay-Z, Bob Dylan and Mariah Carey were among the artists who released records on September 11, 2001. The first anniversary of the attacks, by contrast, will pass quietly in the nation’s record stores, with no big-name releases hitting shelves this week and retailers predicting that new records will be the furthest thing from fans’ minds. “It just seems to be in bad taste,” said bassist Joe Escalante of veteran punk band the Vandals, who chose a September 17… Read more »
Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins has been added to the bill for the fourth annual Waltz benefit concert taking place in Chicago Saturday night (March 23). Corgan joins previously announced performers Steve Earle, Ronnie Spector, Wilco’s John Stirratt, former Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin (who now drums for Corgan’s new band Zwan), Sonia Dada, Alejandro Escovedo, Graham Parker, Ivan Neville, Sonny Landreth, Kelly Hogan, the Mekons’s Jon Langford, Ken Nordine, David Amram, and Nicholas Tremulis and his band at the Chicago club Metro. Ronnie Spector revealed she’s looking forward to being on the bill with such a wide array of… Read more »
