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Many musical acts come and go as my favorites.  I add their music to iTunes and then I burn it out.  I see them once live and am not motivated to lay down money to see them again.  There are but few who’s music I do not get burnt out on and who I will see every time they come to town if I am able. 

One of those artists is MuteMath.

I first saw their intense show at the Exit Inn in Nashville several years ago and was blown away.  Witnessed the four piece band several more times in Nashville and Austin.  From the initial EP to their first official full length release, they have never failed to impress me with their music and talent.

Check them out for yourself with the creative “backward” video of their single “Typical” below and their Mute Math Myspace and Wikipedia sites.  You may find they have a sound reminiscent of The Police and U2.  Definitely has an 80’s tint to it.

Here’s a video from the second Exit Inn show I saw them at in 2006. It is the uniquely instrumental song “Reset”.

*The Music Advisory will be a regular element on this blog and will spotlight artists I think stand out from the rest.  Whether new or established acts, I pledge to keep this feature unbiased by not including artists I work directly with (even though I do think they are all amazingly talented)

Teen Magazine has a feature on Adam Gregory this month:

“Meet Adam Gregory, a 22-year-old country crooner who’s our pick for the next big thing! We just love his new single, “Crazy Days,” and thought you guys would get a kick out of “meeting” him. So, without further ado…….” 

Go here to check out the complete Teen interview with Adam.

Peter Cooper blogs about how mobile devices are hurting music in a way you might not have thought about: 

When people talk about the things that are allegedly “killing” music, they usually go on about vocal tuning technology, the demise of physical product, too many cookie cutter acts, etc. Here’s what’s really killing music, though: cell phones.

In Nashville, the problem goes beyond the dunderheads who “forget” to turn off their ringers and wind up interrupting poignant, compelling or otherwise groovy moments with some kind of seemed-clever-at-the-time ring tone. The problem here extends to people who turn their ringers off but who glance at their Blackberry devices every two minutes and actually type email during performances. To all around, this sends the message, “Whatever the performer is doing is not worthy of my attention.” At a regular club show, this is irritating as all get out. At one of the “showcases” where a performer is presumably auditioning for a record contract or publishing contact, it’s heartbreaking.

Check out the rest of this article on Tennessean.com HERE.

I’d like to see the ratio and breakdown of recently successful acts from record labels.  A comparison of brand new artists that no one has heard of to artists that have been lifted off one of the following:  American Idol, Nashville Star, Dancing With The Stars, MySpace, from another format, through Muzik Mafia, or from independent labels.

Where are the new star acts that can say they were actually scouted and discovered by a major label?  Like when an A&R rep would be on the road and hear the buzz about an incredible artist, who they went to see, and then brought to Nashville to showcase and sign?  

Yes, it still happens on occasion, but it seems so rare and sometimes more accidental than anything else. 

Has allowing television, the Internet, publishers, and indie labels do the ground work for them made most major labels complacent or has the business of finding acts changed?

Sure social networks and YouTube has made discovery easier and more cost effective, but I have to think there is plenty of pure amazing talent out there that didn’t audition for a television show and doesn’t have the time or means to market themselves full time on the Internet.

Let’s find them.  For all of our sake.

A feature on the Leadership Music Digital Summit can be found in The Tennessean. It’s based on what I thought was one of the weaker panels of the day, “Can I Really Ditch A Record Label?”. The title of the panel was interesting and the potential was great, but it ended up being mostly about the positive aspects of major labels and not about how an artist can truly succeed without one (which I thought was the point of the panel). Read the article here.

Music Row magazine also has a write up about the same panel here.

The opening night gala for the 2008 Nashville Film Festival recently took place. The red carpet walk included Emerson Drive, William H. Macy, Jessi Alexander, Carter’s Chord, Wild Bill, and other notable guests for the debut night featured film “The Deal”.

Amy and I went to a party for our good friends Mitch and Sarah who are getting married later this month.  It was at the home of their friends David Thoener and Tamera Petrash.  David is a highly regarded sound engineer, mixer and producer.  I knew that he worked on the Santana project and won a Grammy in 2000 for “Smooth”.  Cool.  Great song. 

So we went to their home and it was a nice group of friends and new people we hadn’t met before.  After engaging in some wine and cake, Amy and I decided to go explore the house since it had a nice variety of art and music industry awards. 

In David’s office I noticed a wall full of gold and platinum albums (yes, the door was open).  I couldn’t help but to check them out.  I still remember how much I wanted one of those back before moving to Nashville and it finally happened in 1994 with The Mavericks.  Such an amazing memory that lead to more “awards” over the years.  I’m very proud to have played a part in so many artists careers and music and the plaques are nice reminders of that.  Over time though, they just aren’t that important to me anymore, but I still love to look at them when they are displayed at other people’s homes or businesses.  Especially the blasts from the past.

The first plaque on David’s wall to catch my eye was the J. Geils Band “Freeze Frame”.  Wow!  That was one of my favorite records in high school.  Then I noticed Billy Squier “Emotions In Motion”.  No way!  Another fantastic album.  Then a quick scan of the rest:  Heart, Sammy Hagar, Meat Loaf, AC/DC, Aeorosmith, KISS, Triumph, Bon Jovi, The Fixx, Billy Joel, The Hooters, ELO, Def Leppard and many others.  It was everything I listened to in my youth.  The Rock utopia of the 70’s and early to mid 80’s.

Amy said I was standing there with my mouth open just staring.  It was like the soundtrack of my high school years before my eyes as the songs on those albums created flash points in time.  A memory of listening to J. Geils “Centerfold” on a beat up radio while riding to school on the bus.  Or camping out for Billy Squier tickets that went on sale Saturday morning right after the Sammy Hagar concert ended on Friday night.  When “Pyromania” came out and rocked my world.  Seeing Bon Jovi open up for the unmasked KISS.  Turning it up to 10 when the cannons fired on AC/DC’s “For Those About To Rock”.

As I continued to be amazed at the wall, David walked into the room and proceeded to tell stories about how he recorded the cannons on the AC/DC track.  What Bon Jovi was like back in the day before he exploded.  Working with Mutt Lange, Gene Simmons, Santana, David Bowie, Def Leppard, ELO, and John Mellencamp on albums and in the studio.  The history of my rock and roll years.  The songs and artists that influenced my taste in music.  David was in the mix.  Literally!

David, according to his bio, started his career in 1974 as an assistant engineer at the Record Plant in New York City. He learned his craft working on such seminal albums as Aerosmith “Toys In The Attic,” Bruce Springsteen “Born To Run,” David Bowie “Young Americans,” John Lennon “Walls and Bridges,” Electric Light Orchestra “Face The Music” and Richie Blackmore “Rainbow Rising.”

He began engineering and mixing records in 1976, and since then has enjoyed a thirty year run of hit records including classic records for AC/DC (”For Those About To Rock”) , John Mellencamp (including “Little Pink Houses”), John Waite (including the smash “Missing You”), J. Geils Band (all of their hits), Matchbox 20 and many others.

He has worked on countless Country and Contemporary Christian projects as well.  If you’d like to check out his complete discography with dates please go here. 

 Just when you think you can’t be awed any longer in Music City, there is always a surprise waiting to happen.  That’s one of the reasons I love this town and the incredibly creative and down to earth people in it. 

I am on a mission now to have David guest blog.

Emerson Drive was a recent guest of the Big 98 WSIX in Nashville.  The band performed six songs acoustically at the station’s Full Throttle Garage and answered questions from the invited listeners.  Two of the songs are going to be on the next album.  Check out “Extra Mile” by clicking here.

The rest of the tunes are here.

Emerson Drive is still in the studio working on the album tentatively scheduled for a Fall release.

Whiskey Falls had an early wake up call on Saturday morning to get prepped for an appearance on the CBS Early Show.  For those of you who slept in, here is the segment on the 2nd Cup Cafe.

 Country Radio Seminar is coming up next week.  Some of you radio folks are attending, but most of you are unable to make it because of budgetary reasons.  For those of you in the latter category, keep coming back to “For The Record” for articles and video updates as the event kicks off on Tuesday. 

I’ll try to provide you a virtual postcard from CRS 2008.

Many of tomorrow’s popular artists are going to need more than a single and a CD to explode.  To find entry into new media, exposure to potential fans and to sell their music it will be necessary to market and brand themselves with innovative means.  Multi-level partnerships, sponsorships, new media, special events, sports and mobile based marketing are just a few important ways to reach the targets.  Whiskey Falls is already making it happen.  Other radio formats are recognizing the opportunities available to them with acts that are offering value not only in spins, but beyond them.  When will the Country format do the same?

Here is an article from the current issue of Billboard by Ken Tucker:

Whiskey Falls is not just a band—it’s a four-man marketing machine. Made up of Seven Williams, Wally Brandt, Damon Johnson and Buck Johnson (no relation), the quartet has a history of building support for its career through the unlikeliest of partners. Even before the group released its first single, “Last Train Running,” last year on Nashville-based independent Midas Records, it had already built a network of sponsors. AAMCO, the American Tailgater’s Assn., the Laborers’ International Union of North America, the National Hod Rod Assn. and even NBC soap opera “Days of Our Lives” are all in the band’s corner.

 That’s not by chance—it’s by design, lead singer Williams says.“We realized the more we could do for ourselves, the more that we could help our record label, the more we could help our relationship with radio, the more we could give back to our fans,” Williams told Billboard last year.

Country WSSL Greenville, S.C., OM/PD Steve Geoffries says the band “really understands the new avenues of marketing.” The station recruited Whiskey Falls to document life on the road for a Web site feature dubbed “Road to Fame.” “We post the video online and let our audience follow their long day from start to finish,” Geoffries says. The band also checks in with the station’s morning show each week to update listeners.“They’ve been in the market a couple of times for performances and they have developed a following here,” Country WGH Norfolk, Va., PD John Shomby says. “They really have learned what it takes to get known and they are doing it.”

The band’s appearance at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Mountain Region Heatseekers chart can likely be attributed to a busy week of performances leading up to the Super Bowl in Scottsdale, Ariz., including a gig for thousands of tailgaters outside the University of Phoenix Stadium, where the big game was held.

Geoffries says the band’s new single, “Falling Into You”—No. 46 on Hot Country Songs—is “contagious.” WSSL played the song 16 times during the week ending Feb. 17, according to Nielsen BDS.

Emerson Drive visits the cast and crew of GAC Nights.

Brad Mates is featured in the “Country’s Hottest Bachelors” issue of Country Weekly.  On newsstands now, the contest will be open for voting at www.countryweekly.com and the winner will be published in the March 24th issue.

Since a single photo may not be enough to capture the true essense of the Emerson Drive lead singer, here’s a special video displaying that Brad not only has the looks, but also some wicked boot repair and sales skills.

Photo Credit: Tony Phipps 

Midas Records’ GRAMMY nominees Emerson Drive strike a pose with fellow nominee, Big Machine recording artist, Taylor Swift at the Nashville GRAMMY Nominee reception. Emerson Drive are nominated in the category of “Best Country Performance By A Group or Duo with Vocals” for their #1 hit “Moments.” 

Pictured L-R: Emerson Drive’s Dale Wallace, Taylor Swift, Emerson Drive’s Danick Dupelle, Brad Mates and David Pichette.   www.emersondrive.com     www.myspace.com/emersondrive

A clip of Whiskey Falls performing an acoustic version of “Falling Into You” during a recent visit to KASE in Austin.  The current single is BREAKER status and moved into the Top 40.

Emerson Drive has been nominated for #1 Digitally Active Duo/Group on the CMT Video Music Awards.  The nominees and ultimate winner are determined by calculating the number of digital streams the act had over the last year. 

The numbers:   3.8 million total streams and over 2.3 million total profile views on Myspace!

E Drive is also up for a prestigious Grammy Award for Best Country Performance By A Group or Duo with Vocals for their 1 hit “Moments”.

Did anyone catch the first episode of CMT’s new reality program “Gone Country” on Sunday evening?  I happened on it by accident and I don’t usually watch much of CMT, because the channel typically has nothing to do with music anymore.  Same for MTV.  And many reality shows are junk.

I was engaged by the concept and ended up watching the entire hour, half of which was terrible advertising (that will be blog rant later, trust me).  I like that the show has welcomed individuals of diverse musical styles and cultural backgrounds.  On the other hand, this show could end up being a train wreck.  Either way, entertaining.

There are a few good things going on here:  John Rich is a pretty decent host, Nashville is being shown off in a good light (so far), and the audience is being introduced to some heavyweight Music Row songwriters.  There are also a couple of not so good things going on:  Another contrived reality show and the messages it sends about the current state of the country music format.  It will be interesting to see where the show goes and how the industry will react, if at all.  I don’t know if I will plan to watch every episode, but I’m intrigued by it.

Check it out or Tivo it (so you can miss the barrage of ads).  CMT is actually doing a show with music, so that in itself is worthwhile.  But do yourself a favor and please stay away from the ridiculous “My Redneck Wedding” that follows.  That does none of us any good.

Emerson Drive is starting 2008 in a big way.  The new single is closing in on Top 20, testing Top 10, they are nominated for a Grammy, and have just concluded a 10 city tour with Big & Rich.  And that’s just a glimpse of amazing things to come for a band that has established themselves as one of the best in the country format.

The guys have launched a video blog from their travels on the road.  Keep up with them here.