#41 April 2008
1
MIKE ZITO
“Love Like This”
AVAILABLE FOR AIRPLAY now
CD Today
ON SALE now
LABEL Eclecto Groove Records
WEB www.mikezito.com
Singer/songwriter/guitarist Mike Zito grew up in St. Louis, and he now calls Nederland, Texas, home. He started performing and singing when he was 5, and like so many kids at the time it was a Van Halen album that made Zito first pick up an electric guitar.
Mike released his first CD, Blue Room, in 1996, and followed it up with America’s Most Wanted in 1999, Slow It Down in 2004 and Superman in 2006.
For his fifth release, Today, Zito has teamed up with Grammy Award-winning producer David Z. (Prince, Etta James) and a lineup of studio musicians which includes bassist James “Hutch” Hutchinson (Bonnie Raitt, Willie Nelson, Elton John, B.B. King); Heartbreakers and Mudcrutch keyboardist Benmont Tench; producer/drummer Tony Braunagel (Taj Mahal, B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt) and percussionist Michito Sanchez (Nelly Furtado, Steve Winwood, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Elton John).
In addition to making Today, Zito has been busy scoring and filming for Spring Break 83, a movie in which he and label mate Ana Popovic will be the house band in the bar scenes.
Mike is a touring veteran who once played overseas with the USO.
CONTACT Kristal Blue 818.755.4460 Deltagroove1@earthlink.net
2
MARK RONSON featuring AMY WINEHOUSE
“Valerie”
AVAILABLE FOR AIRPLAY now
CD Version
ON SALE now
LABEL Allido/RCA Records
Mark Ronson’s next single, “Valerie,” which features Amy Winehouse singing a new take on The Zutons’ 2006 tune, has collected 679,000 of the 5 million spins on www.myspace.com/markronson, and the song’s video has received over 5 million plays on YouTube.
Ronson was the winner of both the 2008 Grammy for Producer Of The Year and the 2008 Brit Award for Best British Male Solo Artist.
Mark Ronson was born in England and grew up in New York City. He’s a DJ and record producer who has remixed Bob Dylan and produced Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen, Christina Aguilera and Adele; Ronson owns and runs Allido Records.
Ronson played Coachella on April 26.
“Producer turns rock hits into instrumental gold.” —Rolling Stone
CONTACT Adrian Moreira 646.840.5704 adrian.moreira@sonybmg.com & Wendy Goodman 310.449.2633 wendy.goodman@sonybmg.com
3
JEB LOY NICHOLS
“Days Are Mighty”
AVAILABLE FOR AIRPLAY now
CD Days Are Mighty
ON SALE now
LABEL Compass Records
WEB www.myspace.com/jebloynichols
Born in Wyoming and raised in Missouri, singer/songwriter/guitarist and visual artist Jeb Loy Nichols moved to Austin, Texas, when he was 14 and was blown away by the city’s vibrant music scene. At 17 he relocated to New York City and spent three years studying painting at Parsons School of Design before moving on to London.
In 1990, Jeb formed the Fellow Travellers, releasing four albums with the band before embarking on a solo career, releasing his first solo album in 1997, and following it with three more between 2000 and 2005.
In 2000, Jeb and his wife, Loraine Morley (also a member of The Fellow Travellers), moved to a remote farm in Wales where they settled on 10 acres of neglected scrub land to become as self-sufficient as possible; together, Jeb and Loraine grow much of their own food, generate their own power and recycle just about everything they use.
Jeb is in the midst of a whirlwind of creative activity. In addition to his new album, Days Are Mighty, he is preparing to tour the US and Europe this summer, he has just released a book of his art (I Need You To Tell Me Something Different), he co-produced country/soul singer Larry Jon Wilson’s his first album in 30 years and his first novel, The Untogether, will be published later this year.
Of the song “Days Are Mighty,” Jeb says, “I heard someone say once that life is short but days are long. Days, and time, are mightier than we are. Time is the healer, the witch doctor, the master. Time carries on in spite of what we do.”
CONTACT Stephanie Fields 615.320.7672 stephanie@compassrecords.com
4
MATT SHWACHMAN
“Rise Above”
AVAILABLE FOR AIRPLAY now
CD Uncharted Territory
ON SALE now
LABEL Independent
Boston-based singer/songwriter Matt Shwachman’s lifelong love of music began when he was five and his mother bought him a copy of the Beastie Boys’ License To Ill cassette.
At the age of 17, a school project showed Matt that he could pursue a career in music, so he picked up the guitar and started writing songs in earnest. Oddly enough, the very first song he ever completed, “Side Of The Road,” was featured years later on the TV series One Tree Hill.
Matt recorded Uncharted Territory with producer Andrew Gallagher at Waterway Studios in Dover, New Hampshire.
While traveling in Australia years ago, Shwachman injured his neck and back, and an exhaustive search for pain relief led to a spiritual awakening. That opened the floodgates and out came the songs for his second CD, Uncharted Territory.
CONTACT Eugene Foley (Foley Entertainment) 908.684.9400 EugeneFoleyMusic@aol.com & Matt Shwachman matt@mattshwachman.com
5
DELTA GOODREM
“In This Life”
AVAILABLE FOR AIRPLAY now
CD Delta
ON SALE now
LABEL Decca Records
She lives in the UK now, but Australia is home and 23-year-old Delta Goodrem is the best-selling female vocalist of all time in her homeland. She has also had #1-selling albums in the UK and in Japan.
Born in Sydney, Goodrem began acting when she was 7, using the money from various TV roles to pay for piano, singing and dancing lessons. She signed her first recording contract at 14.
Delta’s debut album, 2003’s Innocent Eyes, spawned four #1 singles and spent 29 weeks at the top of the Australian charts, tying a record set in 1972 by Neil Diamond’s Hot August Night. That same year, Goodrem was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which is in remission now.
For her third release, Delta, Goodrem chose to work with several successful writer/producers, including John Shanks (Melissa Etheridge, Sheryl Crow, Santana), Stuart Crichton (Kirsty MacColl, The Sugar Babes, Kylie Minogue), Marius DeVries (U2, Madonna) and the team of Steve Kipner, Andrew Frampton and Wayne Wilkins (Christina Aguilera, Natasha Bedingfield).
Delta has more than 639,000 spins at www.myspace.com/deltagoodrem (179,000 of them for “In This Life”).
CONTACT Louise Coogan 212.333.8204 louise.coogan@umusic.com
6
FIVE A.M.
“Just Say Anything”
AVAILABLE FOR AIRPLAY now
CD Raise The Sun
ON SALE now
LABEL Big Blue Bus Music
Santa Rosa, California-based Five A.M. features singer/guitarist Trent Yaconelli, guitarist Zach Hammer, bassist Jason McGrath, drummer Jed Friesen, and percussionist/keyboardist Benjie Kushins.
After winning a Battle Of The Bands sponsored by Miller Genuine Draft, Five A.M. released their first CD in 2003 thanks to more than $20,000 in support from their fans. A second album followed in 2005.
Five A.M. recorded their third album, Raise The Sun, in both Vancouver and San Francisco with Grammy-nominated producer Jeff Dawson (Daniel Powter) and Grammy-winning mixer Mike Fraser (Aerosmith, AC/DC, Rush, Metallica).
They have played with Train, Dishwalla, Cracker, Guster, Bob Schneider, The Gin Blossoms and Michael McDonald.
“By virtue of a highly polished radio-ready album, Five A.M. are poised, now more than ever, to break into a larger market. Full of solid hooks and thoughtful lyrics, there’s no logical reason why ‘Raise the Sun’ shouldn’t splash onto radio play lists in the Bay Area and across the country.” —The Bohemian
CONTACT Kevin Sutter (Tazmoe Music) 425.889.2822 tazmoe_music@earthlink.net & Jeff Appleton (Marathon Entertainment) 810.797.2287 jeffappleton@marathonentertainment.biz
7
THE BAND OF HEATHENS
“This I Know”
AVAILABLE FOR AIRPLAY now
CD The Band Of Heathens
ON SALE now
LABEL BOH Records
Colin Brooks, Ed Jurdi and Gordy Quist were each performing solo sets on Wednesday nights at the Austin nightclub Momo’s. Eventually, the three singer/songwriter/guitarists began sharing the stage, singing and playing together with bassist Seth Whitney anchoring the rhythm section. With the addition of drummer John Chipman in March 2007, the band was complete.
In an atypical move, the first two releases from The Band Of Heathens were live recordings, 2006’s Live From Momo’s and Live At Antone’s which came out in January of this year. Now The Band Of Heathens is poised to release their Ray Wylie Hubbard-produced debut studio recording, a self-titled release that features Patty Griffin, Gurf Morlix and Stephen Bruton.
At the 2007 Austin Music Awards, The Band Of Heathens won the award for Best New Band; they were also runners-up for Band Of The Year, Album Of The Year, Song Of The Year and more, while this year they were recognized as one of the Bands Of The Year.
If you watched this year’s Super Bowl then you no doubt saw the Barack Obama ad which used footage of The Band Of Heathens playing in front of 20,000 at a rally in Austin.
“Lord, I love this Austin band. Rootsy, bluesy rock in the best Austin sense that feels like it's been cooking for decades.” —Austin American Statesman
CONTACT Lindsay Reid (Reid Promotions) 919.768.1103 lreid003@nc.rr.com & Ethan Bessey (management) 512.535.4742 ethan@bandofheathens.com
8
DESOL
“On My Way”
AVAILABLE FOR AIRPLAY now
CD On My Way
ON SALE now
LABEL SaZon Records/Two22Music
Asbury Park, New Jersey’s deSol, whose name means “of the sun” in Spanish, got together in 2000, releasing their debut, Spanish Radio, in 2002. Their eponymous sophomore set first came out in 2004 (and re-released with a different track listing in 2005) and LiVE/ViVO, an EP recorded live at Antone’s in Austin, followed in 2006.
On My Way, deSoL’s third studio album, was recorded at Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, Texas, on the Mexican border where the Rio Grande flows. The first single, “Sing It All Night,” was one of the top 50 most-played Triple A radio songs of 2007 following a #1 Most Added showing when it came out last summer.
The band has been featured on World Café, and they’ve performed at Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits and a Miami Dolphins halftime show. DeSoL has also shared the stage with R.E.M., Arrested Development, Ozomatli, Suzanne Vega, Rustic Overtones, Shawn Mullins, Soulive, The Legendary Wailers, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Los Lonely Boys and Widespread Panic, among others.
They spent October 2006 in the Middle East playing for the troops in Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Djibouti and Kuwait.
The New York Times, USA Today, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, New York Post and Paste have all praised deSoL.
CONTACT Deke Merkle 303.779.5511 dekeandsal@aol.com, Jesse Barnett (Right Arm Resource) 508.238.5654 jesse@rightarmresource.com & J.B. Brenner (The J.B. Brenner Company) 805.777.7999 jb@jbbrenner.com
9
JIM BIANCO
“Sing”
AVAILABLE FOR AIRPLAY now
CD Sing
ON SALE now
LABEL Hotel Café Records
Pianist/singer/songwriter Jim Bianco was born in Brooklyn, grew up on Long Island, attended music school in Boston and now makes his home in Los Angeles.
A seminal member of the popular and influential Hotel Café scene in Hollywood, Bianco’s fifth and latest CD, Sing, is the first release on the Hotel Café’s own label.
He’s also been on the venue’s tour all four years; this year’s Hotel Café Tour, which also included Cary Brothers, Ingrid Michaelson, Sara Bareilles, Greg Laswell, Dan Wilson, Bob Schneider, Jesca Hoop and Christopher Denny, just finished up in the States before heading off to Europe.
Bianco has been getting the word out about his new CD, including a spotlight in a March NPR piece on its “Day To Day” show (catch it at www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88100305) and KBAC, WNRN, WYSO, KKCR, KRVM, WRRW, KAXE, KSLU and WFIT are already playing it. His spins at www.myspace.com/jimbianco are up over 210,000.
Bianco once had the honor and distinction of watching a three-woman burlesque troupe perform a fully choreographed striptease to his song “Goodness Gracious”—at their invitation. It was filmed, and you can see it on YouTube.
CONTACT Jesse Barnett (Right Arm Resource) 508.238.5654 jesse@rightarmresource.com
10
DOWNTOWN MYSTIC
“Go Back” (radio edit)
AVAILABLE FOR AIRPLAY now
CD Read The Signs
ON SALE now
LABEL Sha-La Music
WEB www.myspace.com/downtownmystic
Read The Signs is the second CD from DownTown Mystic, a band that centers on Hillsdale, New Jersey’s Robert Allen and LA resident Bruce Engler, both of whom write, sing and play guitar.
Allen and Engler were joined on Read The Signs by drummer Steve Holley (Wings, Joe Cocker, Dar Williams, Marshall Crenshaw) and bassist Paul Page (Dion, Ian Hunter, The Smithereens, Popa Chubby), along with E Street Band rhythm section Garry Tallent and Max Weinberg (who have now played on both DownTown Mystic CDs).
In addition to their 59,000+ spins on www.myspace.com/downtownmystic, DownTown Mystic has also received airplay on WMNF, KRCL, KXCI, WQNR, WACC, WHFC, WRRW, WMSV, KUMD, KRVM, KPCW, KRVS, WVIA, WFIT, KAXE, WMFO, KDNK, KVNF, KSUT, KKCR, KMUD and more.
“Go Back” was written and sung by Bruce Engler.
The name DownTown Mystic was spotted by Robert Allen on a highway sign in Connecticut; the sign said, “Next Exit, Downtown Mystic.”
CONTACT Crystal Ann Lea (M:M Music) 323.939.2665 crystalann@mindspring.com
11
BEN ARTHUR
“Tattoo”
AVAILABLE FOR AIRPLAY now
CD Mouthfeel
ON SALE now
LABEL Chicken Butter Records
New York City’s Ben Arthur grew up in Harrisonburg, Virginia; he was 14 when he got started on guitar and the songwriting got started at about the same time.
As a singer/songwriter, Ben made a name for himself in Charlottesville, where he was going to the University of Virginia. In time, he shared local stages with Tori Amos, Shawn Colvin, Bruce Hornsby and even fellow Charlottesville resident Dave Matthews (you can hear Matthews’ cohorts Boyd Tinsley and Tim Reynolds on Arthur’s debut CD).
Mouthfeel is Ben’s fourth album; his last album, 2004’s Edible Darling, featured a #1 Most-Added song in “Mary Ann,” which WXRT went out two weeks early on.
Mouthfeel features Rachael Yamagata, who shares lead vocals with Ben on one song, and the bass playing by Ollabelle’s Byron Isaacs. Arthur also had production help from DJ Big Wiz (Aesop Rock, Lif), and the pair is now collaborating on Arthur’s new CD.
Ben will be touring throughout 2008, with scheduled performance/interview visits to XM Café, Sirius WCBE, WMMM, WNRN, WCNR, WBSD, WMRA and Acoustic Café.
CONTACT Ben Arthur 212.495.9259 bena@benarthur.com
12
MATTHEW RYAN
“Jane, I Still Feel The Same”
AVAILABLE FOR AIRPLAY now
CD Matthew Ryan Vs. The Silver State
ON SALE now
LABEL 00:02:59
WEB www.myspace.com/matthewryan
Born Ryan Webb into a 1971 working-class neighborhood in the Philadelphia suburb of Chester, Pennsylvania, he changed his name to Matthew Ryan in his early 20s to honor his now-imprisoned older brother. He lives in Nashville these days.
Matthew Ryan Vs The Silver State (MRVSS) was recorded live with a group that has worked together for 10 years: Brian Bequette (guitar, bass, piano), Steve Latanation (drums, vocals) and producer/engineer Doug Lancio (guitar, bass, piano). Eoman McLouglin of The Greencards played the viola and Molly Thomas added the violin on “Jane, I Still Feel The Same.”
Matthew’s got more than 300,000 spins at www.myspace.com/matthewryan, and WNRN, XM The Loft, XM Café, WUKY, WBJB and WSYC are playing “Jane, I Still Feel The Same” out of the box.
“Jane” was featured on One Tree Hill in March, just after Matthew’s SXSW set.
“A solo set from Matthew Ryan stole the show to a packed inside crowd. Working his 11th album in as many years, Ryan powered the dramatic intensity of Irish balladeers like Glen Hansard or Damien Rice but cut with the gruff vocal grit of Springsteen. “ —Austin Chronicle (SXSW live review)
CONTACT Jeff Appleton (Marathon Entertainment) 810.797.2287 jeffappleton@marathonentertainment.biz & Chuck Bliziotis chuck@metrohybrid.com
13
ANOTHER BIG MACHINE
“Brand New Kind Of Love” (guitars)
AVAILABLE FOR AIRPLAY now
CD ABM
ON SALE 8/26
LABEL Rising Storm Records
WEB www.myspace.com/anotherbigmachine
Another Big Machine formed in 2003 in Gonzales, Louisiana, a small city between Baton Rouge and New Orleans known as “The Jambalaya Capital of the World”; at the time, the band was called Addavoy.
After successfully launching their music in the same Baton Rouge nightclubs that launched Better Than Ezra a decade earlier, they established themselves in Louisiana, Texas, Florida and Arkansas.
ABM is their debut CD as Another Big Machine; they also recorded a full-length CD and an EP when they were still known as Addavoy.
Though they have yet to release an album, Another Big Machine already has more than 650,000 spins on www.myspace.com/anotherbigmachine.
They’ve toured across the US, and shared a stage with Collective Soul.
CONTACT Richard Wolod (CO5 Music) 773.262.2289 richard@co5music.com
14
BEN JELEN
“Wreckage”
AVAILABLE FOR AIRPLAY now
CD Ex-Sensitive
ON SALE now
LABEL Custard Records
WEB www.benjelen.com
Multi-instrumentalist Ben Jelen was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 7/8/79, and has moved around a bit since, leaving Scotland to live in England, then moving to the States, where he attended high school in both Texas and New Jersey before graduating from Rutgers with a degree in Biology. He now lives in New York City.
Jelen’s first album, Give It All Away, debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart in 2004 and the follow-up Ex-Sensitive was produced by Linda Perry (4 Non-Blondes, Cheap Trick, Gwen Stefani, P!nk) and released on Perry’s Custard Records.
In addition to his musical career, Jelen spends a great deal of his time doing good works, starting his own charitable organization, the Ben Jelen Foundation For The Environment (http://benjelen.com/foundation), working with the United Nations and the Natural Resources Defense Council, touring for Rock The Vote and Live For Darfur, donating tracks to charity projects for such organizations as WasteNotMusic.com, Amnesty International and Tori Amos’ RAINN. Altoids Mints and Replay Jeans have promised 10% of sales to the Ben Jelen Foundation For The Environment throughout the month of April.
Ben is getting the word out with coverage in Spin, Relix, Scope Magazine and the Dallas Morning News in spring 2008. At radio, WBJB, WOCM, WTYD, WVOD, WAPS, WCBE, KCLC, KDBB, KSQY, KBAC and KRSH have all added music from Ex-Sensitive, and to top it off he has more than 485,000 spins at www.myspace.com/benjelen.
CONTACT Richard Wolod (CO5 Music) 773.262.2289 richard@co5music.com
15
HANNAH MILLER
“Keep It Simple”
AVAILABLE FOR AIRPLAY now
CD Into The Black
ON SALE now
LABEL Independent
Singer/songwriter Hannah Miller grew up in Dothan, Alabama, she went to school in Asheville, North Carolina, and now she lives in Columbia, South Carolina.
She wrote her very first song at the age of 4 and knew from then on what she wanted to be when she grew up, though Hannah didn’t release her first record, 2006’s Storms Of Summer EP, until more than 20 years later.
Hannah’s first full-length CD, Into The Black, was recorded in Nashville with two-time Grammy Award-winning producer/engineer Mitch Dane (Jars Of Clay) and features appearances by Andrew Osenga (Caedmon’s Call), and Stephen Mason and Matthew Odmark of Jars Of Clay.
Hannah is just getting started, but she already has over 24,000 spins at www.myspace.com/hannahmiller, she was the Featured Artist Of The Week on XM Radio’s Radar Report and she hit the Top 10 on the Folk chart at ReverbNation.
“What makes Miller’s approach so enticing is the way she carries melodies, holding on to a syllable a bit longer than expected or lavishing her range on an unexpected note. Her voice, breathy and delicate, conjures Rachel Yamagata and Feist, but Miller’s individuality is undeniable.” —The State, Columbia, South Carolina
CONTACT Dave Rossi (Rossi Artist Management) 843.693.3121 dave@rossiartistmanagement.com & Hannah Miller music.hannah@gmail.com
16
SETH ADAM
“Century”
AVAILABLE FOR AIRPLAY now
CD Where You Come From
ON SALE now
LABEL Horizon Music Group
WEB www.sethadam.com
As the frontman for Connecticut band Green Inside, New Haven-based singer/songwriter/guitarist Seth Adam was a part of three EPs and a full-length CD that got College and Triple A airplay in 2005.
Stepping out as a solo artist, Seth put together a band which features Gerry Giaimo (guitar, banjo, vocals); Lorin Pellegrino (bass); Anthony Bianco (drums) and Fred DiLeone (keys), and after less than a year together they released Live In New Haven 11.8.06.
Where You Come From is Seth Adam’s first full-length studio album; one of its songs, “Get Out,” has recently been licensed to Volkswagen for their Sights And Sounds campaign.
FoxNews.com’s Roger Friedman called Where You Come From the “best new music of 2008. This is the best ‘unsigned’ group in America,” he added, “and the hardest-working best live act in indie rock. All the songs on Where You Come From are potential radio hits, so catchy that once you’ve heard them it’s hard to get them out of your head.”
Seth is a regular in New York City, Boston and Philadelphia, and he’s currently playing both solo acoustic and full-band electric shows throughout the Northeast.
CONTACT Biff Kennedy (Charterhouse Music Group) 215.641.0459 kennedy@biffco.com
17
ADELE
“Chasing Pavements”
AVAILABLE FOR AIRPLAY now
CD 19
ON SALE now
LABEL Columbia Records
WEB www.adele.tv
The British singer who goes by the name of Adele was born Adele Adkins in London in 1988, and before her 20th birthday she’d appeared on BBC 2 television’s Later With Jools Holland alongside Paul McCartney and Björk.
In December 2007, on the strength of word-of-mouth and two singles, “Daydreamer” and “Hometown Glory,” Adele received the first-ever Critics Choice Prize given out at the prestigious Brit Awards, presented to the year’s most significant artist who has yet to release an album. Adele was also named as “the most promising new musical artist likely to emerge in the upcoming year” in BBC Radio’s Sound Of 2008 poll, which was voted on by 150 of the United Kingdom’s most influential music critics, editors and broadcasters.
Adele’s debut album, 19 (the title refers to her age at the time of its release), entered the UK charts at #1 in January of 2008. It has already been certified Platinum in the United Kingdom. In addition, “Chasing Pavements” reached #1 on the UK singles airplay chart, while 19 also hit the Top 10 on the Irish Album Chart (#3), the Dutch Album Chart (#4), Billboard’s European Top Albums Chart (#6) and the United World Chart (#8).
Adele has over 2.6 million spins (with more than 54,000 of them for “Chasing Pavements”) at www.myspace.com/adelelondon.
The British press has been almost unanimous in its praise of Adele, with The Observer’s Music Monthly giving 19 five stars in their January, 2008 issue, adding, “Of all 2008’s female vocalists, none is as great as this one.” Q magazine said she has the “voice of a Motown diva,” and The Sun wrote, “Adele Adkins is going to be 2008’s breakthrough star…she is the owner of a remarkably bluesy, soulful voice.”
CONTACT Lisa Sonkin 212.833.4364 & Nicole George 212.833.8382
18
SAITH
“I’ll Ride Your Wave”
AVAILABLE FOR AIRPLAY now
CD Step Outside
ON SALE 7/1
LABEL Black Onyx Records
Singer/songwriter Saith was born and raised about 12 miles northwest of downtown Philadelphia in the small town of Gladwyne, Pennsylvania.
Step Outside is his first release. It was produced by industry veteran Gardner Cole (Al Jarreau, Vonda Shepard, Michael McDonald, Tom Jones).
Saith was 12 when he began studying classical piano, and two years later he taught himself how to play guitar and sing.
It was John Lennon’s Imagine album that inspired him to write his own songs.
When he turned 18, Saith moved from Pennsylvania to Sedona, Arizona, where he taught yoga for five years while he wrote songs and played around town in various local bands and as a solo musician.
CONTACT J.B. Brenner (The J.B. Brenner Company) 805.777.7999 jb@jbbrenner.com
19
NELO
“You Don’t Know”
AVAILABLE FOR AIRPLAY now
CD Nelo
ON SALE now
LABEL Justice/Pedernales Records
Nelo—rhymes with hello—is an Austin-based band whose members all grew up in the Lone Star State.
Principal songwriter Matt Ragland was a high school student in Dallas in the late ’90s when he took up acoustic guitar, songwriting and jamming with school friends Stephen Goodson (guitar), Chris Hill (drums) and David Long (sax, flute). Later, while at the University of Texas, Ragland performed around Austin with singer Reid Umstattd, while Goodson, Hill and Long were studying jazz at the University of North Texas in Denton. By 2002, they’d reconvened—along with fellow UNT alum Mike St. Clair (bass, trombone, trumpet)—and Nelo was born.
Nelo has 228,000 spins at www.myspace.com/nelomusic and KRVM, KTHX, KFAN, KRVO, KDEC, WSGE, WRRW and WBJB are among the stations already supporting these guys.
Their new album, Nelo, is their first and it’s being released by Houston-based Justice Records in conjunction with Pedernales Records, the label co-owned by Willie Nelson.
“Say hello to Nelo! Taking the ‘Austin sound’ to a new level—pure pop rock! A true band in every sense, one to watch, for sure, but better yet, LISTEN, too!” —Bryan Beck, KGSR Austin
CONTACT Brad Hunt (The WNS Group) 845.358.3003 bhsabres@aol.com
20
BEN ARTHUR
“Last Goodbye”
AVAILABLE FOR AIRPLAY now
CD Mouthfeel
ON SALE now
LABEL Chicken Butter Records
“Last Goodbye” was featured on WXRT’s Hear First and given a few primetime spins.
Since his last CD, Edible Darlings, Ben Arthur wrote his first novel, called Ballad Of A Burning Man—and apparently started a second career. “Writing a novel was something I had always wanted to try, so I just sat down and gave it a shot,” he says. The book was greeted with such enthusiasm by the publishing industry that Arthur signed with prestigious literary agency Inkwell Management.
Men In Trees, the ABC series starring Anne Heche, has recently licensed five of Ben’s songs.
For more info on Ben Arthur, please scroll up to track 11.
CONTACT Ben Arthur 212.495.9259 bena@benarthur.coms