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Americana Fans Get Their Kicks With New Compilation Association for Independent Music-sponsored sampler shows off eclectic roots-oriented movement. | |||||
Reprinted from Sonicnet.com News Contributing Editor Lauren Schmitzer reports:
NASHVILLE - The eclectic mix of roots-oriented musical styles known
as Americana is formalizing its marketplace approach and offering an alternative
for anyone disenchanted with the formulaic tendencies of country radio.
Now, a collection of Americana artists and labels, drawing on elements
of country, folk, blues, bluegrass and rock, have banded together for
the Association for Independent Music's first Americana sampler Get
Your Kicks, released at the annual AFIM Convention from Wednesday
through Sunday in Cleveland.
"Contrary
to [what country radio programmers believe], some people are interested
in more than 150 songs spun continuously for two week stretches," said
Mark Montgomery, album co-sponsor and co-owner of Echo Music - whose artists
the Floating Men are featured on the album with "Lemon Pie."
Get
Your Kicks includes tracks by established artists such as Jerry
Reed, represented by "Pickin';" singer/songwriter Larry Cordle,
who wrote and recorded the controversial "Murder on Music Row" before
George Strait recorded it; and folk-blues master Doc Watson.
Rising
artists such as Trout Fishing in America, Kenny Butterill
and Dan Tyminski also contributed to the 20-track collection.
'For
The People, By The People' Fred
Vail, chairman of the AFIM Americana Special Interest Group (founded
in 1997), proposed the idea for this sampler at last year's convention.
The Americana sampler is the first such project to result from AFIM
efforts.
"With
this album, we wanted to create a marketing vehicle for independent
artists who are part of the Americana scene to get their product out
to both industry and consumer audiences," said Vail, who also owns two
labels of his own.
"Many
Americana labels are artist-owned. They want more visibility but are
on tighter budgets [than major labels]. This sampler is a good way to
spread the expense across the board.
Vail
added: "We didn't want this to be a typical compilation that gets mailed
out and sits on people's desks. We wanted to create an awareness of
Americana music and get more bang for our buck."
Get
Your Kicks will be pushed outside the AFIM Convention, as well,
with promotions to AFIM member national and regional distributors and
retail outlets such as Wal-Mart and Borders.
Butterill
hopes his cut on the sampler, "Balsam Lake," complements the recent
release of his debut album No One You Know (No Bull Songs) in
the U.S.
"[We]
all know how noisy the marketplace is and there is an awesome amount
of great music out there, especially in the Americana area," Butterill
said. "Being on the sampler - and benefiting from the marketing and
promotion behind it - helps [me and my] fellow artists ... cut through
that marketplace noise and get exposure with audiences who might not
normally hear [us]."
Looking
Forward Seven
acts are slated for the next Get Your Kicks compilation, due
in late fall or early winter.
"With
the development of the Gavin Americana chart and more and more success
by folks like Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris and Lucinda
Williams, the format will continue to grow and gain popularity,"
Montgomery said.
Vail
stressed the importance of fostering independent labels, which are aggressive
about scouting talent and have their fingers on the pulse of a genre.
As former manager of the Beach Boys, who were launched by an
independent label, he claimed that multiconglomerate labels lack the
passion and guts to experiment with musical forms.
"Americana
music brings back the excitement of having no boundaries," Vail said.
"Artists doing things on their own terms [and] ... proving to the more
structured industry in Nashville [that] there is a market for this sound."
[ Fri., May 5, 2000 11:03 PM EDT ]
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