Rolling Thunder in San Diego hosts Blink 182 and Jerry Finn among other musicians...

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11.2.03

11/13-16

10/10-13

Check out the StudioExpresso online event calendar

"Business Chops For The Independent Music People"
Master the Nuts and Bolts of Business without losing the Heart and Soul of your Music!

L-R: JOHN STIERNBERG, Stiernberg Consulting and author of Succeeding In Music; RON McCARRELL, President and Chief Marketing Officer of DH1 Studios, Inc.; DAVID SCHWARTZ, COO of Mpowered Ideas Media; and former Editor-in-Chief of Mix Magazine; AL SCHMITT, DH1's Music Director and 11-time Grammy-winning engineer/producer; CLARIS SAYADIAN-DODGE, founder and principal of studioexpresso; TOM MENRATH, Director of Business Development, GC Pro/Guitar Center.

The first BUSINESS CHOPS for the INDEPENDENT was launched September 15 at Sportsmen's Lodge, in Studio City, California and was attended by nearly 100 top record producers, engineers and music business owners. This series of interactive business training workshops provides the fundamental business tools to accelerate the careers of independent music industry professionals.

The dynamic cross section of industry professionals who attended included: André Fischer (producer: Natalie Cole, Lalah Hathaway, Tony Bennett), John McEwen, Rafa Sardina (engineer/producer: Anna Pozas, Alejandro Sanz, Dru Hill), Jimmy Haskell, Bill Dooley (Record Plant), Carlos Castro (Watersound), Bob Breen (Ocean Sound), Francis Buckley, Peter Byrne (producer/musician: Naked Eyes), Robert Shahnazarian (producer/engineer: Billy Burke, Pete Yorn, Redline 5, System of A Down), Matt Forger (engineer: Michael Jackson), and Leanne Ungar (producer/engineer: Leonard Cohen, Laurie Anderson); Dave Carlock (producer/songwriter: Blink 182, Rancid, Pink) were among guests.

We'd like to thank all of the attendees, sponsors and friends for making this event a huge success!

THE BUZZ:
"I attended the Business Chops for the Independent workshop last Monday evening, and found it excellent. Your training workshop truly conveyed the importance of individual artists and producers formulating their own branding ideas as well as a business plan." -- Scott G, G-Man Music


Mark your calendar for the next BCI event on Sunday November 2nd and look for details coming soon!

SAVE THE DATE…
The next Business Chops seminar will be a full day event and is scheduled for Sunday, November 2, 2003 in Los Angeles. Location and details will soon be available by visiting: www.business-chops.com

MEDIA CONTACT: Candace Kentopian T: 323-559-0856

THE SPNSORS:

MidWest Entertainment Conference
November 13-16, 2003, Lexington, Kentucky

4th year multi-industry event, featuring legendary music producers like Eddie Kramer and Andre Fischer, Sony-ATV's Pat McMakin, Ralph Murphy of ASCAP, and other exciting guests from music, film (David Carradine, etc), Game Development, and Small Press.

visit the web link above or call 859.223.1560 for more information.
Early Registration -- just $50 ends October 1 for the MEIC

The 115th AES Convention
Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City
The House Ear Institute (HEI) will offer free hearing screenings and offer hearing-health information to attendees and exhibitors. A certified OSHA technician will conduct the screenings, and upon completion, participants receive a computerized printout of their test results.

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Alejandro Sanz
No Es Lo Mismo

The title track says it all--"It's Not the Same." Sold one million in its first week of release!

What is most compelling about NO ES LO MISMO is the way Sanz and his co-producer, the Cuban musician Lulo Perez, have synthesized separate yet complementary music elements -- Sanz' signature flamenco style, as well as bossa nova and son, all set against a backdrop of blues, jazz, and a hint of disco --into one purely individual style. In NO ES LO MISMO Sanz has crafted an album that, while it hews to his Spanish roots, has its eyes set firmly on the US charts.

Featured musicians: Michael Landau (guitar); Paco De Lucia (Spanish guitar); Anthony Jackson (bass); Vinnie Colauita, Horacio Hernandez (drums); Luis Conte (percussion); Lulo Perez....
The entire album was mixed by Mic Guzauski (Mariah Carey) and engineered by Rafa Sardina at Criteria Miami and Glenwood, Los Angeles.

KELLY OSBOURNE
Changes

Consider this: Kelly make her debut on the MTV Video Music Awards singing her punked-up cover of Madonna’s “Papa Don’t Preach.” She scored a hit with that track, and then dropped her candy-coated razor blade of a debut album, Shut Up!

One thing is certain, Kelly Osbourne has done a lot of growing up in 2003. Relieved to be free of major-label politics (don’t even get her started on how she feels about people who “suck corporate dick”) Kelly’s been busy honing her songcraft and working on new material. “At first I didn’t know what to write about so I wrote about what I thought people were supposed to write about,” Kelly admits with characteristic honesty. ”Now I’ve had so many shit things happen that I have something to write about.” Considering the year she’s survived, the results are sure to be mind-blowing. Stay tuned . . .this girl is just getting started.

Steve Vai & friends On Tour in October!

G3'03
JOE SATRIANI
STEVE VAI
YNGWIE MALMSTEEN
Tour Dates
TicketMaster

Allan Holdsworth
All Night Wrong

L.A. Times jazz critic Don Heckman raves, "He’s an unlikely guitar hero whose phrasing has much in common with the expressions of saxophonist John Coltrane."

Recorded direct to two-track, the album features no overdubs. Explains Holdsworth: "Not only was it live, it was mixed live to two track using the Super Audio CD format. So you can’t fix anything, you can’t even re-bAllance anything. But I said, ‘Okay, what the hell, let’s try it.’ We recorded both nights at The Rippongi Pit Inn but there were a lot of problems with the second show. So we used the first night, which was just the warm-up, and that’s the record."

CAB4
CAB

Bunny Brunel, Tony MacAlpine, Brian Auger, Patrice Rushen, and Dennis Chambers - think of this quintet as jazz music's answer to the Justice League, each one endowed with superhero powers and sworn to bring excitement back to the bandstand.

Verve Remixed 2

Top DJs remix the legends of Jazz on Verve Remixed 2, as a new wave of visionary DJs rework classic tracks from the storied Verve vaults. Features remixes from The Funky Lowlives, Felix Da Housecat, Gotan Project, Matthew Herbert, Miguel Migs, Mondo Grosso, Layo & Bushwacka, Mr. Scruff, Fila Brazillia, Dan The Automator, DJ Spinna, Metro Area, Koop, and Jaffa.
Available on CD or 3 LPs.

Jesse Harris
The Secret Sun


The singer-songwriter who won a Grammy for his hit song "Don't Know Why", one of five songs he wrote for Norah Jones' Come Away With Me. The young songwriter beat out the Boss for Best Song. Is Jesse the new guy in town? No. He and his band, The Ferdinandos - which features Kenny Wollesen on drums, Tim Luntzel on bass, and Tony Scherr on guitar - have been playing to packed clubs on the NYC music scene for several years.

Establishing The Living Room (a popular East Village club known for showcasing singer/songwriters and indie rock performers) as their home base helped the band to gain an eclectic and enthusiastic audience.

LM Pegano

The new spectacular Al Schmitt mix of Azalea is available NOW, on the web starting this Tuesday, September 23rd in records stores nationwide. "A really great gift to bring for a dinner party or a stocking stuffer!" says Benji! Available on : CD Universe, Tower or Amazon

School Of Rock from Paramount Pictures Coming to a Theater Near you October 3
Dewey Finn, unemployed, overweight rocker can't pay rent and takes a subsitute teacher job and tries to win Battle of the Bands for the prize money. The teacher who gave the class the power to break the rules! This audience-pleaser comes from writer Mike White and director Richard Linklater, names usually associated with independent filmmaking. Good rock music runs throughout the movie. Some songs were written by Black and White. (Hey, that’s a catchy name for a songwriting duo.) The New York band Mooney Suzuki wrote the fictional band’s signature song, “School of Rock.”

9/2/03
Wea Intl.

9/30/03
Sanctuary Records

9/9/03
Favored Nations

9/23/03
Favored Nations

8/26/03
Verve

5/20/03

9/23/03
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Don Grusin World Jam from Platinum Live!
Presented by Greg Ladanyi, Sixtus Oechsle, and DigiWave Media

L-R: Saxophoist Nelson Rangell with Dave Grusin on Piano & Don Grusin directing

What brings an Ace class line-up of jazz artists from around the world?
Don Grusin and a forthcoming DVD release of the event in high definition digital.
The invitation only event to be videotaped on September 24th.

The "A" team players include:
Don Grusin, Alex Acuna, Patti Austin, Charlie Bisharat, Nathan East, Pete Escovedo, Dave Grusin, Abe Laborial, Harvey Mason, Phil Perry, Frank Quintero, Nelson Rangell, Natali Rene, Lee Ritenour, Oscar Seaton, Ricardo Silveira, Sadao Watanabe and Ernie Watts

Grammy Award winner producer Don Grusin has a new smooth jazz Cd "Signatures," created with production partner Sam Purkin, is being just now released on Dongrusin.com.
It features Don on acoustic piano with brilliant new young artists from the Berklee School of Music in Boston, as well as the seminal bassist Nathan East.

A brand new Brasilian record company, Columbus Egg, just started by Don with Oscar Castro-Neves and their partner Didi Vidal, will release Brasilian artists beginning this year.

Who would you like to see interviewed? Send us your feedback.
Past interviews include:Get your FREE Real One Player download

Ken Allardyce - Sarm West, UK
Chris Fogel - Fig, Glendale, CA
Greg Ladanyi - Tidal Wave Sound, Studio City, CA
Joseph Magee - O'Henry Studios, Burbank, CA
Michael C Ross - Royaltone Studios, North Hollywood, CA
Elliot Scheiner - Presense studios, CT NEW!
Tolbert & Sutton - Studio Atlantis, Hollywood, CA
Rafa Sardina - Abbey Road, UK

studioexpresso in alliance with the following affiliates is pleased to bring you these interviews. Big thanks to: Record Production & Babblefish

Mighty Sam's Lifetime Achievement Award

This Fall, at the Boston Blues Festival at the Hatch Shell, Mighty Sam McClain will be presented with the Blues Trust Productions Lifetime Achievement Award.

Mighty Sam will perform at this free festival with featuring music from his new album, "One More Bridge To Cross". Musicians such as Hubert Sumlin, Weepin Willie, Eddy "The Chief" Clearwater, and Big Jay McNeely are all alumni of this reward.

Coming form the Louisiana Bible Belt, Sam's 1st inspiration was gospel music. Sam's first recording came in 1966 when he recorded Patsy Cline's Sweet Dreams. For a period of fifteen years Sam went from working low paying jobs in Nashville and New Orleans to living on the streets. He met the Neville Brothers in New Orleans and resurrected his career in the late 80s with a tour and live recording from Japan.

Sam moved to New England in the early 90s when he recorded with Hubert Sumlin on the Black Top release, Hubert Sumlin's Blues Party. He recorded five discs for Joe Harley's AudioQuest Label that propelled him to prominence. He also recorded for JVC and Telarc before once again striking out on his own, much like when he slid out the window so many years ago. He established his own Mighty Music Label in 2003 and released one of his strongest recordings to date, One More Bridge to Cross.

If you are a fan, member of the press, radio dj, etc and would like to learn more about Mighty Sam's amazing life story, just contact Mighty Music

La Ley Receive 5 nominations for 2003 MTV Latin America Video Awards

Chilean Rockers Set to Perform on Awards (airing on MTV2 in the States) on Oct. 23rd Special Fan-Only Los Angeles Concert Presented by Nissan Scheduled for Sept. 30th at the House of Blues

La Ley's newfound popularity hasn't affected their willingness to take risks; rather than follow the successful formula of the "Unplugged" album and issue a ballad or acoustic track as the lead single from "Libertad", La Ley roared back with "Amate y Salvate", which features punctuated guitar riffs and a soaring chorus. They were promptly rewarded with a Latin Grammy nomination and widespread approval from longtime and new fans alike.

No strangers to the value of freedom of expression, La Ley wants to offer audiences voting power. On its recent U.S. tour in support of "Libertad" (which translates as "freedom"), the band partnered with Rock the Vote, which conducts voter registration at La Ley's concerts. Expect additional U.S. tour dates to be announced.

One Busy Summer at Prairie Sun Recording
The studio continues to thrive through the summer of 2003, playing host to numerous improvements and a diverse array of talented artists

Bay Area legend Dan Hicks recently spent a week recording vocals in Studio B with Manhattan Transfer's Tim Hauser producing. The session was engineered by Tony Martin Jr. (the Beach Boys, Harry Nilsson) with assistance by Jason D'Ottavio.

Oz Fritz, Tom Waits' engineer of choice has been especially busy at the Sun over the summer. While staying in the Guest Cabin, he's engineered for stunt guitarist Brian Kehoe (Les Claypool's Flying Frog Brigade, M.I.R.V.) in Studio C as well as taking a week to mix the forthcoming live album from Danny Barnes of Austin, Texas' Bad Livers.

New dancehall reggae artist RawSun is currently in the middle of a month-long residency recording and mixing new tracks for his debut album. His brother, Don Juan is producing and Adam Munoz (George Winston, Bill Frisell, Mr. Bungle) has come north to engineer.

Prairie Sun Recording's most recent addition is the new Magix Sequoia 7.0 Mastering System, which has such incredible transparency and editing capabilities that it's already being used by Sterling Sound and the BBC. It's running on a 2.4 Ghz Pentium 4 processor, with I/O handled by RME's brand new HDSP 9632 audio interface.

"For almost 30 years now, people have been seduced by the quality and beauty of the sound at Prairie Sun," says producer/engineer and studio owner Mark Rennick.
Ask about the introductory rate the Sun is offering to 1st-time visitors during months of November and December 2003. The secret word is "Mooka!"

NRG in high Gear
Studio upgrades to Pro Tools 6 and hosted Melissa Etheridge & Sevendust

In studio news, Melissa Etheridge just spent three months locked out in NRG’s Studio B tracking her forthcoming album. Etheridge is working with Producer Ross Hogarth. Etheridge returned to NRG after completing some previous work on her DVD “Live…and Alone”, which came out last year. Hogarth most recently produced, engineered and mixed “Dragonfly”(RCA) for Ziggy Marley and “Grade 8”(Lava) for Grade 8.

Jay Baumgardner has just finished mixing the forthcoming Sevendust album. This is their 4th album. They are currently on tour with Element Eighty and Presence. Of the new album Baumgardner said, “it was great to mix such a strong rock record. I really tried to capture the energy of the band.” Sevendust’s first single “Enemy” is already making waves at rock radio, charting high on both the Active and Modern rock charts.

The studio just upgraded to Pro Tools 6 and is operating on the Mac OSX platform. According to Chief Technician Wade Norton, “despite initial doubts about the compatibility with our SAN network we’ve worked out all the kinks and now the whole network is running great”. In other technical news, NRG’s secure FTP server is now up and running. NRG is able to upload mixes to this secure site for download by approved users. Within this site NRG is able to assign listening rights to users and monitor all traffic. NRG hopes that this will save clients money on shipping costs as well as offer a secure alternative to MP3’s and multiple CD copies.

For booking or other information please contact Kelly Garver at NRG Recording Services.
818-760-7841

Artists in the House at Sound On Sound


(L to R): Krucial Keys, Rakim, & Alicia Keys

Alicia Keys (J Records) was in studio B mixing and editing on the SSL 9000J with producer Krucial Keys and engineer Pat Viala.

Petey Pablo (Jive Records) was mixing with producer Zukahn and engineer Brain Stanley; 3 Doors Down (Universal Records) was mixing with Brian Sperber; FunkMaster Flex (J Records) was tracking with Joey IE and Pat Viala; Erykah Badu (Universal/Motown) was mixing with producers James Poyer & Rashad Smith and engineer Brian Stanley; producer Tony Kelly was mixing the Def Jam Jamaica Compilation (Def Jam) with engineer Duro; and The Secret Machines (Warner Brothers) was mixing with engineer Jeff Sanoff.

Farewell to two music men - the music will live on.

Warren Zevon
January 24, 1947 - September 7, 2003

Donations can be made to VH1's Save The Music Foundation

Johnny Cash
1932-2003

Quote of the month:

"The price thing? (referring to buying cd's) Kind of like lowering the price of stamps to encourage people to send more letters."

studioexpresso -- where you can find trusted names in music production.
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Thank you!

Our next issue will be delivered in November. Off to get some New England Fall colors!

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