Joe Whyte has me reaching for my wallet again, anxiously wanting to consume every note he has ever recorded, and helping me to continue on my quest to spend all of my hard earned scratch on music. I just discovered him a couple of days ago and as I type this, I have This Foolish Heart ripping through my headphones.

Joe Whyte is the “real deal,” whatever the “real deal” means when it comes to music (I place the “real deal” a few notches above “frickin’ good”). In other words, he is unbelievable. You could call him Alt-Country, Folk-Rock, Americana, etc., but regardless of the genre it comes down to this, he is a great songwriter, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist. His latest album, Devil in the Details, came out earlier this year and I can’t wait for my copy to come in the mail!

Joe is one of those artists that I wish I had discovered years ago. His tender stripped down ballad No More even has me considering buying a mandolin! Actually I’ve been thinking about that one for a while now, but this tune may push me over the edge.

Oh, and guess what…no record label.

Joe’s MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/joewhyte

Joe’s Website: http://www.joewhyte.com

Photo Credit: Kim Gilligan

Another artist putting out great music without a label:

I can’t think of a better way to end today or any day for that matter than with one of my new favorites, Jeff Kanzler. His new album “Black Top Road” is contemporary folk music at its finest; simple on the surface yet layered with complexities at the right moments.

Jeff’s voice fills out the sparse but warm production with a bit of grit and yearning that is honest and captivating. Each instrument has room to breath, and staying true to roots music, there are no unnecessary overdubs or walls of sound that tend to plague mainstream country. Jeff is definitely someone to keep your eye on in the years to come, and “Black Top Road” should be at the top of every Americana enthusiast’s list.

I don’t always set out to find artists who are putting out independent releases, but lately when I stumble across music like Jeff Kanzler’s that I can’t live without, it turns out that the artist is either on an independent label, or completely on their own. (Subjective tastes aside, I think this says something about the current state of the music industry.)

Jeff’s Myspace

Jeff’s Website

First off, Happy Thanksgiving! While I don’t have any turkey influenced music today, I do have something just as American as our favorite turkey holiday to share.

I have no idea how I missed San Francisco based Elliot Randall during my college days running around Northern California, oh yeah, I actually went to class! And no, this isn’t the same guitar slinging Elliot Randall from Steely Dan. This Elliot embodies everything I love about Americana music.

He is definitely worth checking out for anyone who likes Ryan Adams as there have been numerous comparisons. But this doesn’t mean that he can’t stand on his own two feet and bring something original and inviting to the table. I can’t remember the last time I actually enjoyed ALL four songs on anyone’s myspace page, but I have been repeating Elliot’s over and over again.

Thanks to Heather at I Am Fuel, You Are Friends, which is a pretty cool music blog by the way, for exposing me to Elliot. I have been addicted ever since, and am on my way over to CD Baby right now, fumbling with the credit card as I type, to pick up his independent release “Take the Fall.”

The fact that this is an independent release I think is noteworthy. And I don’t mean independent in the sense of an independent record label. According to his Myspace, he doesn’t have a label. Great record, no label, amazing if you ask me!

Photo Credit: Margaret Jow

Every day I come across tons of great music. Some of it is brand new to the world, some of it is stuff that the cool kids have been listening to before it was even written, and sometimes I come across something that was released decades ago that I completely forgot about.

So what is a music lover to do with all of these musical gems that have been scrunched into ones and zeros? I thought I would expand my scope here a bit. Up until this point, I have pretty much stuck with talk about the music industry in general.

At least once a week from now on, I am going to try and feature some music that I’ve discovered or re-discovered that I can’t live without. This will be music that I truly believe in and that I think is worth your time too.

That’s right, I’m going to venture into the vast world of the mp3 blog, legally of course. I’ll continue to give my take on music industry issues and developments, but this is an addition that I am excited about and can’t wait to see what happens with it. Stay tuned…

I discovered this brand new site and thought I would pass it along. It looks like it could develop into a great resource for musicians as well as those working in the music industry. Knowthemusicbiz.com was just launched this past Tuesday, and while there doesn’t seem to be a ton of activity at the moment (it is brand new after all), I think this is a great idea and has the potential to be really helpful and informative.

Here is a little spiel from their about page:

KnowTheMuiscBiz.com is an online community for emerging artists, musicians and music executives. KTMB members can find, exchange and contribute valuable information about the business of music plus get advice and insight from industry thought leaders. Our goal is to help music professionals navigate the rapidly changing industry and technology options available to build a sustainable career.

Not only is it free to join, but the site is also interactive. Users of the site can contribute and share their experiences and insight about different aspects of the modern and changing music industry. I hope people take advantage of Knowthemusicbiz.com and realize its full potential.

A couple of weeks ago when I wrote about the music industry possibly being defined too narrowly, I talked a little bit about the new contracts that artists are signing with record labels. These contracts are called 360 deals because instead of a traditional record contract, where record labels make money from the sale of recorded music, these new contracts also demand a percentage of an artists touring, merchandise, licensing, and other sources of revenue. Record labels want a percentage of the whole pie so to speak, rather than just a slice.

An article in yesterday’s New York Times will surely add to the discussion as to whether it is in an artist’s best interest to sign one of these 360 deals. While the labels claim that these new deals will allow them to concentrate on developing an artist’s career, I am not buying into it.

These 360 deals have less to do with developing an artist’s career, and more to do with trying to tap into the areas of the music industry that are still profitable. The record companies are more concerned with their own survival than the artists on the other side of these 360 deals.

Record labels claim that they will be able to devote more resources to artists under these new contracts. This seems unlikely. Do you realize how many people have been laid off by the major record labels in the last five to seven years? Thousands. So they probably aren’t devoting human resources to these artists. I suppose the record labels can still “give” these acts money, and under these 360 deals, the lump sum an artist receives is supposed to be bigger than traditional advances.

But wait, record labels don’t give artists money. That $200,000 the label “gave” you is an advance against future earnings. The artist is $200,000 in debt to the record company. Basically, the artist is in the same position he/she/they would have been in with a traditional recording contract, but now the artist has surrendered a percentage of their touring, merchandise, and who knows what else.

And why are record companies suddenly so concerned about developing an artist’s career over the long run? They haven’t cared about career development for years. Maybe they have realized that the only way to ensure longevity in the music business is to focus on artist development.

Despite what they say, I still don’t think that major record labels will be able to focus on developing an artist’s career. As long as major record labels have to answer to share holders or the private equity groups that own them, they will be more focused on survival and the bottom line. The days of a pretty face behind a microphone backed by an enormous media campaign to sell records are over. Music fans are more sophisticated now and are harder to fool. I hope artists are savvy enough to stay away from these 360 deals, and brave enough to pursue their careers without the prospect of a major record label.

I came across this earlier today and thought some of you might want to check it out. If you are at all interested in legal issues related to music and creativity in general, take twenty minutes and absorb. Lessig also has some great observations about popular culture that are worth exploring.

Lawrence Lessig is a Professor at Stanford Law School and I would give just about anything to be a fly on the wall in his lectures. I think the “Larry Lessig” you see in the video is a mistake. I’ve always “known” him as Lawrence. He is also the chair of the Creative Commons project. What do you think about some of his ideas? Whether or not you fully agree with what he has to say, this is a New York Strip as far as food for thought goes.

I was fortunate to be able to see two Josh Ritter shows in Nashville this past Friday. That’s right, two shows in one night! If you enjoy good songwriting and a contemporary approach to “folk-rock,” and haven’t already heard of Josh Ritter, then I would recommend checking him out. He has been getting a lot of national attention lately and Friday night showed why.

He played a short set by himself at Grimey’s, and for those of you not in the Nashville area, Grimey’s is one of the coolest record stores I have ever been to. The store was packed and Josh seemed genuinely happy to be playing to his devoted fans. Afterwards, we rushed over to wait in line at the Exit In for the main event, where Josh and his band played one of the best shows I have seen in a long time.

Every once in a while I go to a show and I’m reminded (not that I ever forget) why I love music so much. Not only did he sound great, but Josh was charismatic, told stories, thoroughly enjoyed himself, and actually interacted with the audience. I know, audience interaction should be a no-brainer right? But I’ve been to shows where the artist just stands on the stage, puts in their 75 minute contractual obligation and basically just goes through the motions. Josh seemed to truly appreciate the fans who support him.

And not to distract further from the live music (which was really the best part of the show), but Josh also had some really unique merch available as well. In addition to the usual t-shirt/CD/poster fair, he was selling songbooks with chords and lyrics as well as stationary with phrases from different songs on each piece. I haven’t seen either of these items sold at any artist’s show before. I especially liked the song book, which would make a great gift for musicians (hint, hint, for any family and friends reading).

After the show I was thinking about what a great time I had and came to the following conclusion: no matter what the future has in store for the music business, there will always be a place for talented artists like Josh Ritter who 1) write their own songs, 2) play their own instruments, 3) play great in the studio and on the live stage, 4) respect and appreciate their fans, and 5) work hard. Take a look at Josh’s current fall tour schedule to see how busy he and the band are on the road.