The Belle Brigade "Losers"

I'm scratching my head over this one . . .

It is fully conceivable that the average music fan might hear a song, love it, and come to find out that it is months (or years!) old.

But it's not really conceivable that this would happen to me. Not because I'm some sort of super-hearing-music-goalie-that-nothing-gets-past.

It's simply because I have people who's job it is, to be on my case.

I spend every Thursday and Friday, from noon to 1pm, in my office. I take calls from Record Company folks and Independent Promoters, who's job it is to say:

"PJ, I have this great song by this great band. Have you heard it? What do you think?"

If there is a band making music for Adult Alternative/Triple A Radio stations, and they are on a Major Label, or a sturdy Indie Label, then there is a person (sometimes several people) who call me every single week, to make sure I have heard the song, and to convince me that we should play it.

The Belle Brigade definitely qualifies.

But here's the weird thing. I heard the song "Losers" on TV a week or 3 ago, and I thought, "What a great song. It sounds vaguely familiar."

I went to my iTunes playlist, where I store all these songs that the Promoters are sending me, and I was surprised to find out that I had received this song back in May.

MAY!

That means I had heard this song, discussed it several times with a Promoter (Rene!), and decided, "Yeah, that's not for us."

And here I am, 6 months later, going "Great Song! How did I miss this?"

If it were a case of me not liking the song at first, and then having it grow on me, I'd understand.

But how did I hear it 6 months ago and not be moved by it, then hear it now and go, "Fantastic! I love this song!"

I'm scratching my head on this one.

(And, Sorry Rene!)


See the awesome dog-filled music video on Youtube.


Hear the acoustic bathtub version on Youtube.

Los Lonely Boys "Fly Away"

Jesse Barnett of Right Arm Resource is our guest blogger this week. He spends his days on the phone with radio stations across the country, advocating for records he believes in. While PJ is on vacation, Jesse talks to you about 5 new songs he thinks radio, and you, will love.

“The time has come when we must leave you, sorry we are but we must go.”

Bet you didn’t see a quote from the Casper theme song coming, did you? I’m like that.

Next week you’ll have PJ back, flaunting his encyclopedic knowledge in front of you like an SNL-era Dennis Miller emceeing the Newport Folk Festival. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my posts for the last few days as much I did writing them. At the very least, I hope I turned you on to some great new music.

For my last entry of the week, I’m picking a band I’ve had a lot of experience with. Back in 2003, my former assistant was the promotion guy at a little record label named Or Music. At a conference for non-commercial radio programmers in Louisville, KY, the label held an early morning showcase for a couple of their artists. It’s not common to have early morning artist showcases at conferences, you can imagine, because the coffee hasn’t quite kicked in yet.

When Los Lonely Boys took the stage in a too-small room, their harmonies, guitar antics and unique brand of “Texican Rock And Roll” was all anyone needed to get their hearts racing for the rest of the week. It’s rare to have a conference performance that everyone collectively points to as ‘the moment,’ but this was indeed one of them.

That performance was the beginning of a long successful road for brothers Henry, Jojo and Ringo Garza (yes, a drummer whose real name is Ringo. You can’t make this stuff up sometimes.) The single “Heaven” from that self-titled debut album rose to the top of the airplay charts and the disc went multi-platinum.

The band followed up with two more original studio albums, Sacred in 2006 and Forgiven in 2008, as well as an ep of covers from 1969 and an acoustic live disc.

Now on their own label, the band is back with Rockpango, their first original studio album in three years. A Spanglish word coined by the band, Rockpango translates more or less to “rock party,” and that’s exactly what the 11-track collection is. The first single, “Fly Away,” is everything you love about Los Lonely Boys, especially those crazy-tight harmonies that can only come from spending an entire lifetime (or three) singing together.

Relix has the exclusive first listen for the single. Check it out here:

Relix - Audio - Artist Exclusives - World Premiere: Los Lonely Boys "Fly Away"

Read a little more about Jesse in this previous post, and visit his site at Right Arm Resource.

Nicole Atkins "Cry Cry Cry"

Jesse Barnett of Right Arm Resource is our guest blogger this week. He spends his days on the phone with radio stations across the country, advocating for records he believes in. While PJ is on vacation, Jesse talks to you about 5 new songs he thinks radio, and you, will love.

Hello? Is anyone looking?

Well, this is strange. I feel like I’m sneaking into someone’s room and writing in their diary. Sure, a blog is not private like a diary, but you know what I mean.

Don’t you?

I’m honored that PJ asked me to guest-blog for a week while he and the family take a much-deserved vacation. He didn’t tell me where he was going, but I’m going to assume it has something to either do with a drink with an umbrella in it, or a seven foot tall cartoon character. Either way, my hope here is to keep from doing irreparable damage to his good name.

Part of PJ’s daily existence is taking (and dodging, when needed) an insanely large volume of calls from folks like me each week telling him about all the great songs piled up on his desk and just why, why oh why, each one deserves their place in rotation on WMVY’s airwaves.

Over the next week, I’ll highlight five of these songs, making my case to you, the reader. Perhaps together, we can convince PJ to find a home for them.

So here we go…

When I first heard Nicole Atkins in 2007, radio was awash in a sea of pretty female singer songwriters and their acoustic guitars. Then the album Neptune City hit my desk. A mix of swooning 60’s-girl-group melodies, vocals with attitude, indie cred album tracks and a band that could actually PLAY. Dang.

The first single, “Maybe Tonight,” was like Phil Spector meets the Go Go’s and the second, “The Way It Is” was throat-clearing sexy. When I got the chance to see her perform in a couple different settings at South By Southwest in the spring of 2008, she exuded an air of confidence and killed it every time she took the stage.

Like so many music industry stories go, after the promotional well for the album ran dry, she and the label parted ways. Over the next few years, she wrote the tracks for her new album Mondo Amore, playing anywhere possible to support the recording of it. Long story short, she’s got a new label, a new lease on life, and a killer album to back it all up. She also got a great opportunity to perfect the songs live as she spent last November opening up for The Black Keys.

The first single (ahem – this is where we all team up together to get PJ to play it) is called “Cry Cry Cry.” It comes out of the gate with a driving beat, her trademark soaring vocals and a chorus that is impossible to get out of your head after one listen. Radio has responded kindly, with major airplay nationwide. The album was just released, selling over 2000 copies in its first week, and she capped it off with a performance of the song on Conan. Watch it below. I dare you to not find yourself singing it out loud later in the supermarket.



Read a little more about Jesse in this previous post, and visit his site at Right Arm Resource.

Raphael Saadiq "Stone Rollin'"

Jesse Barnett is going to be guest blogging here next week. And to get things off on the right foot, here's a free iTunes download that we received, via of Mr. Barnett.

Enjoy!

Guster "Airport Song"

The scene: Backstage at the Life Is Good Festival 2010

I'm talking to Jesse, who's holding a big framed poster covered with the autographs of most everyone who has played at the two day event.

Jesse was one of the top fundraising VGP's (Very Good People) for Life Is Good's Kids Foundation, earning him all kinds of great perks. He and his wife and two kids met most every band, had special on-the-stage seating and backstage access throughout the weekend, thanks to his tireless, months long charitable efforts leading up to the festival.

Guster---who have just come off the main stage---will be his last "get" for the weekend. He has otherwise filled his commemorative poster will the scribbled sharpie signatures of folks he's just seen live.

If you've ever been to a Meet & Greet, there is usually this awkward moment, when the band files into the room (or in this case, tent), and the band and the fans look at each other, waiting for somebody to go first.

Jesse---he's not shy---jumps right in, offering the band compliments and thanks, and then he mentions, "I worked the Hybrid record for you guys."

I tell you this story to point out that, Yes, Jesse works in Record Promotions. But more importantly he's a music fan first.


There really aren't cultural tales of heroic record promoters. No, unfortunately, folks who make a living trying to get radio stations to play certain records are generally painted with the same dirty brush that people use to describe Used Car Salesmen.

And, outside of my subjective experience, I might see how you could be cynical, and equate those who make commerce out of art as being worthy of contempt.

But thankfully, my subjective experience has educated me otherwise.

On a daily basis, I interact with folks who devote their lives to getting records played on radio. And by and large, these people are music lovers first and foremost, who happened to work in a field they are passionate about.

Jesse Barnett, and a couple dozen other folks like him, call me every week to talk about records they're promoting and why they think mvyradio listeners might like them.

I know that not every radio station Music Director enjoys taking these calls, but I find them to be really rewarding. I spend a few hours each week, talking to people who are not just passionate about music, but are willing to be evangelical about it. Sure, sometimes it's rote. And yes, I only end up playing a fraction of the records I get talked to about. But to be a part of the conversation is pretty exciting for a music fan.

I'm on vacation next week, so I am asking you to take my music calls.

Jesse will be calling you, via this blog, to talk directly to you about five records he's working, that he thinks mvyradio should be playing. Read what he has to say, listen to the tracks, and leave some feedback. It'll be great to have you in on the conversation, too.

A bit about Jesse. His company is Right Arm Resource, based out of North Easton, Massachusetts. He graduated from Emerson, and worked for A&M Records and then Hybrid Records among other places, before starting his own independent company.

Jesse, like most of the Record folks who call me at mvy, is an independent promoter. Instead of working for a label (where label heads decided what artists they will work with, and the promotions department goes about promoting those artists whether they like them or not) an independent promoter is like a freelancer. Jesse will get hired by Sony or New West or Universal to work Raphael Saadiq or The Old 97s or Jack Johnson records. He has to scrap for each job he gets, but he only has to work records he really believes in.

Starting Monday, read about the songs Jesse is getting evangelical about. Think about how it might sound on mvyradio. And let us know what you think.