WHAT THE HELL IS THIS 'Fort Lowell Records' I KEEP HEARING ABOUT?

Okay.  I think it is finally time I explain what the hell is going on here.  My name is James Tritten.  Most of you may know me from my wife, Tracy Shedd, or perhaps some of my previous musical adventures: either of my previous bands, Audio Explorations or Sella, or from when I ran my own Booking Agency called Candy Gram Booking (bands including +/-, The Aluminum Group, Charlene, Crime In Choir, Denison Whitmer, Edison Woods, eE, Electro Group, Fin Fang Foom, Helms, Inspection 12, The Mercury Program, Tiara, Track Star, Tracy Shedd, Trembling Blue Stars, The Trouble With Sweeney, True Love Always, Victory At Sea, and Whippersnapper).  Or perhaps you know me simply on a personal level.  Either way, if you know me, you know I am extremely passionate about Vinyl Records. 

Recently, over a weekend while staying home sick, I dove back into an old love for 7inch Vinyl Records.  I reminisced about the early 90's when it seemed that every Indie Rock band started releasing music on 7inch Records; thinking of bands like Common Thread, Poem Rocket, Damnbuilders, Charlene (having by far the best 7inches ever made!), or facinating over specific Record Catalogs like Sarah Records, Decorder Ring Records, Kill Rock Stars, Figurehead, and Omnibus.  It immediately became evident to me that there really is not a strong scene for the 7inch Records anymore.  With CD's being so easy and inexpensive to produce, new bands these days are simply jumping right into putting out full length albums, and not paying enough respect to 'the song.'  7inch Records are a great way to truly showcase a band's song writing capabilities.  I made a decision to start up a Record Label specifically for 7inch Vinyl Records, and focused on bands from Tucson, AZ.

By the end of that weekend, I had already developed the name, logo, and blog site for Fort Lowell Records.  I had also begun research on deciding who would be the first band to be released in 2010.  And most importantly, I had already posted my 1976 CJ5 Jeep for sale on Craig's List, which would be the investment needed to start Fort Lowell Records.

"Why Fort Lowell?", some may ask.  One thing I knew for sure was I wanted this record label to be for Tucson Bands.  There are simply too many great bands in this town, and not enough people know about them.  Heck, I don't even think the people in Tucson know about all of the great bands in this town.  The actual 'Fort Lowell' itself is a very historical landmark for Tucson, and I felt it was a nice way to 'literally' pay respect to the city.

"Why Tucson?"  The city owned television station, Tucson 12, and in particular, Dan Sheffer, and the local radio station, KXCI, with some of it's leaders such as Ginger Kahealani Doran, Dan Twelker, Don Jennings, and Duncan Hudson, show a tremendous amount of support to Tucson, unlike anything I have ever seen in any other city.  Both of these organizations were instrumental in the decision to be a 'Tucson Label.'  I want to help them show the world what greatness we have in this community.  I want to give that 15-year-old kid that is sitting in Math Class right now down at Tucson High School a reason to go buy that guitar he has been dreaming about.  Being locally focused helps make this a more reachable goal for musicians around town.

"Why Vinyl?", others may ask.  Because I personally believe in it.  Vinyl Records are a work of art.  More and more people in the world are discovering this for the first time, or rekindling an old passion they had years ago with Vinyl.  Vinyl Records are historical.  They are an experience.  Vinyl Records are music.

So here we go!  2010 is the official birth year for Fort Lowell Records.  Our first release is going to be for Young Mothers.  Led by Zach Toporek, Young Mothers are a great band with a great energy; just the sort of thing I wanted to make that first impression to the world!  Just in the short month that I have begun promoting Fort Lowell Records, I have already receive TWO Radio Requests (outside of Tucson) for Young Mothers' 7inch Release!  To keep the energy going, we will follow up Young Mothers with ...music video?, who have been working hard in the studio for their highly anticipated third album (self released).  Fort Lowell Records is looking to assist ...music video? with their launch by releasing the first single for their album coming out.  Last, but certainly not least, Wet & Reckless and Tracy Shedd will be the third release for Fort Lowell.  Emily Wilder, from Wet & Reckless, and Tracy Shedd have been best friends since their teenage years.  What better way to celebrate this friendship than put out a Split 7inch with both bands.  And being that Bass Player for Wet & Reckless, Jessica Gelt, is actually from Tucson, both bands fit the mold that I am looking for.

The beauty of 7inch Records lies in their economics; they are not expensive to produce and it does not cost the bands a lot of money to record music for a 7inch, thus making the cost for the customer between five to six dollars.  I am personally working extremely hard to ensure that our records offer a great value to you.  All records will be released on a limited run of 500 Hand Numbered Colored Vinyl, and will also include an MP3 Download for those customers that don't have a Record Player.  All of the artwork will be a Two Color Offset Print, printed locally in Tucson, and NOT on a Photocopier!  And to protect these amazing works of art, they will include the highest quality of protective sleeves on the market.  There is even more ideas of value in the works, so you will just have to wait to see what we come up with for the first release.  With all of the love, creativity, and amazing music being put into each release, these 7inch Records are going to be hard to resist!


Another point that is very important to me with Fort Lowell Records is... all money made from the label is going to be put right back into the label to help put out more and more releases.  I have a job, a career.  I am not looking to make a profit from this.  I just want more records on my own shelf, and I want more people in the world to know about Tucson, AZ.  So when we are ready to start releasing music (coming soon), help spread the word!  The faster we can sell through Young Mothers and ...music video?, the fast we will be able to start releasing more Tucson Bands! 

I hope this helps, and I hope you enjoy the music!  Stay tuned... production on the first two releases is wrapping up soon!  Remember, spread the word!  Invited your friends to follow Fort Lowell Records on Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter.  Support Local!  Support Tucson!

Until then...
Enjoy!

- James