DEAD WESTERN PLAINS IS NOT DEAD.

We can't begin to tell you how excited we are to present to you the debut release for one of Tucson's newest and most innovative bands, Dead Western Plains.  Their very first show can still easily be found on their Facebook page, dated August 22, 2009.  It wasn't shortly after that, we began hearing a buzz around Tucson about Dead Western Plains.  Upon first listen, we heard the call of duty that record labels are faced with everyday; the responsibility of bringing new music to people of the world, and we knew Dead Western Plains was a band that needed to be heard by everyone.  Dead Western Plains is simply amazing, and now that their 7inch is available to order directly from us here on our site, we could not be happier!  We know that the minute you hear those first "Ooo-Waa-Ooo's" on the crisp white vinyl, you are going to be sold for life as a Dead Western Plains junky.  It won't surprise us to hear that you will have listened to your 7inch record so many times that flipping the 7inches of vinyl over, back and forth, measured out to be the distance from here to the moon.

We have been blessed by all of the immediate attention that has been given to Dead Western Plains' debut 7inch.  Here are just a few of the bloggers out there and what they have to say about the boys from Tucson AZ:

Here Come The Flood - The Netherlands
No Modest Bear - Sweden
I'm Into Indie
The Fox & The Chicken
Something Civil
Das Klienicum - Germany
Magiska
Deck Fight

Pre-order their 7inch record before the official release date of November 23rd, and you will receive a free download link for additional remix tracks of their song "Alta."  This first 25 people to pre-order will also receive a signed copy of the cover art by all five members of Dead Western Plains.  This is one record you will not want to miss!  The link to order is to your right --->

Thank you for the continuous support!
- Fort Lowell Records

VINYL VLOG: EPISODE #20

Matt and Josh, hosts of Vinyl Vlog (a video web blog that reviews vinyl records via YouTube), take a moment to share with you their first impressions about Fort Lowell Records and the 7inch records we have released; Young Mothers, ...music video?, and our Wet & Reckless + Tracy Shedd split.

TESTING TESTING, 1, 2, 3... DEAD WESTERN PLAINS NEVER SOUNDED SO SWEET BEFORE!

The test pressing has arrived for Dead Western Plains!  Mastered by JJ Golden and pressed by Rainbo Records, once again... we've got another great record on our hands that we can't wait to get into yours!  "Alta" b/w "Gift Horse In The Mouth" is a spectacular 7inch from these Tucsonans, who will soon become your new favorite band!  November 23rd is our release date for this gem on White Vinyl.  Stay tuned for more information about the pre-orders, and plan to see Dead Western Plains in action on Saturday, September 25, with the Fort Lowell Records Showcase in Tucson, AZ, at Sky Bar... or on Saturday, October 2, with our Showcase in Phoenix, AZ, at The Compound!

WET & RECKLESS GO ON TOUR!

Thursday, September 23 - Los Angeles CA - Origami Vinyl
Friday, September 24 - Las Vegas NV - Double Down Saloon
Saturday, September 25 - Tucson AZ - Sky Bar
Sunday, September 26 - Phoenix AZ - The Rogue Bar
Tuesday, September 28 - San Francisco CA - El Rio

Detailed information about each show is available on Wet & Reckless' MySpace page.

7INCHES OF MUSIC VIDEOS

Nicolás Prados, from Spain, has been making custom videos since 2008 for bands that release their music on 7inch records. He posts his videos on YouTube and Tumblr, and has worked with artists in the past such as Washed Out, The Smith Westerns, Best Coast, and Neon Indian. Our team here at Fort Lowell Records have been blessed with Nicolás' talent, and are very proud to present to you his latest work... for our very own Wet & Reckless (Non-Official Video)! Enjoy!

AN INTERVIEW WITH FORT LOWELL RECORDS BY METROMIX, MIXED LOCALLY BY TUCSON CITIZEN

Fort Lowell Records showcase
A Q&A with the founder of the vinyl-only Tucson label in advance of its Sept. 25 party
By Billups Allen
Originally posted by Metromix on September 17, 2010

As good records have found their way almost completely out of thrift stores and onto eBay, there seems to be a newfound interest in vinyl collecting.

While some die-hard record labels weathered the vinyl slump, there is a need for a new generation of labels. Fort Lowell Records is a new label in Tucson dedicated to releasing singles. Label patron James Tritten is taking on the old-style method of running a label by arranging shows, self-distributing product and promoting the bands. It is an uphill climb, but with Fort Lowell’s third release—a split 7-inch with local Tracy Shedd and L.A.'s Wet & Reckless—being celebrated on Sept. 25 Sky Bar, there is hope that music can still be hustled off the computer screen.

Many of your releases are bands are from Tucson. Is it part of your mission to document music from the area?
Fort Lowell Records was started with a mission to release music by bands that have roots with Tucson.  So far, all of the bands, with the exception of Wet & Reckless, currently live in Tucson. Wet & Reckless live in Los Angeles, but have ties back to Tucson. This town generates some of the best music I have heard in a long time, and from many different genres. I want to try and document as much of it as possible and share with the world. People need to know what is happening here. 

Do you feel like you are going to focus on documenting a certain genre?
My personal interests lie mostly with indie pop/rock, but that does not mean I am not open to ideas. I collect a lot of music from hip-hop to classical to country. As long as it is something I would have bought in the store, then I would consider putting it out on Fort Lowell Records.

I have explained this to many bands before... deciding what bands I want to release is really no different then buying music in a record shop. The money is extremely limited with Fort Lowell Records, so I honestly can’t release everything I would want to. Imagine if you had $20 to buy new music, but there were over 200 different records you want to purchase. That is the feeling I have with trying to decide what record will come out next.

Fort Lowell Records is run as a non-profit. I personally invested the money to start the project, and I don’t ever intend to take money out. All of the money made from the sales of the 7-inches simply goes back into Fort Lowell Records to continue putting out more and more music. There are a lot of bands from a lot of genres that have asked to work with me that want to release a 7-inch record. It is very simple... the more support we can receive from the community with purchasing our records, the more support Fort Lowell Records will give back to supporting more and more bands. I would love to see this project grow to be able to support different genres of music outside of indie pop/rock. 

What inspired you to start an all-vinyl record label?
I personally only buy music on vinyl, so I honestly can’t imagine releasing music via any other format. We do make all Fort Lowell Records music available through digital distribution, reaching outlets like iTunes, Amazon, eMusic, etc. I understand that there are listeners who prefer collecting music on a digital format, and because there is no cost to us to make this possible for them, we’ve made that available. In addition to the vinyl records, each 7-inch comes with a digital download of the music, so you can listen to your -7inch at home and take the MP3s of the music with you on the go.

For me, vinyl is music and music is vinyl. I’ve been collecting vinyl records since 1994, when I purchased Stereolab’s single “Ping Pong” on 7-inch. I owned the same recording on CD, and when I first heard it on vinyl, it became an entirely new experience. I had owned plenty on vinyl records before that, but never had been able to A/B compare the same song. There was much more of an honest presentation to the music. It was warm, alive, and able to breath on it’s own. I’ve been listening to music on vinyl ever since.

As a musician, I felt my own music deserved the respect that a vinyl record lends to the music. 

It’s nice to see your records are getting into stores all over town. Are you doing a lot of hands on distribution?
When I began Fort Lowell Records, I agonized over getting distribution. This is the main advantage for a band to work with a record label. Because Fort Lowell Records is focused on a single community, Tucson, I felt the only way to handle the distribution within the city was in person.

Building relationships with each vendor is extremely important to me. I want them to feel a part of what we are doing. I love going into Bookman’s on Grant and seeing how excited Scott (Landrum) gets I come in, or watching Tasha (Sabatino) at Mast proudly place the new 7-inch on their record player for their customers to enjoy, or reading the weekly report from Bill (Sassenberger) at Toxic Ranch showing what ranking our records are in his Top 10 Best Sellers report. We’ve extended the love to our neighbors to the north in Phoenix, and they are equally as engaged in what we are doing here in Tucson.   

I notice on your website that you seem to be taking on a lot of extra responsibility in the form of putting on shows and doing grass roots promotion for your bands, whereas a lot of labels don’t seem to be doing that sort of thing. Are you using any labels you are a fan of as a model for this dynamic? 
Teenbeat (Records). In 1999, my wife, Tracy Shedd, and I met Mark Robinson, owner of Teenbeat. He became a fan of her music immediately, and asked to release her music on his label. From that point forward, Mark gave a lot of support to Tracy with her music career, more than simply making her music available to the public. I learned a lot with how to run a record label from her time spent with Teenbeat, and have great admiration for what Mark has done with his label in the past 25 years.

I look to create opportunities for the bands and the record label to simply have fun and share experiences together. At the end of the day, that is why I am doing what I am doing ... to have fun. I certainly don’t want to put all of this effort into Fort Lowell Records just to create work for myself; I want to have fun. I love doing the DJ nights with The Vinyl Baron, where the bands themselves join her at Hotel Congress to DJ their own favorite music the week of their 7-inch release. I am also looking forward to the showcase at Sky Bar on Sept. 25 in Tucson, as well as the one at The Compound on Oct. 2 in Phoenix, where all of our bands will be playing together on the same night.

Mast in Tucson has the new Wet & Reckless + Tracy Shedd 7inch!

...and the record is not even released yet! Stop on by Mast's store at 299 South Park Avenue and support local music in Tucson! They've got a GREAT selection of vinyl from Tucson musicians!

TRUTH.

"Much of the beauty that arises in art comes from the struggle an artist wages with his limited medium." ~ Henri Matisse

LADIES & GENTLEMEN... FLR004 [Artwork for Dead Western Plains]

COME ON DOWN!

We are all set up down here at Hotel Congress (www.hotelcongress.com)! Come on down and support Tucson. We've got all three of our 7inch records for sale... Young Mothers, ...music video?, and yes... that means that we've got our brand new split 7inch for Wet & Reckless + Tracy Shedd that is not even released yet! Come down now to pick up a copy before anyone else! We've also got The Rad Bag, hand made by Petite Bonfire (www.petitebonfire.com) specifically for our 7inch records! See you soon!

PRE-ORDER FLR003 NOW!

Pre-order our Wet & Reckless + Tracy Shedd 7inch now on our WEBSITE + MYSPACE! 
All pre-orders will receive a free CD of Tracy Shedd's last full length album, Cigarettes & Smoke Machines, which was released on Teenbeat in 2008! The candy-red vinyl is so delicious, you are going to want to eat it when it arrives at your doorstep!  Don't forget, all Fort Lowell Records 7inches come with digital downloads so you can take your music with you on the go!


FUN FACT #1: Emily Wilder, singer / guitarist from Wet & Reckless, is the cover star on Tracy Shedd's album, Cigarettes & Smoke Machines!

FUN FACT #2: Wet & Reckless have a production company called Echo Productions Productions.  They made this video for Tracy Shedd's song "City At Night," from her last release, EP88, put out by our dear friends at Eskimo Kiss Records earlier this year!

TEST PRESSING GIVEAWAY! ...SIGNED!

We are excited to let you know that we will be giving away a signed test pressing from each of our first three releases this coming Saturday!

For those of you that don't understand the significance of this... test pressings are the very first run of vinyl pressed from the manufacturer. They are mailed to us to listen to before going into production, to be sure everything is correct with the pressing. For Fort Lowell Records, test pressing are even more significant because they are the only copies of our records that are pressed on black vinyl, making them extremely rare; there are only four copies like these in existence... but only one copy that was been signed by the band, making them uber-rare!

Fort Lowell Records is going to take part in the 4th Annual Vinyl Revival Record Fair on Saturday, September 4th, at Hotel Congress (http://www.hotelcongress.com) in Tucson, AZ. There will be raffle prizes given away during the event, that will include three signed test pressings from Fort Lowell Records... FLR001: Young Mothers, FLR002: ...music video?, and our newest release FLR003: Wet & Reckless + Tracy Shedd!

In addition to the giveaways, we will also have copies of our Wet & Reckless + Tracy Shedd Split 7inch (FLR003) for sale, along with Young Mothers and ...music video?! The release date for FLR003 is not until September 28th, so come on down and pick up a copy before the bands get theirs! Once you see the candy red vinyl in person, you won't be able to resist! All Fort Lowell Records 7inches will be on sale for $5.00 each! See you at the show!

EMBRACING THE BLOG

Okay, we've been back and forth between Blogspot, Facebook, and Twitter, trying to figure out what the best site is for us to use to drive our updates.  Our goal is to be able to drive everything via a BlackBerry mobile device, and not have to be stuck behind a computer all of the time... allowing us more time for turning over the 7inch records in our Corporate Offices.  So here we go... this is our official test; typing our original post here on Blogspot, then using TwitterFeed to re-post this same note to Twitter and Facebook.  Let's see how it works.

TUCSON AZ SHOWCASE - SEPTEMBER 25

FORT LOWELL RECORDS SHOWCASE

Saturday, September 25, 2010
Sky Bar, 536 N. 4^th Ave., Tucson, AZ
8 p.m.
Free.

See all five bands from Fort Lowell Records’ four 7inch releases in one place and pick up an early copy of FLR003 before it’s officially released!

7inch-only Fort Lowell Records is throwing a party to celebrate the release of their third 7inch record, a split single featuring Tucson band Tracy Shedd and LA’s Wet & Reckless. Copies of FLR003 will be available for purchase, even though the official release date is September 28.

It’s not just any party--- at the show will be all of the bands who have released music through Fort Lowell Records, including LA’s Wet & Reckless, and Tucson’s Dead Western Plains, who will be on Fort Lowell Records’ fourth 7inch release, due to come out November 23. DJ The Vinyl Baron will be spinning records before the show and between sets.

Admission is free.

LINEUP:
8:00pm: The Vinyl Baron spins records
9:00pm: ...music video?
9:45pm: Dead Western Plains
10:30pm: Young Mothers
11:15pm: Wet & Reckless (from Los Angeles CA)
12:00am: Tracy Shedd

ATTENTION PRESS + RADIO

If you are interested in receiving promotional copies of our 7inch records to use for reviews in magazines, newspapers, internet, etc... or for playback on a radio station or podcast, please contact us directly (fortlowell AT gmail DOT com) to request to be added to our physical mailing list. Because our 7inch records are pressed in limited quantities, we have to reserve this list for those of you that have an interest in what we are doing. If you are interested in Fort Lowell Records, but like working with digital media... no worries, we have a digital mail list as well. Just let us know what your preference is.

We are about to begin our campaign for our third release, a split 7inch for Wet & Reckless and Tracy Shedd, so contact us as early as possible! We look forward to hearing from you soon!

INTRODUCING... THE RAD BAG!

Holy crap, this bag is cool! We are so excited to show you The Rad Bag - our very own bag, custom made by Petite Bonfire just for our 7inch records! These are photographs of the final prototype that has been approved by our Executive Team. Petite Bonfire is going to begin production for The Rad Bag this week. We are hoping to have a few available for the 4th Annual Vinyl Revival Record Fair at Hotel Congress (Tucson AZ) on Saturday, September 4th. In addition, we are going to make The Rad Bag available on our website as part of a package including all of our 7inch records, as well as at other future events for Fort Lowell Records. Seriously, people... this bag is the raddest thing going! It's even got a pocket under the hood for your phone! Be the first one on your block to own The Rad Bag! Stay tuned to our sites for more information on how to get one!

4th ANNUAL VINYL REVIVAL RECORD FAIR

 

Saturday, September 4

Hotel Congress presents...

9am-3pm - Vinyl Revival Record Fair
11am-3pm - Fort Lowell Records Showcase
- Live performances by Tracy Shedd + Young Mothers
- DJ sets by The Vinyl Baron + Fort Lowell Records Executive DJs


It’s that time of year again! Vinyl Revival invites you to join us at Hotel Congress for Tucson’s most exciting record sale! This year’s fair will coincide with Club Congress’ 25th Anniversary Party, Labor Day Weekend. A three day music festival featuring some of the best Tucson bands from the past 25 years, who will rock the stage each night. In it’s fourth year, Vinyl Revival will help us revive some of Tucson’s best music. Vinyl Revival will provide an atmosphere where the serious record collector or novice can have exposure and access to all things vinyl! Come on down and take part in Arizona’s largest independent record fair. We’re sure you’ll find something you love!

Fort Lowell Records, Tucson's latest record label releasing 7inch records for Tucson artists, will have their records from Young Mothers and ...music video? for sale. In addition, this will be a one-time-only chance to purchase their latest release, a split 7inch featuring Wet & Reckless + Tracy Shedd, that is not available to anyone else until September 28th!!! Come down to the Vinyl Revival to get your copy of FLR003 first! Tracy Shedd will be on hand to play a few live tracks for everyone, along with Young Mothers! Then, resident Fort Lowell Records' DJ, The Vinyl Baron, will be spinning some sweet, sweet vinyl all afternoon long!

To top if off... Fort Lowell Records will have a SIGNED Test Pressing for each of their records (Young Mothers, ...music video?, and the Wet & Reckless + Tracy Shedd Split 7inch) to give away as door prizes! You won't want to miss it!

SPINNING AROUND WITH ...MUSIC VIDEO?

We love this end-cap that Zia Records on Speedway (Tucson AZ) designed for ...music video?'s 7inch Record!

RELEASE DATES... MOVIN' ON UP TO THE EAST SIDE

We are so excited about these next two records coming out for 2010, we decided to move the release dates up so we can get them in your hands sooner!

- WET & RECKLESS + TRACY SHEDD Split 7inch: September 28, 2010
- DEAD WESTERN PLAINS Alta 7inch: November 23, 2010

Consider this an early Holiday Gift from the Executive Team at Fort Lowell Records!
Preorder announcements coming soon!
Enjoy!

INTRODUCING... "THE $7 HOLLER!"

Fort Lowell Records has partnered up with The Vinyl Baron to celebrate the release of each FLR 7inch record. Band members from the 7inch that is being celebrated join The Vinyl Baron at Hotel Congress, in downtown Tucson, AZ, to spin some of their favorite music on vinyl! This always takes place on the Friday night that follows the release date for their 7inch record. This tradition began with Young Mothers, back on April 23, 2010, and will carry on again this coming Friday, July 16th, with ...music video?. J Lugo Miller, from ...music video? will be spinning some soul records, as well as some of the beats he used in various ...music video? recordings, including beats from "I'm Afraid Of Everything," ...music video?'s song featured on their FLR 7inch.

To help celebrate the night, Fort Lowell Records is offering a drink special in honor of 7inch records, called The $7 Holler! For just $7 you can get a FLR 7inch record and a 7-N-7 Mixed Drink (Seagram's 7 Whiskey with 7-Up)! And, if you don't particularly like 7-N-7's, then the fine people at Hotel Congress will be happy to serve you up another type of well drink or beer of the same value. We won't let you go thirsty! Just don't drink and drop (the vinyl)! Stop by the merchandise table to purchase your FLR 7inch and receive a drink ticket you can take to the bar. Otherwise, 7inch records are $5.

Remember, every Friday Night following our release dates, plan to join us with The Vinyl Baron at Hotel Congress! You will get to hang out with the band members and hear them spin some of their favorite vinyl records!