Yesterday was the official release date for Young Mothers' "Come On, The Cross" 7inch record. In honor of its release, we hosted a little trivia game via our Fort Lowell Records email list to give away a signed test press record. Here are the two questions that were sent out to everyone to answer:
Referring to the cover art for the Young Mothers' 7inch Record...
- What flavor ice cream is Patricia eating?
- What is the name of the ice cream shop where Patricia got her ice cream?
Twelve hours later, Jennifer Alzua emailed back with the two correct answers: Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream from Thrifty's! You can almost guess what flavor ice cream she was eating, just by looking at the photo. If you keep up with Fort Lowell Records' Twitter account, you may have caught the one time someone asked about the sign in the photo behind Patricia and we replied, saying it said "Thrifty's." Also, our cover stars are always listed on the inside, so in case you were wondering which girl was Patricia, it is noted in the credits.
The point of this post is... as you all are getting to learn what Fort Lowell Records is all about, one thing you should quickly pick up on is that we like to give stuff away and do fun little things like trivia games. We can also tell you that it is pretty much going to be a standard practice to give away one signed copy of the test pressing for each release. We love test pressings and we want to share them with at least one special person in the world each time we put a record out. So, we would recommend you connect with us in every way possible (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, YouTube, and our email list via FanBridge). You never know what trivia game we are going to play next.
Speaking of giving things away... something you may not have known or thought about before is, we also gave away a lot of extras with the pre-orders we had for Young Mothers' release. Just ask anyone that ordered the record before the release date. They all received a Young Mothers promotional poster, an extra Fort Lowell Records sticker, a CDR with additional unreleased songs from Young Mothers, and a signed copy of the "Come On, The Cross" artwork by all of Young Mothers band members. This is something to consider when we post up the pre-order link for ...music video? and the Wet & Reckless / Tracy Shedd split 7inch. Anticipate some fun extra freebies for those of you that opt in for the pre-order.
Thanks again for all of the support everyone!
We truly appreciate all of your help!
- Fort Lowell Records
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
THANK YOU TUCSON... YOU ROCK!
This past Saturday, April 17th, while the world celebrated Record Store Day, the city of Tucson welcomed in the birth of our record label, Fort Lowell Records. The launch party was held at the Zia Records on Speedway Blvd., and it could not have been a more perfect setting. Tucsonans drove in from all over the city to show their support, while Tracy Shedd, ...music video?, and Young Mothers played their hearts out. It was better than we ever expected, and a memory we will always cherish.
During the development of what has become Fort Lowell Records, there was a long standing debate (with myself) on whether or not to make this a label focused on nationally known bands or on local bands from Tucson. After living here for the past three years, I have fallen in love with the beauty of this city: the support Tucson has for itself. Fort Lowell Records needed to be something to give back to this. It is a community that thrives on the passion for creativity, and a culture than believes in supporting the arts.
Everyone here at Fort Lowell Records is very excited about what is ahead of us for 2010. Young Mothers are an amazing group of musicians, and we are very excited to have them help us launch this record label. ...music video? will be following them shortly after with a sexy release, due out July 13th. Wet & Reckless and Tracy Shedd will be splitting some wax together later in the year, and if all goes as planned... we will be presenting one more release before the end of 2010. In order to do that, we need the support from all of you. All of the money made from our releases goes back into our label to put out more records for more Tucson bands. So, thank you to all of you that have already purchased our first release for Young Mothers, and thank you to those of you about to do so. This label would not exist without you.
Sincerely,
- The Fort Lowell Records Family
During the development of what has become Fort Lowell Records, there was a long standing debate (with myself) on whether or not to make this a label focused on nationally known bands or on local bands from Tucson. After living here for the past three years, I have fallen in love with the beauty of this city: the support Tucson has for itself. Fort Lowell Records needed to be something to give back to this. It is a community that thrives on the passion for creativity, and a culture than believes in supporting the arts.
Everyone here at Fort Lowell Records is very excited about what is ahead of us for 2010. Young Mothers are an amazing group of musicians, and we are very excited to have them help us launch this record label. ...music video? will be following them shortly after with a sexy release, due out July 13th. Wet & Reckless and Tracy Shedd will be splitting some wax together later in the year, and if all goes as planned... we will be presenting one more release before the end of 2010. In order to do that, we need the support from all of you. All of the money made from our releases goes back into our label to put out more records for more Tucson bands. So, thank you to all of you that have already purchased our first release for Young Mothers, and thank you to those of you about to do so. This label would not exist without you.
Sincerely,
- The Fort Lowell Records Family
Sunday, April 18, 2010
THE VINYL BARON + FORT LOWELL RECORDS
This coming Friday, April 23rd, come join Tucson's favorite DJ, The Vinyl Baron, with Fort Lowell Records and Young Mothers, to celebrate Fort Lowell Records' first release for Young Mothers "Come On, The Cross" 7inch record! Band members from Young Mothers will be spinning their favorite vinyl for the first hour. Then a special guest DJ from Fort Lowell Records' Executive Team will join The Vinyl Baron to keep the turntables spinning through the night. Come listen to Young Mothers' "Come On, The Cross" while you enjoy a beverage of your choice, and then pick up a copy of the 7inch from Fort Lowell Records to take home and spin yourself!
DRINK SPECIAL - $7.00
Includes: Young Mothers 7inch Record + Any Well Drink
(Purchase at Fort Lowell Records merchandise table)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Vinyl Baron presents
Fort Lowell Records + Young Mothers
Friday, April 23rd | 7:00-10:00pm
Hotel Congress Patio | 311 E. Congress Street, Tucson, AZ
7:00-8:00pm - DJ set by Young Mothers
8:00-10:00pm - DJ set by The Vinyl Baron + FLR Executive Team
Saturday, April 17, 2010
RECORD STORE DAY + ZIA RECORDS host Fort Lowell Records very first Showcase!
Fort Lowell Records is proud to announce that on Saturday, April 17th, Young Mothers' 7inch Record will be officially available for the city of Tucson AZ only! To help celebrate our very first release, Zia Records is hosting a special Fort Lowell Records Showcase, in conjunction with Record Store Day at their Speedway location in Tucson AZ. There will be live performances from Young Mothers, ...music video?, and Tracy Shedd; all three artists to be released by Fort Lowell Records in 2010. Young Mothers' 7inch Record for "Come On, The Cross" will be available for the first time to the public at Zia Records on April 17th, and there will lots of other give-aways for those that show up to the Fort Lowell Records Showcase! Please help spread the word for this historical event and invite others via this Facebook Event Page. We look forward to seeing you at Zia Records!
Saturday, April 17th
4:00pm-6:00pm
Free Event | All Ages
4:00pm - 4:30pm: Tracy Shedd
4:45pm - 5:15pm: ...music video?
5:30pm - 6:00pm: Young Mothers
Zia Records | Speedway
3370 E. Speedway Blvd.
Tucson, AZ 85716
(520) 327-3340
http://www.ziarecords.com
Record Store Day
http://recordstoreday.com
Fort Lowell Records
http://fortlowell.blogspot.com
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Q1.FY10 UPDATE {1st Quarter of the 2010 Fiscal Year Update} - LET ME INTRODUCE YOU TO THE FAMILY
There has certainly been a lot going on since the last update in January. The was right about the time I was getting strapped in on what I knew was going to be the roller-coaster of a ride to starting up a Record Label, and it has been nothing short of that! If you have not been doing so, you can follow along via our Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter pages for day-by-day updates of the steps we are taking to getting our first release out to you! The day has been set... Tuesday, April 20th, 2010! This will be when Young Mothers' 7inch will be available for all to enjoy! We are actually going to make it available for all of the city of Tucson on Saturday, April 17th. This is Record Store Day, and the fine folks at Zia Records are partnering up with us to see that Fort Lowell Records and Young Mothers are able to offer this debut to Tucson on Record Store Day!
Early in the process of developing Fort Lowell Records and what I wanted it to represent, I felt this sense of 'community' (as Zach from Young Mothers put it) being developed. Two months later, after going through all of the creative design work that it takes to put a record together, I am really proud of what Fort Lowell Records has shaped up to be. For some, the idea of putting out a record may be all about the band. They provide the music (obviously), and sometimes may also provide the artwork, the liner notes, they may even design everything, etc., etc. For a full album release, I can understand this. It is literally "as if you gave birth to a kid," as put by Tracy Shedd, so having the band manage all aspects of a full album makes sense. One reason we have chosen to work with 7inch Records only for Fort Lowell Records is how much 'fun' they can be to release. Bands don't have to take things so serious with 7inch Records, and often they don't. Sometimes bands will release music they would not normally want associated with a full album, or they may do silly things with artwork that they normally would not do for an album. So, I decided to use Fort Lowell Records as a way to have a lot of 'fun' with a lot of people... not just the band. I wanted to give other artists an outlet for their work, in addition for the band to have an outlet for their music.
clamdiggin was the first group of artists I reached out to, to partner with me on this project. When we first moved to Tucson AZ, my wife and I stumbled across an Art Exhibit of their work, and fell in love at first sight. This POSTER entitled "Patsy" was what got us hooked. Then, I received this shirt called "Observatory" for Valentine's Day a year or so later. There was tag on the shirt that said, "A portion of the proceeds from this shirt is contributed to the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA)." From that point, we knew that clamdiggin was a great group of people, and represent a good purpose for their work. Through the grape vine, we realized the various connections we had with clamdiggin with close friends, and reached out to them directly. We basically offered clamdiggin complete control over the artwork that would be generated for the B-Side Label on the Vinyl Records themselves. So, the A-Side will have a fixed Fort Lowell Records designed label with all of the necessary information about the music. But then, clamdiggin will present their work on the flip side. For our first release with Young Mothers, they have decided to use the artwork from their "Removal of plant life if prohibited" campaign. I love the way it laid out with the circular format! We all can't wait to see what other beauties clamdiggin present to Fort Lowell Records. The offer was made for clamdiggin to have this outlet for their work on all future releases with Fort Lowell Records, so stay tuned!
At 10:40am on February 2nd, I posted on my personal Twitter Account, "Need help finding a Tucson Photographer to partner with for Cover Art for @FortLowellRecs 7inch Records. Know someone? Have them contact me!" I had an idea that I wanted to find a local Photographer to work with on all of the artwork designs for each release. One of my favorite Record Labels of all time is 4AD. I love the fact that you can pick up a 4AD Record and know it is a 4AD Record simply by the artwork. The same is true for Blue Note, Sarah Records, and Teenbeat; other Record Labels I am very fond of. I think a good part of this is because of the imagery their designers work with. The other major part of it is that they are working with the same Graphic Designers, and that is where I personally come into play with Fort Lowell Records. Other than simply being the guy to get all of these great artists together for a common purpose, my artistic contribution is going to be to manage the Graphic Design of each release, something that I am very passionate about (other than Vinyl Records).
Within minutes of posting my Tweet, a very close friend of ours, Loreto Echevarria, contact me saying, "I've got your Photographer!" Two days later, she arranged a scheduled meeting with local Tucson Photographer, Alaina Brownell. Before even looking at her work, I knew that Alaina was the right Photographer to bring on board. A major factor in developing this 'community' and choosing who we want to work with is the energy that each person brings to the project. This goes for the bands as well. I remember learning this from Mark Robinson with Teenbeat. A Record Label can truly end up becoming a family, which is a beautiful thing, so you have to be aware of this in the beginning, choosing carefully who you partner up with. Being that Alaina was trusted and respected by a friend of ours presented a comfort that she was going to have the right energy we were looking for. Then, when we dove into looking at her photos, I all of sudden felt like I had wasted so much time in the past looking for various images to work with on previous work that I had been doing for so many years. Alaina's photography has exactly what I am always looking for when searching for photos to design posters or album artwork. They are very personal and tell a story. You can see there is a clear connection between her, as the Photographer, and her subjects. On top of all that, she takes her photographs on film... the equivalent of records in the Photography World... they are analog! Alaina gave me one of her World Famous I'm-Gonna-Hit-You-So-Hard-You're-Not-Gonna-Know-What-Hit-Ya'!-High-Fives when we had that discovery! I think that is what sealed the deal! So like clamdiggin, Fort Lowell Records will be featuring the photographic images of Alaina Brownell's work with each release.
During this entire process of finding a Photographer, and beginning to discuss artwork and design with Young Mothers [FLR001] and ...music video? [FLR002], we could not help by recognize the energy that Ms. Loreto Echevarria was also bringing to the table. Loreto is a Fashion Stylist in Tucson AZ and works under the name Lolo Chic. Her and Alaina have been working on a project to promote Lolo Chic, so it was very natural for Loreto to be around during many of our initial meetings. But what was unexpected was Loreto's natural ability to have a positive guidance with groups of creative people. I think it goes without saying: heads can butt together when many creative people are involved on the same project... and that starts with my big melon! HA! There, I said it. That is why I purposely wanted to build this community of artists to come together; to force others (including and mainly myself) to accept and respect the contributions of what others have to offer. Loreto provided a neutral perspective, but yet helped each of us, as artists, understand each other. So, we have decided to include Loreto in the family here at Fort Lowell Records, to assist in connecting the music to the photographs to the design. I am confident in saying that this process would not have been as much fun without her! We look forward to working on more future projects with our newly appointed Design Consultant.
Another major element of a Record Label is having distribution. Why, isn't that the point... to get the music out to listeners across the world? We are ever so happy and excited that we were able to rekindle an old friendship with finding a partner for managing the distribution of Fort Lowell Records. 24 Hour Service Station has been around since 1994, and began as a Record Label out of the Tampa FL area. Their first release was for a great band called Rosewater Elizabeth. Being kids from Jacksonville FL ourselves, we grew up in the Florida Scene with Rosewater Elizabeth and 24 Hour Service Station. We used to work with 24 Hour Service Station quite a bit, booking various shows with their bands and what not. When we started doing research for Distributors for Fort Lowell Records, we learned through our friend Pocket, whom Tracy Shedd sang vocals for on Pocket's contribution to 24 Hour Service Station's New Order tribute CD called Ceremony, that 24 Hour Service Station was now not only a Record Label, but also managing distribution for others now. Going back to that whole 'energy' thing I keep talking about... We knew immediately that we wanted them to manage distribution for Fort Lowell Records. 24 Hour Service Station has always been very professional and yet personal. We have always had a lot of respect for what they have done, and feel very privileged to be able to work with them again. And the best part is... their Distribution Outlets are amazing! Fort Lowell Records will be available for anyone to order in at their local Record Stores. And a great addition... they are able to make each release available to nearly every Online Outlet, such as iTunes, eMusic, Amazon, Lala, etc.
So stay tuned... Fort Lowell Records is comin' at cha'! April 20th is the official launch of our first release for Young Mothers, and we will have two more great records coming in the summer... one from ...music video?, and the other will be a split release for Wet & Reckless and Tracy Shedd! Please try and help us sell these records so we can continue to fund future releases. We've got more exciting and great music from other Tucson bands lined up... but will need your support to get started, so 'Thank You' in advance!
Oh yeah... back to 'energy' and 'family' and all of that great stuff that makes up Fort Lowell Records... Here is a Fun Fact I like to point out: Emily Wilder, the singer / guitarist from Wet & Reckless is actually the Cover Star for Tracy Shedd's last full length album Cigarettes & Smoke Machines [Teenbeat 2008], plus she is the Director (AKA: "Stop Motion Kid") of Tracy Shedd's world famous video for the song "City At Night" from her latest release EP88 [Eskimo Kiss Records 2010]. Deanna DeVries, drummer for Wet & Reckless, is the one who (literally) built the Set Pieces for the same video! These girls rule! We can't wait to here what they have for us here at Fort Lowell Records! More to come on that, when both Wet & Reckless and Tracy Shedd hit the studios soon!
PS: I am sure there are a lot of grammatical errors with my usage of "I" and "we" when talking about Fort Lowell Records. Sure, this project started from me having any idea to start a Record Label and selling my 1976 CJ5 Jeep with 35" Tires and a 4" Lift Kit (I miss you Bumble Bee!), as seen in Tracy Shedd's video for "Whatever It Takes" from Cigarettes & Smoke Machines... but this is very much a "we" effort! There is no way this would all be possible without all of the help and support from my friends, and most importantly... Fort Lowell Records' own Vice President of Corporate Affairs... Mrs. Tritten. "We" appreciate all of the support so far, and can't wait to start populating the world with more Vinyl Records!
Support Local!
Support Vinyl!
~ James
Early in the process of developing Fort Lowell Records and what I wanted it to represent, I felt this sense of 'community' (as Zach from Young Mothers put it) being developed. Two months later, after going through all of the creative design work that it takes to put a record together, I am really proud of what Fort Lowell Records has shaped up to be. For some, the idea of putting out a record may be all about the band. They provide the music (obviously), and sometimes may also provide the artwork, the liner notes, they may even design everything, etc., etc. For a full album release, I can understand this. It is literally "as if you gave birth to a kid," as put by Tracy Shedd, so having the band manage all aspects of a full album makes sense. One reason we have chosen to work with 7inch Records only for Fort Lowell Records is how much 'fun' they can be to release. Bands don't have to take things so serious with 7inch Records, and often they don't. Sometimes bands will release music they would not normally want associated with a full album, or they may do silly things with artwork that they normally would not do for an album. So, I decided to use Fort Lowell Records as a way to have a lot of 'fun' with a lot of people... not just the band. I wanted to give other artists an outlet for their work, in addition for the band to have an outlet for their music.
clamdiggin was the first group of artists I reached out to, to partner with me on this project. When we first moved to Tucson AZ, my wife and I stumbled across an Art Exhibit of their work, and fell in love at first sight. This POSTER entitled "Patsy" was what got us hooked. Then, I received this shirt called "Observatory" for Valentine's Day a year or so later. There was tag on the shirt that said, "A portion of the proceeds from this shirt is contributed to the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA)." From that point, we knew that clamdiggin was a great group of people, and represent a good purpose for their work. Through the grape vine, we realized the various connections we had with clamdiggin with close friends, and reached out to them directly. We basically offered clamdiggin complete control over the artwork that would be generated for the B-Side Label on the Vinyl Records themselves. So, the A-Side will have a fixed Fort Lowell Records designed label with all of the necessary information about the music. But then, clamdiggin will present their work on the flip side. For our first release with Young Mothers, they have decided to use the artwork from their "Removal of plant life if prohibited" campaign. I love the way it laid out with the circular format! We all can't wait to see what other beauties clamdiggin present to Fort Lowell Records. The offer was made for clamdiggin to have this outlet for their work on all future releases with Fort Lowell Records, so stay tuned!
At 10:40am on February 2nd, I posted on my personal Twitter Account, "Need help finding a Tucson Photographer to partner with for Cover Art for @FortLowellRecs 7inch Records. Know someone? Have them contact me!" I had an idea that I wanted to find a local Photographer to work with on all of the artwork designs for each release. One of my favorite Record Labels of all time is 4AD. I love the fact that you can pick up a 4AD Record and know it is a 4AD Record simply by the artwork. The same is true for Blue Note, Sarah Records, and Teenbeat; other Record Labels I am very fond of. I think a good part of this is because of the imagery their designers work with. The other major part of it is that they are working with the same Graphic Designers, and that is where I personally come into play with Fort Lowell Records. Other than simply being the guy to get all of these great artists together for a common purpose, my artistic contribution is going to be to manage the Graphic Design of each release, something that I am very passionate about (other than Vinyl Records).
Within minutes of posting my Tweet, a very close friend of ours, Loreto Echevarria, contact me saying, "I've got your Photographer!" Two days later, she arranged a scheduled meeting with local Tucson Photographer, Alaina Brownell. Before even looking at her work, I knew that Alaina was the right Photographer to bring on board. A major factor in developing this 'community' and choosing who we want to work with is the energy that each person brings to the project. This goes for the bands as well. I remember learning this from Mark Robinson with Teenbeat. A Record Label can truly end up becoming a family, which is a beautiful thing, so you have to be aware of this in the beginning, choosing carefully who you partner up with. Being that Alaina was trusted and respected by a friend of ours presented a comfort that she was going to have the right energy we were looking for. Then, when we dove into looking at her photos, I all of sudden felt like I had wasted so much time in the past looking for various images to work with on previous work that I had been doing for so many years. Alaina's photography has exactly what I am always looking for when searching for photos to design posters or album artwork. They are very personal and tell a story. You can see there is a clear connection between her, as the Photographer, and her subjects. On top of all that, she takes her photographs on film... the equivalent of records in the Photography World... they are analog! Alaina gave me one of her World Famous I'm-Gonna-Hit-You-So-Hard-You're-Not-Gonna-Know-What-Hit-Ya'!-High-Fives when we had that discovery! I think that is what sealed the deal! So like clamdiggin, Fort Lowell Records will be featuring the photographic images of Alaina Brownell's work with each release.
During this entire process of finding a Photographer, and beginning to discuss artwork and design with Young Mothers [FLR001] and ...music video? [FLR002], we could not help by recognize the energy that Ms. Loreto Echevarria was also bringing to the table. Loreto is a Fashion Stylist in Tucson AZ and works under the name Lolo Chic. Her and Alaina have been working on a project to promote Lolo Chic, so it was very natural for Loreto to be around during many of our initial meetings. But what was unexpected was Loreto's natural ability to have a positive guidance with groups of creative people. I think it goes without saying: heads can butt together when many creative people are involved on the same project... and that starts with my big melon! HA! There, I said it. That is why I purposely wanted to build this community of artists to come together; to force others (including and mainly myself) to accept and respect the contributions of what others have to offer. Loreto provided a neutral perspective, but yet helped each of us, as artists, understand each other. So, we have decided to include Loreto in the family here at Fort Lowell Records, to assist in connecting the music to the photographs to the design. I am confident in saying that this process would not have been as much fun without her! We look forward to working on more future projects with our newly appointed Design Consultant.
Another major element of a Record Label is having distribution. Why, isn't that the point... to get the music out to listeners across the world? We are ever so happy and excited that we were able to rekindle an old friendship with finding a partner for managing the distribution of Fort Lowell Records. 24 Hour Service Station has been around since 1994, and began as a Record Label out of the Tampa FL area. Their first release was for a great band called Rosewater Elizabeth. Being kids from Jacksonville FL ourselves, we grew up in the Florida Scene with Rosewater Elizabeth and 24 Hour Service Station. We used to work with 24 Hour Service Station quite a bit, booking various shows with their bands and what not. When we started doing research for Distributors for Fort Lowell Records, we learned through our friend Pocket, whom Tracy Shedd sang vocals for on Pocket's contribution to 24 Hour Service Station's New Order tribute CD called Ceremony, that 24 Hour Service Station was now not only a Record Label, but also managing distribution for others now. Going back to that whole 'energy' thing I keep talking about... We knew immediately that we wanted them to manage distribution for Fort Lowell Records. 24 Hour Service Station has always been very professional and yet personal. We have always had a lot of respect for what they have done, and feel very privileged to be able to work with them again. And the best part is... their Distribution Outlets are amazing! Fort Lowell Records will be available for anyone to order in at their local Record Stores. And a great addition... they are able to make each release available to nearly every Online Outlet, such as iTunes, eMusic, Amazon, Lala, etc.
So stay tuned... Fort Lowell Records is comin' at cha'! April 20th is the official launch of our first release for Young Mothers, and we will have two more great records coming in the summer... one from ...music video?, and the other will be a split release for Wet & Reckless and Tracy Shedd! Please try and help us sell these records so we can continue to fund future releases. We've got more exciting and great music from other Tucson bands lined up... but will need your support to get started, so 'Thank You' in advance!
Oh yeah... back to 'energy' and 'family' and all of that great stuff that makes up Fort Lowell Records... Here is a Fun Fact I like to point out: Emily Wilder, the singer / guitarist from Wet & Reckless is actually the Cover Star for Tracy Shedd's last full length album Cigarettes & Smoke Machines [Teenbeat 2008], plus she is the Director (AKA: "Stop Motion Kid") of Tracy Shedd's world famous video for the song "City At Night" from her latest release EP88 [Eskimo Kiss Records 2010]. Deanna DeVries, drummer for Wet & Reckless, is the one who (literally) built the Set Pieces for the same video! These girls rule! We can't wait to here what they have for us here at Fort Lowell Records! More to come on that, when both Wet & Reckless and Tracy Shedd hit the studios soon!
PS: I am sure there are a lot of grammatical errors with my usage of "I" and "we" when talking about Fort Lowell Records. Sure, this project started from me having any idea to start a Record Label and selling my 1976 CJ5 Jeep with 35" Tires and a 4" Lift Kit (I miss you Bumble Bee!), as seen in Tracy Shedd's video for "Whatever It Takes" from Cigarettes & Smoke Machines... but this is very much a "we" effort! There is no way this would all be possible without all of the help and support from my friends, and most importantly... Fort Lowell Records' own Vice President of Corporate Affairs... Mrs. Tritten. "We" appreciate all of the support so far, and can't wait to start populating the world with more Vinyl Records!
Support Local!
Support Vinyl!
~ James
Sunday, January 10, 2010
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
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
Saturday, January 2, 2010
NOW, HOW DID WE DO THAT?
Happy New Year Everyone!
We are very excited about all of the plans to get Fort Lowell Records started in 2010! Our first release with Young Mothers is in the works, and we should be announcing a release date soon. We are not exactly sure how this happened... but we have actually already lined up artist for our 3RD release, not 2nd... but (skip one) the one after that! FLR003 is going to be a Split 7inch with Tracy Shedd (Teenbeat / Eskimo Kiss Records) and Wet And Reckless!
Tracy Shedd is just about to release her 'piano debut' with Eskimo Kiss Records, called EP88. It is scheduled to come out in February, and contains five tracks that Shedd wrote on piano, not guitar! However, Fort Lowell Records is happy to report that Shedd wants back on the guitar for her split with Wet And Reckless! Expect greatness from Camp Shedd for her Fort Lowell debut!
Wet And Reckless is a brand new trio from Los Angeles, CA; currently traveling the US on tour! You may be asking yourself... "I thought Fort Lowell Records was going to focus on bands from Tucson, AZ?" Well, don't fret (pun intended music fans)! Bassist Jessica Gelt is home grown right here in the Old Pueblo! As soon as they return home, these three ladies are going to hit the studio to prepare for their vinyl debut! Fort Lowell Records is honored to be able to help Wet And Reckless out! You can check out their own Websites to listen to some of their first demo recordings.
So, meetings are taking place to discuss FLR002 to follow up Young Mothers immediately. Our overall goal is to get four records out for 2010, so stay tuned to learn about who we will be partnering up with in the near future!
Thank you all for the amazing support we have received without even having a release out!
Soon! We'll we deliver soon!
- FLR
We are very excited about all of the plans to get Fort Lowell Records started in 2010! Our first release with Young Mothers is in the works, and we should be announcing a release date soon. We are not exactly sure how this happened... but we have actually already lined up artist for our 3RD release, not 2nd... but (skip one) the one after that! FLR003 is going to be a Split 7inch with Tracy Shedd (Teenbeat / Eskimo Kiss Records) and Wet And Reckless!
Tracy Shedd is just about to release her 'piano debut' with Eskimo Kiss Records, called EP88. It is scheduled to come out in February, and contains five tracks that Shedd wrote on piano, not guitar! However, Fort Lowell Records is happy to report that Shedd wants back on the guitar for her split with Wet And Reckless! Expect greatness from Camp Shedd for her Fort Lowell debut!
Wet And Reckless is a brand new trio from Los Angeles, CA; currently traveling the US on tour! You may be asking yourself... "I thought Fort Lowell Records was going to focus on bands from Tucson, AZ?" Well, don't fret (pun intended music fans)! Bassist Jessica Gelt is home grown right here in the Old Pueblo! As soon as they return home, these three ladies are going to hit the studio to prepare for their vinyl debut! Fort Lowell Records is honored to be able to help Wet And Reckless out! You can check out their own Websites to listen to some of their first demo recordings.
So, meetings are taking place to discuss FLR002 to follow up Young Mothers immediately. Our overall goal is to get four records out for 2010, so stay tuned to learn about who we will be partnering up with in the near future!
Thank you all for the amazing support we have received without even having a release out!
Soon! We'll we deliver soon!
- FLR
Friday, December 25, 2009
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Happy Holidays / Happy Recording
Zach Toporek & Co. from Young Mothers are hitting the studio this Holiday Season! First project to go is with Fort Lowell Records, but then they will be following up with a new EP in addition to our 7inch Release... so there is a lot to come from Team YM in 2010! Stay tuned!
Monday, December 21, 2009
Is it Happy Birthday or Welcome Young Mothers to Fort Lowell Records?
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