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Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Jim Connelly's
Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Monday, January 15, 2007
Jesse Steichen's Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Friday, January 12, 2007
Bill Bentley's Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Tom Ridge's Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Thursday, January 4, 2007
Lee Templeton's Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Tuesday, January 2, 2007
Anthony Carew's 13 Fave Albums Of 2006
Monday, March 27, 2006
SXSW 2006: Finding Some Hope In Austin
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Letter From New Orleans
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Jennifer Przybylski's Fave Albums of 2005
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Music For Dwindling Days: Max Schaefer's Fave Recordings Of 2005
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Sean Fennessey's 'Best-Of' 2005
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Lori Miller Barrett's Fave Albums Of 2005
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Lee Templeton's Favorite Recordings of 2005
Thursday, January 5, 2006
Michael Lach - Old Soul Songs For A New World Order
Wednesday, January 4, 2006
Found In Translation — Emme Stone's Year In Music 2005
Tuesday, January 3, 2006
Dave Allen's 'Best-Of' 2005
Monday, January 2, 2006
Steve Gozdecki's Favorite Albums Of 2005
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Johnny Walker Black's Top 10 Of 2005
Monday, December 19, 2005
Neal Block's Favorite Recordings Of 2005
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Jenny Tatone's Year In Review
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Dave Renard's Fave Recordings Of 2005
Monday, December 12, 2005
Jennifer Kelly's Fave Recordings Of 2005
Thursday, December 8, 2005
Tom Ridge's Favorite Recordings Of 2005
Tuesday, December 6, 2005
Ben Gook's Beloved Albums Of 2005
Monday, December 5, 2005
Anthony Carew's Fave Albums Of 2005
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Prince, Spoon And The Magic Of The Dead Stop
Monday, September 12, 2005
The Truth About America
Monday, September 5, 2005
Tryin' To Wash Us Away
Monday, August 1, 2005
A Psyche-Folk Heat Wave In Western Massachusetts
Monday, July 18, 2005
Soggy But Happy At Glastonbury 2005
Monday, April 4, 2005
The SXSW Experience, Part 3: All Together Now
Friday, April 1, 2005
The SXSW Experience, Part 2: Dr. Dog's Happy Chords
Thursday, March 31, 2005
The SXSW Experience, Part 1: Waiting, Waiting And More Waiting
Friday, March 25, 2005
Final Day At SXSW's Charnel House
Monday, March 21, 2005
Day Three At SXSW
Saturday, March 19, 2005
Day Two In SXSW's Hall Of Mirrors
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Report #1: SXSW 2005 And Its Hall Of Mirrors
Monday, February 14, 2005
Matt Landry's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Wednesday, February 2, 2005
David Howie's 'Moments' From The Year 2004
Thursday, January 27, 2005
Lori Miller Barrett's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Thursday, January 20, 2005
Noah Bonaparte's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
Kevin John's Fave Albums Of 2004
Friday, January 14, 2005
Music For Those Nights: Max Schaefer's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Thursday, January 13, 2005
Dave Renard's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Neal Block's Top Ten Of 2004
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
Jenny Tatone's Fave Albums Of 2004
Monday, January 10, 2005
Wayne Robins' Top Ten Of 2004
Friday, January 7, 2005
Brian Orloff's Fave Albums Of 2004
Thursday, January 6, 2005
Johnny Walker (Black)'s Top 10 Of 2004
Wednesday, January 5, 2005
Jennifer Przybylski's Fave Albums (And Book) Of 2004
Tuesday, January 4, 2005
Mark Mordue's Fave Albums Of 2004
Monday, January 3, 2005
Lee Templeton's Fave Recordings Of 2004
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Thursday, Sept. 27, 2001
How Gillian Welch Avoids Getting Screwed
Neumu's Michael Goldberg writes: When Gillian Welch and her
partner, David Rawlings, got the opportunity to walk away from the
label they were on, with ownership of the masters to their first two
albums, they took it.
They could have signed to another established label — they'd
sold some 200,000 copies of those excellent albums, Revival
and Hell Among the Yearlings, according to a cover story in
the current issue of No Depression — but they didn't.
Instead, they formed their own label, Acony (named after the flower
she sang about in "Acony Bell") and re-released both previous albums
as well as their latest, the wondrous Time (The Revelator).
Welch is real clear about why they chose to go it on their own.
"There was no one out there that excited me," she told No
Depression co-editor Grant Alden. "The first time around, Jerry
Moss [co-founder of both A & M Records and Almo Sounds, the label
Welch and Rawlings were signed to] excited me. I don't know how else
to put it. He's legendary, he's a gentleman, he's personable, he
cares about the music. All that stuff. You look at him, is he a label
exec? No. He's a record man. He makes records. And I saw no
replacement."
Welch may have given up the chance to become a really big star.
Without the deep pockets of a major, will she ever be as popular as
that other modern country artist, Lucinda Williams, who is currently
signed to UMG's new Lost Highway alterna-country label? Yet what
Welch has gained could more than make up for that. She is one of the
few artists in the history of recorded music who owns her art —
the recordings on her three albums belong to her.
This is radical stuff. Elvis didn't own his masters. Nor did the
Beatles. Bob Dylan's recordings belong to Sony, while Nirvana's are
the property of Vivendi Universal.
I'm sure Welch and Rawlings feel the freedom that comes from
answering to no one. I can only imagine the pressures an artist feels
on a major label. Certainly Welch and Williams are very different
artists, but it's interesting to see that where Williams' follow-up
to a strong album was the disappointing Essence, Welch
recorded Time (The Revelator) just the way she wanted at the
legendary RCA Studio B in Nashville (where legends including Elvis
and the Everly Brothers worked), and produced one of the albums of
the year (and an album that takes her art to another level).
"This is the kicker to the whole thing," Welch told Alden. "One of
the main reasons we started our own label was for the stability.
Believe it or not, me starting my own label seemed like a better bet
for long-term stability, which is really important to me. I don't
have time to every two years be getting into contract negotiations. ...
I hate the record business, I just want to make records. So, because
I hate the record business, I started my own label. What? I'm
supposed to hang around in the majors long enough to get screwed?"
The InsiderOne Daily
Report appears weekdays at 9 AM PST, except when it doesn't.
by Michael Goldberg
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