One of the main reasons rock stars are so short on gratitude is their failure to understand what their agents have to do to book them. If you have the latest hit on the radio or a million dollar ad campaign year not gonna be too hard to book. But most of us are just short of a couple a side jobs to pay the rent. Inflating your monetary value over the phone is always harder…

Welcome back to behind the gear at The Record Shop. Are you ready to roocccck!?!?!? (cue stadium of screaming fans) This week we take a look at the Purple Audio MC77. The MC77 is a superior recreation of the legendary URIE 1176 Peak Limiter. This piece of gear bleeds rock…

For Immediate Release

Contact:  George Wells

Phone:  256-883-1767

Email:  fthmusiccompany@gmail.com

ANNOUNCING A TRIBUTE TO THE MEN AND WOMEN OF WORLD WAR II

Huntsville, AL (October 3,2011) 

F T  H Music Company is pleased to announce it's first ever video production.  We are even more pleased that it is our song

The Freedom Generation and a…

Dear Fellow Music Pros:

May I take this opportunity to tell you about my new release, FAB FAN MEMORIES - THE BEATLES BOND. This CD is a Beatles themed spoken word recording hosted by Louise Harrison (sister of Beatle George Harrison) and features interviews with fans telling their personal Beatles stories and experiences.…

http://www.movieweb.com/news/exclusive-samantha-newark-talks-jem-and-the-holograms-the-truly-outrageous-complete-series

http://www.examiner.com/la-in-los-angeles/samantha-newark-talks-about-recording-an-album-and-staying-truly-outrageous

Lately, a lot of artists I’ve worked with have emailed me, saying how great the things we developed in their rehearsals are working. That gets me so excited!

Just last night I heard from a folk singer who had me come and work with her band. They are ramping up for a big show the end of this week and are in rehearsals.

In the meantime she did a solo gig at a singer/songwriter venue. She said the only thing she did differently that night was to…

 …

{EHA-Nashville, TN} Friday, September 23 is the next God and Country Jubilee Show at the Texas Troubadour Theatre in Nashville. The show will begin at 7 p.m and tickets will be $10 at the door. Appearing will be Allison Speer, T. Jae Christian, Jay Shupe & Band, and David & Carrie Smith. Tank Tackett and Bev McCann will be hosting the concert. Tank, a Pathway Records artist, has traveled with the legendary Statesmen Quartet, Jerry…

If I was stuck in a studio on a desert island, and could only choose one compressor to bring with me, I’d grab a Distressor. The Distressor is without question the most verstile compressor on the market. If you walk into any professional recording studio in Nashville, or around the world, you’re bound to find at least one of these pieces in the room. If you drop by The Record Shop, you’ll find four of them. Why, you might…

My MusicXPC Laptop, has been diagnosed with a dead video card. My tech is trying to find one to replace it and having no luck. My studio has been down for 4 days now and am getting worried.

~ Any help from my fellow recording souls?

There's lots of us critics critiquing artists' performances these days. From American Idol and other talent show judges and audiences, choir directors, school teachers, industry insiders, family and friends, TV talking heads, radio DJ's, bloggers, mag news reporters and other media mavens as well as the random man/woman-on-the-street, there is no lack of opinion out there. So many opinions... sometimes diametrically opposed! Just think of the love/hate differences of opinion on a performing…

Yes, we have had many wars and are currently at war.  To me the

freedom savers were those who fought World War II.  Before, anyone jumps to conclusions, I served in the Air Force from May51 to Mar55.

So it is not my intentions to belittle anyones contributions to the USA.  But when you think about the men and wormen of World War II and

how many of them died, how long they had to fight and how well they

got the job done, I have named them:  THE FREEDOM…

Tanya Tagaq is not your average American Idol singer, which is probably why I like her. She uses a very different technique that produces a sound most vocalists would have no clue how to imitate. Tanya Tagaq is an Inuit throat singer. Inuit throat singing is often confused with "overtone singing," which is a challenging style of singing in which the singer produces more than one pitch at the same time. One type of overtone singing is Tuvan throat singing, which is a different style from…

I recently sang a cameo part on a new song in the info-punk band, Look What I Did's epic rock opera, entitled, "Zanzibar III."

Read more and listen to the song on my website!

One of the most exciting aspects of my job is having the opportunity to do something new everyday. Running a recording studio in Nashville, I have been privileged to work on an eclectic range of projects. While every record requires a unique approach, detailed preparation is consistently a key element of the process. This week, we take a look at the basic elements of effective pre-production.

Demos: Keep it simple

There is a…

Maintaining a dedicated fan base is one of the most daunting tasks faced by musicians. We all know the importance of social networking, working the press, and promoting shows. If only there was a way to incorporate all of your promotional efforts into one source that could be easily distributed to your target audience. Well guess what? There is! It’s called a newsletter. Newsletters are a simple and effective way to build a “community” around your music, while keeping in touch with your fans…

Eric Conn of Independent Mastering drops by For The Record to share some insight on preparing for mastering. Eric has mastered records for a variety of artists. From Willie Nelson, Garth Brooks, and John Prine, to Skid Row, Hank III, and Young Buck. Here at The Record Shop, Independent…