Be part of bluegrass history
30 December 2007
Pieter Groenveld and Liz Meyer of Strictly Country Records /Strictly Music, the Netherlands, have a New Year's request for all friends of European bluegrass:
Would you like to be part of bluegrass history? Put your name on this very special European World of Bluegrass CD!* We need sponsors to help finance a wonderful double-CD compilation from 10 years of EWOB. Liz has been working on the project morning to night for weeks, and the mastering studio is booked for early January.
Strictly Country Records’ annual EWOB CD series: a labor of love
The EWOB CDs are the biggest commitment Liz and I have made to giving something back that can make a difference in the music world. The annual EWOB CDs are not subsidised by EBMA, because it takes all of EBMA's resources to sponsor the EWOB Festival every year, and to send the #1 European Bluegrass Band to IBMA's World of Bluegrass in Nashville. (This year the EWOB Festival's organising committee celebrated EWOB's 10th birthday by sending an EWOB 2007 CD to each of the 154 musicians who played the EWOB 2007 Festival; but they can't afford to do this every year.) The annual EWOB CDs are a heavy commitment of time and money for a tiny label that can produce a maximum of four CDs annually - and the EWOB CDs require twice the time and energy of a normal artist CD with normal sales potential.
Any record label depends on artist sales at shows to break even on a CD, but there are +/- 25 bands on each EWOB CD. Many of the best bands come from economies where CDs are cheap, and they can't afford to invest in EWOB CDs to sell. We sell a few dozen here and there, but the annual EWOB CD is primarily a promotional vehicle for European bluegrass, the bands, and EWOB. Most of them are given away to DJs and press.
Some years when we've been hard-pressed financially, we’ve considered skipping the EWOB CD. But it's not the sort of project you can just do some years, so we've made it a permanent commitment. It means so much to the bands to have the possibility of taking their music beyond the borders of their remote homelands; and having this outlet inspires them to work really hard to prepare for the next EWOB. It's gratifying to see the growth and progress that we help stimulate with this work. You can't imagine how satisfying it feels for a European band to be played on US radio, in the homeland of bluegrass music!
For ten years, the EWOB CDs have been virtually the only effective promotional vehicle for the genre/bands/event. There are a couple of EWOB/EBMA websites (some being rebuilt this month) and a magazine, but these are relatively inert formats. Too few people see European bluegrass magazines, and it’s difficult to get people to look at websites! The EWOB CDs let people around the world actually hear the music. That's crucial. EWOB CDs make it possible for European bands to show what they can do, standing proudly alongside the finest American artists. And we are creating a beautiful historical archive of the development of this music in Europe.
This double album, 10 years of EWOB, is our most significant contribution yet, and will be an important vehicle for a whole generation of bands from a continent with a wealth of great musicians. The promotional value of the 10 years of EWOB compilation for European bluegrass and EWOB will outweigh the first ten years of EWOB CDs combined. While major music publications may not even blink at ‘yet another festival CD’, something as unexpected as ten years of European bluegrass (especially with its excellent guest-artist credentials) might just catch that editor's eye. This project gives us an opportunity to gain a level of radio and press exposure for EWOB that won’t be possible again until EWOB’s 20th anniversary. This kind of attention can help attract corporate sponsors for EWOB.
On 10 years of EWOB, the double CD, fourteen US & Canadian guests will lend their good names and great tracks alongside thirty-four of Europe’s finest. Rounder is kindly allowing us the use of performances by Claire Lynch and Danny Paisley, and is even considering helping with radio mailing. US & Canadian guests on this project include:
Bill Clifton & Pick of the Crop
The Chapmans
Chris Jones & the Night Drivers
Claire Lynch Band
Dan Paisley & the Southern Grass
Hickory Project
Hunger Mountain Boys
John Reischman & the Jaybirds
Kate Mackenzie Band
Laurie Lewis & her Bluegrass Pals
Liz Meyer with Nugget
Mike Stevens & Raymond Mclain
Randy Waller & the Country Gentlemen
Sally Jones & the Sidewinders
All of the #1 European Bluegrass Bands are included in this collection, too.
[1998: There were no band awards in the first year.]
1999: Nugget (Austria)
2000: Relief (Czech Republic)
2001: Petr Brandejs Band (Czech Republic)
2002: 4 Wheel Drive (The Netherlands)
2003: Nugget (Austria/ Czech Republic)
2004: Fragment (Slovak & Czech Republics)
2005: Carmel Sheerin & the Ravens (Ireland)
2006: Mideando String Quintet (Italy)
2007: G2 Bluegrass Band (Sweden)
Other European bands selected for the 10 years of EWOB compilation include:
Album
Blackjack
Blue Cartel
Blueland
Bononia Grass
Downhill
Fifty Fingers
Footprints
Goodwill
Jiri Kralik & the Rowdy Rascals
Kreni
Lonesome Mountaineers
Looping Brothers
Louvat Brothers
Meantime
Monogram
Rawhide
Red Wine
Roll’s Boys
Skyland
Springfield
Stroatklinkers
Sunny Side
Jussi Syren & the Groundbreakers
Tomas Pesko Band
Zbynek Buresz with Chris Jones & the Czech Drivers
EWOB is helping nurture bluegrass bands and foster the growth of bluegrass events all over Europe. This also generates more tour possibilities for US bands, and further musical exchanges. Moving in the other direction is far more challenging, however. European bands dream of touring the USA, and some of these bands are immensely talented. It may be hard to imagine music we think of as so distinctly American being played by foreign musicians with exotic and occasionally unpronounceable names. Nothing breaks down those walls faster than hearing great bluegrass played by European bands! A handful of exceptional groups like the Kruger Brothers, Druha Trava, Red Wine, and Fragment have worked long and hard in the States to overcome these obstacles and win respect for European pickers - and we have lots more where they came from who deserve our support. With the EWOB CDs, we are able to help at least twenty European bands get radio airplay in the USA and around the world every year.
Be part of bluegrass history! You can help European bluegrass bands make their mark, and help EWOB grow. Add your name to our list of sponsors for the 10 years of EWOB CD.* All contributions are welcome! (Contact Pieter by e-mail.)
Please forward this message to other folks who might like to participate in this project. We’re grateful for your help. Thanks for your time, and best wishes for the New Year!
Warm regards,
Pieter Groenveld & Liz Meyer, Strictly Country Records /Strictly Music, the Netherlands
*Contributions are welcome at any time, but your name can be added to the 10 years of EWOB CD booklet only until 20 January 2008. Later sponsors can be listed in the EWOB 2008 CD booklet.
SCR Productions
PO Box 628
2130 AP Hoofddorp
The Netherlands
Tel. +31 (0)297 347 101
Fax +31 (0)297 347 488
SCR@PieterGroenveld.com
http://www.StrictlyCountryRecords.com
Pieter Groenveld and Liz Meyer of Strictly Country Records /Strictly Music, the Netherlands, have a New Year's request for all friends of European bluegrass:
Would you like to be part of bluegrass history? Put your name on this very special European World of Bluegrass CD!* We need sponsors to help finance a wonderful double-CD compilation from 10 years of EWOB. Liz has been working on the project morning to night for weeks, and the mastering studio is booked for early January.
Strictly Country Records’ annual EWOB CD series: a labor of love
The EWOB CDs are the biggest commitment Liz and I have made to giving something back that can make a difference in the music world. The annual EWOB CDs are not subsidised by EBMA, because it takes all of EBMA's resources to sponsor the EWOB Festival every year, and to send the #1 European Bluegrass Band to IBMA's World of Bluegrass in Nashville. (This year the EWOB Festival's organising committee celebrated EWOB's 10th birthday by sending an EWOB 2007 CD to each of the 154 musicians who played the EWOB 2007 Festival; but they can't afford to do this every year.) The annual EWOB CDs are a heavy commitment of time and money for a tiny label that can produce a maximum of four CDs annually - and the EWOB CDs require twice the time and energy of a normal artist CD with normal sales potential.
Any record label depends on artist sales at shows to break even on a CD, but there are +/- 25 bands on each EWOB CD. Many of the best bands come from economies where CDs are cheap, and they can't afford to invest in EWOB CDs to sell. We sell a few dozen here and there, but the annual EWOB CD is primarily a promotional vehicle for European bluegrass, the bands, and EWOB. Most of them are given away to DJs and press.
Some years when we've been hard-pressed financially, we’ve considered skipping the EWOB CD. But it's not the sort of project you can just do some years, so we've made it a permanent commitment. It means so much to the bands to have the possibility of taking their music beyond the borders of their remote homelands; and having this outlet inspires them to work really hard to prepare for the next EWOB. It's gratifying to see the growth and progress that we help stimulate with this work. You can't imagine how satisfying it feels for a European band to be played on US radio, in the homeland of bluegrass music!
For ten years, the EWOB CDs have been virtually the only effective promotional vehicle for the genre/bands/event. There are a couple of EWOB/EBMA websites (some being rebuilt this month) and a magazine, but these are relatively inert formats. Too few people see European bluegrass magazines, and it’s difficult to get people to look at websites! The EWOB CDs let people around the world actually hear the music. That's crucial. EWOB CDs make it possible for European bands to show what they can do, standing proudly alongside the finest American artists. And we are creating a beautiful historical archive of the development of this music in Europe.
This double album, 10 years of EWOB, is our most significant contribution yet, and will be an important vehicle for a whole generation of bands from a continent with a wealth of great musicians. The promotional value of the 10 years of EWOB compilation for European bluegrass and EWOB will outweigh the first ten years of EWOB CDs combined. While major music publications may not even blink at ‘yet another festival CD’, something as unexpected as ten years of European bluegrass (especially with its excellent guest-artist credentials) might just catch that editor's eye. This project gives us an opportunity to gain a level of radio and press exposure for EWOB that won’t be possible again until EWOB’s 20th anniversary. This kind of attention can help attract corporate sponsors for EWOB.
On 10 years of EWOB, the double CD, fourteen US & Canadian guests will lend their good names and great tracks alongside thirty-four of Europe’s finest. Rounder is kindly allowing us the use of performances by Claire Lynch and Danny Paisley, and is even considering helping with radio mailing. US & Canadian guests on this project include:
Bill Clifton & Pick of the Crop
The Chapmans
Chris Jones & the Night Drivers
Claire Lynch Band
Dan Paisley & the Southern Grass
Hickory Project
Hunger Mountain Boys
John Reischman & the Jaybirds
Kate Mackenzie Band
Laurie Lewis & her Bluegrass Pals
Liz Meyer with Nugget
Mike Stevens & Raymond Mclain
Randy Waller & the Country Gentlemen
Sally Jones & the Sidewinders
All of the #1 European Bluegrass Bands are included in this collection, too.
[1998: There were no band awards in the first year.]
1999: Nugget (Austria)
2000: Relief (Czech Republic)
2001: Petr Brandejs Band (Czech Republic)
2002: 4 Wheel Drive (The Netherlands)
2003: Nugget (Austria/ Czech Republic)
2004: Fragment (Slovak & Czech Republics)
2005: Carmel Sheerin & the Ravens (Ireland)
2006: Mideando String Quintet (Italy)
2007: G2 Bluegrass Band (Sweden)
Other European bands selected for the 10 years of EWOB compilation include:
Album
Blackjack
Blue Cartel
Blueland
Bononia Grass
Downhill
Fifty Fingers
Footprints
Goodwill
Jiri Kralik & the Rowdy Rascals
Kreni
Lonesome Mountaineers
Looping Brothers
Louvat Brothers
Meantime
Monogram
Rawhide
Red Wine
Roll’s Boys
Skyland
Springfield
Stroatklinkers
Sunny Side
Jussi Syren & the Groundbreakers
Tomas Pesko Band
Zbynek Buresz with Chris Jones & the Czech Drivers
EWOB is helping nurture bluegrass bands and foster the growth of bluegrass events all over Europe. This also generates more tour possibilities for US bands, and further musical exchanges. Moving in the other direction is far more challenging, however. European bands dream of touring the USA, and some of these bands are immensely talented. It may be hard to imagine music we think of as so distinctly American being played by foreign musicians with exotic and occasionally unpronounceable names. Nothing breaks down those walls faster than hearing great bluegrass played by European bands! A handful of exceptional groups like the Kruger Brothers, Druha Trava, Red Wine, and Fragment have worked long and hard in the States to overcome these obstacles and win respect for European pickers - and we have lots more where they came from who deserve our support. With the EWOB CDs, we are able to help at least twenty European bands get radio airplay in the USA and around the world every year.
Be part of bluegrass history! You can help European bluegrass bands make their mark, and help EWOB grow. Add your name to our list of sponsors for the 10 years of EWOB CD.* All contributions are welcome! (Contact Pieter by e-mail.)
Please forward this message to other folks who might like to participate in this project. We’re grateful for your help. Thanks for your time, and best wishes for the New Year!
Warm regards,
Pieter Groenveld & Liz Meyer, Strictly Country Records /Strictly Music, the Netherlands
*Contributions are welcome at any time, but your name can be added to the 10 years of EWOB CD booklet only until 20 January 2008. Later sponsors can be listed in the EWOB 2008 CD booklet.
SCR Productions
PO Box 628
2130 AP Hoofddorp
The Netherlands
Tel. +31 (0)297 347 101
Fax +31 (0)297 347 488
SCR@PieterGroenveld.com
http://www.StrictlyCountryRecords.com
posted by Richard Hawkins at
21:01
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