Hello from the majestic oatfields of Tennessee, and welcome to yet 
another of our hilarious, profound, touching and altogether fascinating 
Wild Oats Updates. (Well, we may be exaggerating just a little bit....)

We've pretty much recovered from what was dubbed The Summer Of Oatmania -- please, don't ask -- and are hard at work, doin' what we do best: recording and promoting our excellent artists, going out for lunch,
and generally helping to keep the world safe for good music.

Speaking of good music, Steve Haggard, whose brand-new Wild Oats 
CD Mysterious Ways is getting a great response -- and deservedly so !
-- did his usual three European tours this past summer. In addition to
Germany and Austria, Steve and his band The Rangers hit Sweden for the first time in several years. More on that tour later in this Update.

Also getting fine feedback, and picking up airplay from Memphis to
Milwaukee,  is our Gail & The Tricksters CD, All Tricked Out. This
up-and-coming band played at the Rockabilly Hall Of Fame Festival
in Jackson, TN this summer, and Gail was also featured as a guest
artist on Steve Haggard's tour in Sweden. The band will be heading
back into the recording studio here in Nashville early in 2002.

One of the most exciting new developments around scenic Oat Central
is the launch of our New Artist Series of CDs, which we're calling -- in
our usual obnoxious way -- Tomorrow The World. (As you may already 
know, world domination is one of the major goals of Team Oat, right up
there with introducing the four-drinks-for-the-price-of-one Happy Hour.)
Produced by our own Steve Haggard, the New Artist Series will present the best in emerging musical talent. The first CD in the series features Bill Clark, Kimberly King and David James. To learn more, click here.

Well, like it or not, it's contest time once again. And in keeping with the 
new patriotic spirit that seems to be flourishing in the good old US of A,
we're offering a stylish American flag t-shirt as the prize. (Speaking of  that new patriotic spirit, by the way, it was nice to see a whole bunch of   Nashville musicians -- including many of our Wild Oats Records artists  -- taking part in benefits to help victims of the September 11th attacks.) 

And while we're on the subject of terrorism, a dramatic announcement:
Due to the anthrax threat, we will no longer be opening our bills here at
Oat Central... we will, however, continue to open all of our other mail !!
(Actually, we had our own anthrax scare at breakfast yesterday, when 
a strange white granular substance was found in the sugar bowl !!)

All right, that's enough tasteless humor; back to the music biz....

Things have really been hoppin' at the ol' studio these past few months.
With the recent expansion of our Wild Oats Records artist roster, there
has been a lot of recording going on. In addition to the New Artist Series
acts mentioned above, North Carolina's Razzor Dixon Band and Illinois
quintet Shotgun Alley have been working on their debut Oat releases.
And singer/songwriter Ben Rait will be heading into the studio shortly.
More details on these acts and their upcoming CDs next time around.

Planning a CD project,  or interested in becoming part of our New Artist Series ? Just
click here to e-mail us, and we'll tell you how you can become part of Team Oat !!

Earlier in this Update, we mentioned Steve Haggard's Sweden tour this 
past July/August. The tour -- dubbed Swedestravaganza 2001 -- packed 
nine gigs and two recording sessions into 12 rockin', fun-filled days and nights. The songs cut there will be released in Scandinavia early next year, and Swedestravaganza Two is already being planned. Team Oat would like to thank Johan, Tord and especially Micke for their help with the tour. (Just click on the banner below to learn more and see photos. 

A short commercial message: Why not buy a Wild Oats Records CD while you're visiting our wondrous website ?  You'll find the newest from 
Steve Haggard, Pat DiNizio, Gail & The Tricksters, Teddy Glenn and
many other fine artists on our newly-updated Featured Artists page by: you guessed it ... just clicking here !

Well, the clock on the wall says it's time for one of those semi-legendary Team Oat long lunches. Until we meet again, may all your oats be wild
and may all your dreams come true. (Except the really bizarre ones !!) 
             Team Oat

P.S.  Oh yeah, the contest. To win one of those snappy American flag
t-shirts, e-mail us the first line of any song by any of our Oat artists.

Greetings from the oatfields of Nashville, where the sun is shinin', the birds are chirpin' and Spring is in the air. And as they say: in the Spring, a young man's fancy (and a probably a young woman's, too) turns to...   no, not to love, but to Wild Oats Records !!

In keeping with the season, things are a-buzzin' and a-bloomin' here at
old Oat Central (a/k/a The Cradle of World Civilization and Home Of 
The Three-Hour Lunch). We've got not one, but two brand-new CDs
just released; a third CD due very soon; a whole bunch of secret and 
not-so-secret projects in the works; and plans for a wild summer of
celebratin' our label's lucky 13th anniversary !

One of the main things buzzin' around here is our just-off-the-presses
Steve Haggard CD, Mysterious Ways. (Yes, it's available at long last !)
A potent blend that is best described as genuine American roots music
--  "real" country flavored with blues, rockabilly and folk influences --
Steve's distinctive style is showcased on 12 superb songs (10 originals,
a fine Gram Parsons cover, and a re-worked traditional blues number.)
In our humble opinion,  Mysterious Ways is the best yet of Steve's five
Wild Oats CDs... which is saying something !!

And speaking of fine new releases, the debut Gail & The Tricksters EP
has also arrived !! Entitled All Tricked Out, their six-song CD offers a
great introduction to this rockin' five-piece combo from Nashville. Led
by singer Gail Lloyd, and featuring the wondrous Bart Weilburg on lead
guitar, the band specializes in an infectious mix of swingin' rockabilly and jump blues. We highly recommend it, of course !!

To find out more about these two new Wild Oats Records releases, click right here

With just about every new Wild Oats Update comes a new weird and/or
wacky contest. The prize this time: a free Happy Hour with Team Oat !
Naturally, you need to be 21 -- or able to pass for 21, anyway ! -- and
transportation to Nashville is not included. (If you live out of town, you
can choose a free CD instead.) More on the contest later... 

Congratulations and welcome back on the air to one of our favorite DJs
anywhere, Ernst Erb. Based in Ingolstadt, Germany, Ernst is heading
up Germany's first 24-hour country station, Radio Riverside. He is a
longtime friend of Wild Oats Records, plays our artists regularly, and
even did a special three-hour program about Wild Oats back in 1999.
(Visit our Photo Gallery page to see Ernst driving a tractor !)

In addition to those new Steve Haggard and Gail & The Tricksters
releases that we mentioned earlier, our long-awaited Pat DiNizio CD,
"Live: The Living Room Tour" will be available on June 30th, 2001.
Pat, of course is lead singer/songwriter/guitarist of The Smithereens,
and this brand-new, acoustic live solo album is filled with all their hits,
plus many other great DiNizio songs and a few choice covers. 

"Subliminable" advertising: Why not order a Wild Oats Records CD right now ????

... Now, to the big contest. All you need to do is write a jingle for us,
singing our praises and telling the whole world -- including, of course,
the 10,588 inhabitants of Tuvalu -- all about Nashville's renegade 
record label. (That's us, by the way.) No need to make it too fancy; 
it can even be just a vocal. And, as if the Happy Hour or free CD isn't
enough, we'll post the winning entry here on our website for everyone 
(including  those Tuvaluans, naturally) to hear. So start creatin' !!

Coming in May: the new Tom Smith CD, Little Dog.

You may be thinking that life here at the ol' Chateau d'Oat is all long lunches and Happy Hours, but we're actually an insanely hard-workin'
bunch. (In fact, we invented the 25-hour workday !!)  To give you an
idea, just since our last Update, we've started a second record label
(Oat International) and a brand-new live recording service known as
the Oat Central Mobile Recording Unit.

We started our new Oat International subsidiary label to help those of
our production clients who are unsigned, and who need assistance with
the marketing/promotion/distribution of their CDs. First release on the
new label is the debut CD by Brian Haught, Just Haught Country,
which was produced by Steve Haggard.

As for the Oat Central Mobile Recording Unit, it's a fully-equipped
studio that can record you LIVE... either here in Nashville, or in your
own hometown, or just about anywhere !! To learn more, click here. 

Congratulations to Don & Annie Kidwell. The release party for the
duo's new CD, River Of Nightlife, held out at Buck Owens' Crystal
Palace in Bakersfield, CA was a huge success: SRO, with 100+ fans
turned away. (Wild Oats is handling international promo on the CD.)

Well, the grill is just about ready, so we've gotta run ! Until next time,
may all your oats be wild, Team Oat

Yes, the wait is over !! Whether you're a devoted oataphile, 
or just someone who stumbled onto our website by mistake, you can now feast your eyes (and brain) on a classic piece of  literature/propaganda... namely, this Autumn 2000 Newsletter.

What's new at Oat Central, you ask ? (Okay, so you didn't actually ask, but we feel a burning need to tell you anyway.) Well, plenty is new here at America's Favorite Renegade Record Label and The Home Of The Three- Hour Lunch.

To begin with, our very own King Of Crock (a/k/a Teddy Glenn) has been picking up radio airplay on more than 
500 stations with his current (and excellent) Wild Oats
CD entitled -- what else ? -- The King Of Crock. Folks 
from California to France are experiencing Crockmania !

Meanwhile, Steve Haggard has been busy: performing 
(a recent gig had him down in Alabama, sharing a bill with 
the Allman Bros. Travis Tritt and several other fine acts); producing (more on that below); and getting ready for the release of his brand-new Wild Oats CD, Mysterious Ways, which is due in the Spring of 2001. 

As you may already know, we always like to do a little something special during the holiday season. This year, 
we offer Thanksgiving With Team Oat. For an extremely  reasonable price, you can spend 24 hours at Oat Central, givin' thanks, drinkin' wine, and generally celebratin' up a storm with our charming and hospitable staff. You'll get unlimited alcohol; one of those great black Pilgrim hats, complete with a stylish Oat logo; a speaking part in the 
annual Wild Oats Thanksgiving play; and a relatively 
clean mattress. We may even let you stuff the turkey !

But now, back to more serious matters. By the time that 
you read this, Gail & The Tricksters will be finishing up 
their 6-song Wild Oats debut EP, All Tricked Out. (It's due   in February.) This swingin' rockabilly/ jump blues band has 
a new, improved line-up featuring excellent lead guitarist 
Bart Weilburg and top-notch drummer Kathy Burkly.

Speaking of recording, we not only work with our own Wild Oats Records acts, but with outside artists and bands, too. Most recently, singer Brian Haught was in town, cutting an album with our production team. Steve Haggard produced, Eric Pittarelli engineered; The CD is scheduled for release in mid-November. Heading into the studio next is Gig Michaels, who'll be continuing work on his new Face Value CD.

We've been getting quite a few e-mails asking about those (in)famous three-hour Wild Oats lunches, which are really cleverly-disguised weekly staff meetings. To answer your  most frequently-asked questions: 1- Guests are welcome... especially if they're buying; 2- Our longest lunch ever lasted from 1:00-5:15, when it kinda merged into Happy Hour; 3) Amazingly, we get a lot of work done at these wacky lunches.

Meanwhile, back at the Oat Office, we're currently handling promotion for some talented artists from other indie labels: Loretta McNair (blues) and Ben Krahne (country), both from California; and Mark Glasmire (folk/country) from right here in Nashville.

A new contest: Send in your nude drawing of either either George W. Bush or Al Gore. The best entry will win a free King Of Crock t-shirt !!

Well, that about does it for yet another Newsletter. Until next time, may all your oats be wild and may all your lunches be long.... Team Oat