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***JUNE 2000 UPDATE***
Hello again, oataphiles
and music lovers and pleasure seekers. It's time for another
large dose of Wild Oats news, views, gossip,
propaganda and self-promotion from the somewhat disreputable -- but always
lovable -- crew at Oat Central.
While things are always hoppin' here at Wild
Oats Records, the next couple of months
are shaping up as the busiest and most interesting period since we started
the company almost twelve years ago. We've
got three new CD releases coming up,
some really good recording projects in the works, and a few overseas
tours on the schedule.
Before getting to the hype, we'd like to announce this month's winner
of the "Tell Us
How Much You Love Wild Oats Records"
contest: Josie Mayfield of Slidell, Louisiana,
who said she loved Wild Oats "more than life itself." You sound like our
kind of gal,
Josie !
We're pleased to announce that after a long, long wait, the
debut CD of Teddy Glenn
has been released. It's called
The King Of Crock, and is
a damn good, thoroughly
original album. "Crock" can be best
described as Country (the old kind)
+Rock
(the Southern kind) +Bad Attitude. Teddy is
a fine singer/songwriter/guitarist... and one
listen to his new CD will tell you: He ain't
no Spice Girl !
And speaking of long-awaited CDs, the brand-new Steve
Haggard CD -- his fifth for
Wild Oats Records -- is coming on June 1st. The title is Mysterious
Ways, and the
CD is a hard-to-describe blend of country, Americana, rockabilly,
blues and folk...
just call it real American roots music.
Whatever you call it, though, we feel it's Steve's
best music yet.
In The Studio: The Wild Oats production team
has
been recording up a storm recently. They just finished up an excellent
project for singer/songwriter/musician Bob Tyler,
who is a real talent and someone you definitely need to hear. Just underway
are sessions for Gig Michaels,
a powerful vocalist who writes some fine rockin' songs. Steve Haggard
is the
producer on both projects; Eric Pittarelli
is
the recording engineer.
Looking for the perfect Mother's
Day, Father's Day or Graduation gift? We recommend
a
Wild Wild Oats Weekend...
an exciting and (shall we say ?) unusual vacation package that includes
two
(2) nights at fun-filled Oat Central; unlimited
alcoholic beverages; a fold-out sofa to sleep
on; a stylish "May All Your Oats Be Wild" t-shirt; 48 solid hours
of serious partying with the Wild Oats staff;
a kazoo;
food
(until it runs out); and a souvenir photo with
our mascot, Otis. (Bail bondsman not included.)So
give Mom, Dad
or that graduate in your life a
gift to remember !
Back to business. (We are a serious
record company, you know.)
One of the most exciting projects in the long
and storied annals of Nashville's
renegade record label-- that's us,
incidentally -- is our soon-to-be released live
CD by Pat DiNizio. The founder/singer/songwriter
of the Smithereens, who have
earned two gold albums and are still going strong, is a major
talent. We recorded
Pat's great Nashville show in March -- Jack
Howell of the Wild Oats production
team handled the engineering chores -- and got some superb
performances on tape. Watch for the CD in June !
On the touring front, Steve Haggard
returned from Europe in mid-April, and will be heading off for his first
Middle
East (!!) tour in mid-May; Barbara With,
an excellent independent artist for whom Wild Oats is handling overseas
promotion, is planning a
UK tour for Autumn
2000; and Pat DiNizio will be wrapping up his four-month-long
Living
Room Tour at the end of May.
Well, it's time for our weekly "staff meeting"
... in other words, to gather round the "conference table" at Granite
Falls for one of our (in)famous three-hour lunches.
So until next time, may all your oats be wild.
(P.S. If anyone has a nude photo of Henry Kissinger, let us know. It'd
be perfect for that one bare wall in our reception area.)
March 2000 Update
Here at fabled Oat Central, we're all exhausted
from yesterday's
wild holiday bash. (We don't know what it is, but President's
Day just
seems to make the staff crazier every year. New additions this year
were a game of E. coli Bacteria Raw Hamburger
Roulette, and the
Richard Nixon Kissing Booth, both of which proved very popular.)
Of course, all is not fun and games here at the headquarters of
Nashville's -- and soon the world's -- favorite renegade record label,
Wild Oats Records.
We actually work. A lot. Really hard.
And one of the main things we're working on at the moment is
our upcoming Pat DiNizio CD.
Pat, of course is the founder/lead
singer/songwriter/guitarist of the Smithereens,
who've had a bunch
of hits and a couple of gold albums. We'll be recording Pat's new CD
live in Nashville on March 8th,
and releasing it in April. For more
information, or to attend the recording session, e-mail
us.
Already mixed, mastered, and on the verge of release is the
long-awaited Teddy Glenn
CD, which has undergone a change of
title. As the artist is known as The King
Of Crock -- Crock being
Country+Rock+Bad Attitude -- his Wild Oats debut CD will be
called (you guessed it) The King of Crock. Watch for it soon !
The "Tell Us How Much You Love Wild Oats Records"
contest was such a success that we're running
it again. (See
our New Year 2000 Update below for details.) January's
winner was Pierre Belette of
Narbonne, France, who wrote
that he loves Wild Oats "more than I love all four of my
grandparents put together." Way to go, Pierre !!
Steve Haggard is gearing up for another busy
overseas
tour season. He'll be in Germany in April, Israel in May,
Austria in June, Scandinavia in August, and who-knows-
where later in the year. Steve's Mysterious
Ways CD is
set for April release... we feel it's his best album yet.
Speaking of Steve, an excellent CD that he
produced
has just come out. It's by singer/songwriter
Jeff Callahan,
and is called Havens, haunts and hollows.
Callahan has a
fascinating and very original sound that has been described
as Celtic/gothic
folk-country. See our Featured Artists page.
Wild Oats artist Mark Brine
will be touring in Kentucky
and Tennessee in April, so keep an eye (and ear) out for him.
Mark's superb new CD is Real Special Feelin'.
If you haven't visited the Recording
& Production page
on our website recently, please do. It's just been expanded,
and has some new photos
and info.
And our Featured Artists
page has a new addition: a fine,
honky-tonkin' country/blues singer & piano player by the name
of Texas Red Sullivan.
(He's from Texas, if you hadn't guessed.)
Last, but certainly not least, we're very pleased to announce
the signing of our newest Wild Oats Records artist, Cindy
Belcher.
Cindy is a great singer and wonderful songwriter, and we think --
no, we know -- that people will be knocked out when they hear her.
She'll be heading into the studio in May 2000
to cut her first CD.
Until we meet again, dear readers, may all
your oats be wild.
And keep the free lunches, e-mails, cards and letters coming !
Planning a recording project in
2000 ? Do
it right... with the talented
and zany Wild Oats Records
production team. Contact
us for details !
*** NEW
YEAR 2000 UPDATE ***
And so, dear friends, we have reached
the
Millennium. (Actually, we're
among that annoying group who believe that the new Millennium begins in
2001, but that's another story.) Join
with us, and let us walk boldly together
into what we believe shall come to be known as The
Century of Wild Oats !
Now that we've named a whole century
after ourselves -- pretty obnoxious,
don't you think ? -- we'll probably need to get something accomplished
during
these next 100 years. Never fear !
As we write, the dedicated and determined
members of Team Oat
are hard at work on countless projects and schemes.
Our first release of the 21st Century is the brand-new Mark
Brine CD,
Real
Special Feelin', which is now available. (You can hear a sound
clip by
going to our Featured Artists page, and buy it
on our Merchandise page.)
The first review of Mark's new CD is a rave. After praising the artist's
"unique"
sound, www.countryreviews.com concludes: "Brine lives up
to
the laudable media attention he's received." If you like excellent
singing,
songwriting and playing, check out Mark Brine's music.
Several people have written in, asking
how we plan to celebrate this
historic New Year's Eve at Oat Central.
Of course, with our philosophy
of having a good time all the time, every Monday three-hour Wild
Oats
staff
lunch is like New Year's Eve. But we do plan
another in our series
of semi-legendary Oat holiday bashes. More details next time....
The first half of 2000 will see four brand-new Wild
Oats Records CDs
coming down the pike. (Nashville's Charlotte Pike, in this case.)
There'll
be Teddy Glenn's Blue Honda Rodeo,
Steve
Haggard's Mysterious Ways,
Tom
Smith's Little Dog and Gail & The
Tricksters' still-untitled debut.
Not only will Steve Haggard have his fifth
Wild Oats CD released
this
year, but he'll add a new continent (!) to his tour itinerary when he
headlines
Israel's
24th Jacob's Ladder Festival by the Sea of Galilee
on May 20th, 2000. Steve has played in 15 countries in No. America
and Europe, but this will be his first time in the Middle East.
A contest !!! : Just write to us at info@wildoatsrecords.com,
tell
us
how much you love us, what fantastic people we are, and why you think
that Wild Oats is the greatest record label
in the history of the world !
(Don't be afraid to lay it on thick; we love hearing good things
about
ourselves, even when they're not sincere.) The winner will receive a
free
CD, and have his (or her) letter posted on our Letters page.
We here at the Chateau d'Oat always love getting
involved in
interesting new projects. Our newest is the Pat DiNizio
Living Room
Tour, starting in January. Pat is the founder and lead singer of the
Smithereens,
and will be playing all 50 states, appearing in living
rooms (hence the name), clubs, bowling alleys
and other venues.
Details in our next Update... but we'll be handling his Nashville
show on March 8th, and releasing the tour's official live CD !
Tom Smith recently did a performance at Nashville's Mars Music,
as part of his endorsement deal with L.R. Baggs Pick-Ups. Gail
& the
Tricksters, meanwhile, did a rockin' gig at
Joe's Diner, and have been
rebooked at that cool venue for January 21st.
Hank Snow, Rick Danko, Doug Sahm... R.I.P.
+ + +
Well, that about wraps up another Wild Oats Update. Until we meet
again, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy
New Year. (Did we
mention that we're entering the Century of Wild Oats ?) May the year
ahead be a great one for you, and may all
your oats be wild !
*** NOVEMBER UPDATE ***
Hello from the hallowed halls of Oat Central.
As daylight savings time
comes
to an end, the Oatstaff is preparing for one of the most exciting and
dramatic rituals of our year: The Changing Of The
Clock. We did a trial run
immediately following our usual long Monday lunch, and things went well.
(As always, in keeping with the general Wild Oats philosophy,
we'll be
moving the clock eleven hours ahead, rather than one hour back.)
Things just seem to get busier around here every month. And with
five
new Wild Oats CD releases in various stages
of production, November is
shaping up as our busiest month yet.
The first of the new releases to surface will be Mark Brine's latest CD,
Real
Special Feelin'. Mark is based in Baltimore, and his music can
be best
be summed up by that over-used term "unique".
It's Americana, more or
less... kinda folky, kinda country, kinda bluesy.
And really, really good !
The other four new CDs in the pipeline are Steve
Haggard / Mysterious
Ways
(which
is 80% mixed), Teddy Glenn / Blue Honda
Rodeo (also in the
mixing stage), Gail & the Tricksters (no
title yet, more recording sessions
set for mid-November) and Tom Smith
/ Little Dog (just under way).
Congratulations to one of the valued members of the Team
Oat
production staff,
Denny Sarokin, who has a song on the new Crosby,
Stills, Nash & Young CD. Denny is a fine
singer/songwriter/musician;
among other things, he played guitar with Rick
Nelson for eight years.
Speaking of production -- yes, it's time for a word from your
sponsors -- why not record your next project here
in Nashville
with
the
zany
staff at Wild Oats Music Group ?
We've got world-class
producers, engineers, musicians and studios; you'll get first-rate
results and have a great time... And our rates
are unreasonably
reasonable. For info, e-mail production@wildoatsrecords.com.
We're proud to announce that Steve Haggard
will be playing
at one of Europe's very best musical events, the Bad Ischl Festival
in Austria, on the weekend of June 9th-11th,
2000.
As you probably know, one of our main goals here at the scenic
Chateau
d'Oat is world domination. And we're getting there, slowly but
surely. The latest step forward is the formation of our very own para-
military squad, the Oat Berets. This elite
group's name derives from
the fact that not only is its headgear oat-colored, but it's actually made
from
oats, and edible -- as well as pretty tasty -- in an emergency.
If you haven't visited our Featured Artists
page recently, please
stop by and take a look. In addition to our Wild
Oats artists (Haggard,
Glenn,
Brine, Gail & The Tricksters, Smith) and the artists we distribute
through our affiliated company, etwang
(Krauss, Griffith, Van Zandt, et
al), we're working with some really talented independent label artists.
New additions this month include Ray Sanders,
who lives in Hawaii, has
had 26 songs on the Billboard charts and been featured on the Grand Ole
Opry; and
Inda Eaton, an excellent singer/songwriter
who we'll be writing
about in more detail next month.
Last, but not least, a mention of our pal John Whiteleather.
Born
in the USA
(as the song goes), John
lives in Sweden these days, but in
the past week or so, he has performed in both Pennsylvania and Estonia.
Plans are afoot for John to gig with Steve Haggard
in Scandinavia in 2000.
That's all for now, dear Oataphiles. Tune
in next time for more
news
and propaganda. Until then, may all your oats
be wild....
*** SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER
UPDATE ***
Greetings once again from scenic Oat Central,
our heavily-fortified
bunker
in Nashville. Fall, which is probably
our favorite season, is just
around
the corner as we write this, and your favorite independent record
label
is gearing up for a monumental few months.
Before we get down to the serious business of blowing our own horn,
we'd like to make a political statement: We don't think that just because
George
W. Bush probably used cocaine when he was younger, it should
disqualify him from being President. What bothers us is that our sources
report that when he used it, George W. was dressed as a woman, and
was
in a by-the-hour motel room with Bill Clinton.
Now, let the Wild Oats propaganda
begin !!
First, we'd like to welcome a new Featured Artist to the Wild Oats
website, Rockabilly Hall of Fame member Frank
"Andy" Starr. He has
been one of our rockabilly favorites since we first heard his classic MGM
sides cut back in the 50s, and he's still going strong.
Steve Haggard is just back from yet another
overseas tour, and he
and co-producer/engineer Jack Howell are mixing Steve's soon-to-be-
released CD, Mysterious
Ways. "The other Haggard," who has played
in fifteen countries, will be adding at least one more to the list in 2000,
when
he performs in Israel at a festival by the Sea of Galilee.
The newest addition to the Wild Oats family, Mark
Brine, was in town
in
August, finishing up overdubs on his upcoming CD, Real
Special Feelin'.
If you haven't heard Mark yet, he is a unique talent.
Speaking of unique talents, our longtime pal Teddy
Glenn is putting the
final touches on his new Wild Oats CD, Blue
Honda Rodeo. Teddy, who is
known as "The King Of Crock" (Crock = Country + Rock + Bad Attitude),
is
mixing his album at Dark Horse Studios in Franklin, Tennessee.
And Tom Smith, another new Wild Oats artist,
is hard at work on his
next CD, Little Dog. Tom, who is not
only an excellent musician, but also
makes
beautiful guitars, has just returned from playing at Iowa's Avoca
Old-Time
Country Music Festival.
Worried about the Y2K situation ? Why
not spend January 2000
at Oat Central ? For a very reasonable fee of $5000,
you can spend
the month with us ! While your friends and loved ones are starving
and/or
freezing to death, you'll not only have all the water you want,
but
thanks to a small nuclear reactor
we
bought on the Internet --
batteries
were not included, and some assembly was required --
you'll
be warm and cozy with Team Oat while chaos
reigns.
Back to the real world. Gail & the Tricksters,
yet another fine
Wild
Oats act, will be appearing at Nashville's Bellevue Station on
September
25th. Hope to see you there !
Meanwhile, in Arizona, cowgirl poet and painter of western
scenes
Reine River -- Wild Oats is handling
promotion of her CD,
Buckin'
Heart -- will be opening a show of her much-acclaimed art-
work at Scottsdale's Vanier Gallery on October 7th.
The staff here at Oat Central has become so
famous for its
long lunches, and for its generally hedonistic view of life, that it's
necessary for us to occasionally remind everyone how hard-working,
business-like and downright professional we are. This month's proof:
our
production
division has recently signed an agreement with VMG,
giving us an affiliation with a worldwide distribution company.
Gotta go. As Hank Williams used to say, "If
the good Lord's
a-willin', and the creek don't rise, we'll see you again before long."
** AUGUST 1999 UPDATE **
Well, time sure flies. (We just thought that up... hope you like it !)
It
seems as if only yesterday it was August 10th, and here it is, already
August
11th. Well, you know what we mean....
It's been an unusually hot summer here in Nashville;
and that's saying
something,
because summers are always pretty hot in Nashville. But has a
bit
of 100+ degree heat -- not to mention the horrible humidity -- kept your
trusty
pals at Oat Central from working day and night
to make the world
safe
for good music and good times ? Not on your life, amigo. Absolutely,
positively,
emphatically not.
In fact, with the air-conditioning going full-blast, and plenty of wine
and
beer on ice in the official Wild Oats cooler
(available for only $29.95),
Team
Oat has been spurred to new heights of creativity and achievement.
A few summer highlights:
1) Steve Haggard returned
from his second European tour of 1999,
Among
the gigs this time, a cool one at a 12th Century castle in Germany.
2) While in Deutschland, Steve was guest for a three-hour radio special
about
Wild Oats Records, broadcast on Ingolstadt's Radio
In. Ernst Erb &
Kerstin
Schultz hosted, and played CD cuts from the whole Wild Oats crew:
Steve
Haggard, Teddy Glenn, Gail & The Tricksters, Mark Brine, Abilene,
Alison
Krauss, Ted Galloway and all of our other Featured
Artists.
3) Four songs from Wild Oats albums were chosen to be included on the
soundtrack
of the upcoming feature film, "Soho, They Call It."
Written and
directed by Kipp Osborne, the film will debut in Autumn 1999.
4) Singer/songwriter Jeff Callahan was in town, recording his brand-new
CD,
havens, haunts and hollows, with
Steve Haggard producing and Eric
Pitarelli engineering. Some of Nashville's finest musicians played on the
sessions, and the result was a really interesting project. You can hear
a
clip from Jeff's fine album on our Featured Artists page.
5) And, while we're on the subject of the Featured Artists page, we'd
like
to welcome aboard those artists who've joined us in the past couple
of months:
Mark Brine, Abilene, Whiteleather
and Tom Smith.
That should convince the skeptics that occasionally we take a break from
our busy schedule of long lunches, Happy Hours,
grilling out on the patio and
solving the world's problems, and actually get some work done !
And just look at what's coming up in the next month: Steve
Haggard and
Teddy
Glenn will be finishing up their respective, overdue CDs; Steve
will be
heading back to Europe for another short tour; Gail
& the Tricksters will be
doing pre-production for their debut Wild Oats
CD, and also performing live
here in Nashville; and Tom Smith will be hard
at work on his new album.
Well, that's about all for this month from Chateau
d'Oat. (See photo on
our Homepage.) Until next time, may all your oats be wild....
** JULY 1999 UPDATE **
Summertime, and the livin' is easy.... Well, it's not technically summertime
yet,
and the livin' isn't all that easy, but it is hot (90 degrees in
Nashville
today).
And
besides, we needed some kind of catchy opening line for this June Update.
Summertime or not, our headquarters at Oat Central
continues to be a
hotbed
-- can we use that expression on a family-oriented website like ours ?
--
of activity. And, like it or not, you're going to hear all about it.
Wild Oats Website: As you may have noticed
if you've visited us before,
the
site continues to be fine-tuned, upgraded and updated. (Sounds like a good
song
title.) The Featured Artists page, in particular, has a new & improved
look,
and
we're about to add a couple of artists. We'll also be adding a brand-new
page
by
July 12th: Letters to Oat Central, featuring assorted weird correspondence.
Wild Oats artists in the studio: Both of our about-to-be-released CDs
are very near to completion: Steve Haggard's new one, Mysterious
Ways, and
Teddy Glenn's Wild Oats debut, Blue Honda Rodeo.
Both are a bit behind
schedule -- these guys are perfectionists, after all -- but having heard
all the
rough mixes, we know that it'll all have been worth the wait.
Steve Haggard in Europe: Steve has been touring
Europe regularly
since 1991, and on June 23rd heads off for twelve days in Germany and
Denmark. We'll give you a tour wrap-up in our next Update.
And speaking of "the other Haggard," as he's been called, Steve
will be appearing at the Nashville International
Music Fest on June 18th.
The week-long event, organized by the inimitable Argyle Bell, will include
Gail Davies, George Hamilton IV and V, The Woodys, John Carter Cash
and artists from England, Ireland, Australia, Canada, Brazil, Spain &
Japan.
Last, but not least, Wild Oats has a new mascot: Otis,
an incredibly
cute, but demonically possessed, Keeshond pup born on Valentine's Day.
He follows in the (four) footsteps of the much-beloved Hank
(1990-98).
Look for an August Update on or around August 8th, 1999.
*** SPRING
1999 NEWSLETTER ***
Yes,
friends, like it or not, it's time for yet another edition of that obnoxious-
yet-lovable
mixture of philosophy, intrigue and shameless self-congratulation
known as
the Wild Oats Newsletter. Although we've been
doing these News-
letters for
more than ten years now, this is the first one to be available on the
Internet.
(It's nice to know that modern technology is being put to good use,
and that
people from Memphis to Moscow to Manila, from Baton Rouge to
Ulan Bator
to Banff, and from Nairobi to Newcastle to our own hometown of
Nashville
can now stay up-to-date on events here at Oat Central.)
We've
just returned from our regular Monday afternoon staff meeting --
which
is cleverly disguised as a very long lunch -- and are feeling pretty good.
While
things are always busy at Wild Oats, this has been an insanely busy
time
for us. Preparing this brand-new website (which was launched on April
2nd,
1999) created a lot of extra work and stress for the Oat
Central
staff;
we
have two new CD releases by Steve Haggard and Teddy Glenn
in pro-
duction;
and we're also involved in our usual booking, production and pro-
motion, as well as in assorted wacky projects.
And, last but not least, we're worried about this Y2K problem. Not
for the
usual boring reasons that companies are worried about it, but because we
just recently bought a very small tactical nuclear
weapons system from an
unidentified rogue nation-- we got an excellent deal, by the way -- and
are
concerned that Oat Central may be be vulnerable to attack on New Year's
Day 2000.
Back to business. The new Steve Haggard CD,
Mysterious
Ways, will be
released in July 1999. This will be Steve's fifth Wild Oats CD. (His current
release, Make Your Move, was called 'one of the year's best
country albums'
by the Nashville Scene.) The new album features a little more blues --
includ-
ing Steve's superb harp playing -- along with his distinctive, rootsy,
rockin'
country sound. Jack Howell, who has worked on three previous Haggard CDs,
is co-producing and engineering.
Also set for July release is Blue Honda Rodeo, the debut CD from
singer/songwriter Teddy Glenn. We're very
happy to have Teddy on Wild Oats,
and are confident that his hard-hitting blend of country and rock -- which
he calls
Crock -- will find an enthusiastic audience. While this is Glenn's first
solo album,
he has plenty of stage and studio experience, has toured in Europe, writes
great
songs, and is a very talented singer and guitarist.
We have another of our special Wild Oats marketing offers for the
month of April: Buy any Wild Oats CD, and
we'll throw in the booklet, tray card,
jewel box and shrink-wrap absolutely free ! (How do we think of these things
??)
Meanwhile, back at Oat Central, two of our best friends from Europe
came over to visit during February and March. First, musician Nils
Tuxen flew
in to Nashville to play some steel and dobro on Steve Haggard's new CD.
Nils
lives in Hamburg, has been voted GACMF Musician of the year for both 1996
and 1998, and plays in Steve's European touring band. Next to arrive in
town
was
Ernst Erb, a longtime friend of Wild Oats
and one of Germany's best
deejays. In addition to hanging out with Ernst here in Nashville, we also
joined
him for a trip to Memphis. Steve Haggard will be seeing both Ernst
and Nils
when he tours in Europe in June.
Meanwhile, back at Oat Central -- didn't we use that line already ?
-- our
newest Wild Oats act has been making great strides. Gail
& The Tricksters,
a rockin' little combo that mixes rockabilly with swingin' blues, have
been doing
a bunch of great gigs here in Tennessee. Their first single, "Drinkin'
Wine Spo-
Dee-O-Dee," is already picking up airplay. Look for their CD late in 1999.
Well, that about wraps it up for this time. This is being written on
April 15th, 1999... look for a news flash from Oat Central soon !
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