hangs-head-shamefully

Don't make us pull out the wagging fingers of shame, Jon. My other round robin has been fitful, too, though.

There was a very small crowd, maybe ten or twenty. I wasn't too surprised, since how would they have heard of her?

Butterfly is her real name (there's an amusing story on her website about how her mother came to the conclusion that it was the right name for her), and Boucher is pronounced to rhyme with "croucher." She's Australian, complete with accent, and very pretty. In her video and on the CD, her hair is always up, but this was my first time seeing her with her short hair down, and I think it looks better.

She did a sound check and then did a short acoustic set consisting of "Another White Dash," "Life Is Short," and "I Can't Make Me." She's got a great voice. She's touring with Sarah McLachlan, and I suppose their sounds are similar, but Butterfly is more upbeat and alt-poppy (I like making up genres).

Afterwards, I got my CD signed (ten-dollar CD, woo!), and I also got her to sign something for my brother, who already loves the CD. On a blank sheet of paper, I wrote, "My brother saw Butterfly Boucher and all I got was this stupid autograph." I told her she could draw something if she wanted, since the whole rest of the paper was blank. She drew a little picture of the mini-concert, with her onstage, her signature becoming the guitar, and little circles to represent "thousands of fans." I asked her to point to me, and she remembered where I was sitting and drew an arrow to my circle and gave me a happy face. It was the bloody coolest signature ever. I don't want to give it my brother now. But I will. I think.

I also took a picture with her and got her to sign the actual CD and not just the booklet. She's very nice, and fun to talk to. I like musical artists like that, who are just so happy to get their music out, for whom Borders appearances aren't a chore, who enjoy interacting with fans.

So she gets my thumbs up. Check her out.

So I have a little extra money this month and I got the AMG release e-mail today and thought I might drop some on cds. I listened to what samples I could on Amazon, but they're horrible quality, and too short to really get a feel for the cds.

Here's what I'm considering-
Drive by Tuckers- Southern Rock Opera (Liked what I could hear from the samples)
Dirty South (no samples)

The Unbroken Circle-Various artists doing good old country stuff- thinking of this as a gift for my cousin too

Geri Allen- Liked some of the samples- but wayyyyyyy too short for jazz. Would make an excellent gift for Mr. H

G Love- Hopefully there's a fuller sound than on the samples Could only listen to Yeah, It's That Easy, and Greatest Hits

Wiley- no samples, but it sounds interesting

Any thoughts?

Here's the High Hat on Southern Rock Opera. Personally, I listened to it quite a bit when I first bought it, but not so much these days.

I don't know nothin' 'bout nothin' else on your list, though.

So it looks like I probably will like at least that set.

And hayden, next time I'm down thataway- I'm going to drag you guys to see The Handsome Charlies. I won't even smoke whereever it is they're playing.

Burn-to-order is definitely going to help these small indie labels with a back catalog. You can pretty much run it out of your second bedroom again without having to store a ton of stock and supplie

Actually, that reminds me of a question I've had: What happens to the records if a label goes out of business, assuming anyone still wants to buy them? Do the rights go back to the artist, or can they be sold as an asset of the label to whoever will buy them? Or do they simply cease to exist?

And hayden, next time I'm down thataway- I'm going to drag you guys to see The Handsome Charlies. I won't even smoke whereever it is they're playing.

Woo hoo!

Actually, that reminds me of a question I've had: What happens to the records if a label goes out of business, assuming anyone still wants to buy them? Do the rights go back to the artist, or can they be sold as an asset of the label to whoever will buy them? Or do they simply cease to exist?

My understanding is that this depends on the contract, but typically the rights exist as an asset to be sold. Thus: Michael Jackson owning the rights to Beatles songs.

Thus: Michael Jackson owning the rights to Beatles songs.

Actually he owns the publishing rights (& publishing rights are generally divided between the songwriter & the publisher -- which is why it's smart to set up your own publishing company.) It sounds like LJ is asking more about the recordings themselves, a.k.a., "mechanical rights". Gotta go, but just Google "mechanical rights". Capitol owns the Beatles recordings. McCartney still gets royalties as songwriter, but no longer as... whatever he & Lennon published as. Michael Jackson paid a chunk of change to get that share of the royalties.

Hey, has anyone here listened to Animal Collective's Sung Tongs? 'Cause, wow. This is some seriously psychedelic stuff.

It sounds like LJ is asking more about the recordings themselves, a.k.a., "mechanical rights".

That's exactly what I'm curious about. Like, let's say Sub Pop went completely out of business. Locked doors, selling off everything down to the filing cabinets, etc. Obviously, people are going to keep wanting to buy Nirvana's Bleach (and other Sub Pop records, but that's the most obvious example I can think of), so there must be some way to keep it in print. I'm assuming, based on Joe's links, that what happens is that Sub Pop sells the mechanical rights to Geffen (or whoever), who then print the discs and pay songwriting and performance royalties to Courtney Love, Krist Novoselic, and Chad Channing. Right?

Also, I'd assume artists can't force a record label to keep their album in print because of the mechanical-rights issue.