Southern Songs and Stories

Lingua Musica announces a new music documentary produced by Joe Kendrick and Tony Preston of Moonlight Mile studio called Southern Songs and Stories. Work on our half hour pilot episode featuring western NC singer-songwriter Aaron Burdett is underway, and includes footage of his performance on the Lingua Musica Show from earlier this year, more recent performances including one in the studio with Anya Hinkle of Tellico, scenes from Organic Records as well as his home and his parents' home. Aaron's parents' home is in Saluda, at the other end of this long and rather challenging roadThe show celebrates the music of the South and the artists who make it by showcasing their performances and the stories behind their songs. Here you'll get to know the music artists and professionals of the Appalachians and beyond, from their life at home to life on the road and from the studio to sound check. Join us on our journey into the hills and hollers, juke joints and concert halls, garages and record bins, city streets and tip jars as we take a trip down South on Southern Songs and Stories. Stay tuned for news of the pilot episode's release!

Anya Hinkle of Tellico and Aaron Burdett at Moonlight Mile studio

Getting On the Holmes Team

Our friend and three-time guest on the Lingua Musica show, Dave Desmelik has a wonderful young son named Holmes. This spring Holmes was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He has had one surgery and now is waiting to find out how the tumor behaves before doctors attempt anything further.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Holmes and his family. To find out more about how you can help, go to the Facebook group Holmes Team.

Dave Desmelik plays at the Foothills Farmers Market in Shelby, NC 7-5-14

Learning the Music Business with Rick Barker

Moonlight Mile studio and Lingua Musica are psyched to bring a music industry pioneer to western NC for an all-day workshop July 10th. Rick Barker is an author (check out his free book The $150,000 Music Degree), consultant and former manager of Taylor Swift, for starters. He has a wealth of experience and wisdom and is sharing it with music professionals and artists for the first time in person here in the southern Appalachians. Below is a link to the event. Join us!

http://www.musicindustryblueprint.com/moonlight-mile-event/

 

Danny Barnes on the Lingua Musica show 3/22

I've been fascinated with Danny Barnes for years, especially since hearing his post-Bad Livers solo recordings. His blog delivers a constant supply of insightful, thought-provoking articles on the intersections of art and commerce in the life of a musician. Danny's music is both ancient and futuristic, simultaneously strange and familiar. Danny Barnes

We welcome Danny to the Moonlight Mile stage Saturday, March 22nd at 7:30 p.m. for an interview followed by his show. It's not your typical solo banjo performance, mind you.

“Typically, when you’re rollin’ out there (on stage), people start thinking about wagon wheels and rolling hay or something like that, you know. But actually, harmonically speaking it’s kind of an advanced instrument," Danny told the Eugene Register-Guard recently, "“The way it’s pitched and the timbre — you can play with an orchestra, a punk rock band, a traditional jazz quartet, a country band, a rock band. It fits in almost anywhere, because it’s somewhere between a drum and a melodic ­instrument.”

Get your tickets here or at the door at Moonlight Mile studio, located at 565 Long Shoals Road, Suite 203, Arden NC 28704. We recommend advance purchase as there is room for only 50 guests.

Our next show: Hank West & the Smokin' Hots 3/8

The room will fill quickly for the swinging cabaret that is Hank West & the Smokin' Hots this Saturday night, so let us know if you'd like to be on the guest list! It's a free show following our interview with the Smokin' Hots' Andrew Fletcher which will be filmed live for our next episode in the Lingua Musica show series. Showtime is 7:30 p.m.

Asheville, NC's Hank West & the Smokin' Hots

 

Aaron Burdett on the Lingua Musica Show 2/28/14

We're excited to welcome Aaron Burdett and his band to the show Friday, February 28th at Moonlight Mile studio in Arden, NC. Our show begins with an interview at 7:30 and continues with Aaron's live set thereafter.

Aaron's fifth album, Fruits Of My Labor on Organic Records, is getting a lot of well-deserved critical praise. His CD release show is March 7th at ISIS Restaurant & Music Hall in Asheville.

To be a part of the studio audience, drop us a line for your invitation to this free show! The room will fill quickly, and you will have a chance to be interviewed for a chance to be on the finished video of the show!

Saluda, NC's Aaron Burdett

Getting To Know Noah Guthrie

Update: the episode is posted in a follow-up below.

We had a marvelous time last weekend with Noah Guthrie and his family when they trekked up the mountain to be with us for our latest Lingua Musica show. I interviewed Noah before his performance with his brother Ian in front of an intimate, adoring audience, some of whom had driven over two hours to get to Moonlight Mile. Ian Guthrie plays drums with Noah on the show 2-8-14

Noah just turned 20 and comes across as incredibly well grounded, even though his career has taken off into the stratosphere. Already making appearances on Dancing With The Stars and the Today show, and with millions of views of his YouTube channel, you might think Noah could have an air of superiority about him, however that's not the case whatsoever. He is as down to earth an artist as I've ever met, and has an easy-going demeanor that helped make conversation flow easily. Noah's father David Guthrie and host Joe Kenrdrick before the show

Stay tuned for our video of the show and for news of our upcoming shows this February 28th with Aaron Burdett and his band,  Hank West & the Smokin' Hots on March 8th and Danny Barnes on March 22nd.

Thanks to Barbie Angell for emceeing the show!

We Have Liftoff!

The new Lingua Musica series launched last weekend with our friend Dave Desmelik and his band, who played at the new Moonlight Mile studio near Asheville, NC. Gary Wiley (bass), son Grady Wiley (drums) and Dave Desmelik play on the Lingua Musica show

With a brand new concept for the show in a studio that opened only weeks before, we wanted to choose wisely with our first guest. Who better to pick than Lingua Musica veteran subject Dave Desmelik? Dave is a kind and generous individual, and lucky for us, a bit of a risk taker. He jumped into our untested project without hesitation, bringing both his live band as well as his longtime friend and band mate, Josh Gibbs, for the interview portion of the show. Josh would have played live in the band as well were it not for a broken shoulder.

As showtime approached, we enjoyed seeing an audience full of friends and fans as Tony Preston adjusted lights, cameras and gear. We breathed a sigh of relief as the production went off without a hitch. The interview gave a view of Dave, Josh and his band as artists and family men that treasured their music as avocation, with profound dedication to not only their spouses and children but to each other as well. The performance was intimate and engaging, with Dave and his band playing music ranging all over his career, from his latest album Instrumental Swim all the way back to his days in the Flagstaff, Arizona band Onus B. Johnson.

Many thanks to Dave and his band, to Tony Preston of Moonlight Mile and to Sloane Spencer of Country Fried Rock for making the show possible. Also, thanks to longtime contributor and supporter of Lingua Musica, Barbie Angell for being there and live-tweeting the show. We'll be posting the finished video here as soon as it is finished later this week!

New Series Begins with Dave Desmelik

Lingua Musica begins a new music performance and interview series in partnership with Moonlight Mile studios near Asheville, NC with singer-songwriter Dave Desmelik on Saturday, January 18th. Dave Desmelik

Tony Preston, owner of AMR Media Productions, and Joe Kendrick, founder of Lingua Musica, have developed a new production which will be filmed in front of a live audience at the new Moonlight Mile studio. The show will feature live performances along with interviews of the artists. You will be able to see them here shortly after our live sessions.

On February 8th Lingua MUsica welcomes Upstate SC's Noah Guthrie. Noah is an incredibly talented songwriter with a powerful voice, and will perform with his brother Ian.

We're also excited to announce our media partnership with the syndicated radio show, Country Fried Rock. Sloan Spencer has produced more than 200 weekly broadcasts of music and conversations from legends like James McMurtry to rising stars in genres from Americana to bluegrass and rock.

Potential sponsors, media partners and artists are encouraged to contact us about their interest in the new series. Stay tuned for more news on the show!

 

 

Lingua Musica Visits The Queen City

Since 2002, Charlotte NC has been home to the largest music conference and festival in the midatlantic region, the Midatlantic Music Conference. This Friday we travel to the NoDa district of the queen city to take part in the conference's opening panel 6-7p.m. at the Chop Shop: "Music, Entertainment and the MidAtlantic Scene", focusing on regional issues and resources.

One of the pleasant surprises about the Midatlantic Music Conference is discovering a much larger world of music in our own back yard. There are a number of big players in the music business attending, like grammy winning, multi-platinum producer Bruce Irvine, ReverbNation co-founder Lou Plaia, hiphop icon Parish Smith, Berklee College of Music music business/managment chairman Don Gorder, and many more. Did you know that Appalachian State University's Hayes School of Music has a record label run by students? Find out about it firsthand at the Split Rail Records showcase Saturday at the Chop Shop.

Lingua Musica founder Joe Kendrick will appear at the conference Friday evening. We hope you might come by and check it out! Here are details of members on that panel:


(Moderator) DJ Yasmin Young, WPEG Power 98’s, Morning Show Co-Host / 26 Talent, Media Personality, Actress, Motivational Speaker DJ Yasmin Young


Deon Cole, Power 98 and V101.9, Assistant Programming Director and Music Director


Kevin Corzine, Rock University, Founder / Owner, Music and Events Merchandising


Doug Daniel, EastCoast Entertainment, President


Joe Kendrick, 88.7FM / WNCW.org/ www.linguamusicalive.com, Midday Host Joe Kendrick emceeing at MerleFest 2013


Lou Plaia, Reverbnation.com, Co-Founder / EVP Music Industry & Artist Relations


John “J-Dogg” Shaw, Select-O-Hits Distribution, Promotions, Media Relations, Urban A & R      

     
Rob Tavaglione, Owner, Catalyst Recording, Multiple Regional Emmy Award Winner, Writer/Columnist for Pro Audio Review Magazine & Producer/Engineer/Composer


Arnold Taylor, South Coast Marketing / Epic Records, President / National Marketing Director

In addition to panels, check out the King Of The Beats battle, the NoDa Fall Music Festival, and tons of opportunities for networking and broadening your horizons in the music world. Contact us here or on our social media if you are attending and we'll hope to catch up with you in the Queen City!

Importing and Exporting Music with Eric de Fontenay

Lingua Musica goes around the world in our latest conversation with Music Dish and Mi2n.com's Eric de Fontenay, recorded 9-28-13. As one who listens to dozens of new music releases a week, I was quite aware of music from both Asia and Europe, but my knowledge of icons like PSY and new genres like K-pop, as well as personal favorites like Shonen Knife, Dengue Fever, Soukouchi Kina and a raft of artists and bands from Europe was dwarfed by the experience of our latest guest. Eric de Fontenay

We had a lively conversation via Google Hangout On Air, with Eric in New York City and me at home in North Carolina. G+ threw me a curve ball, however, as my voice's audio was delayed a split second, making it incredibly difficult to speak normally. I learned how much we key in on what we're hearing of our own voice in order to speak, and eventually improved my delivery by trying to ignore the delayed voice I was hearing in my headset. However, you'll notice that on the intro especially, I sound like I've been drugged, and periodically I stutter. Please forgive this and the fact that Eric's video never appears. Again, G+ didn't quite live up to expectations, as their program normally is set to automatically show whomever is talking on screen. Hopefully this does not detract from the show too terribly, as Eric is a fascinating entrepreneur and a great conversationalist. Music Dish's showcase and panels at this year's CMJ Music Marathon

In addition to our YouTube video of the show, you can download the podcast from this site as well.  I hope you enjoy the show and please feel free to leave a comment; the conversation is not complete without you!

The video of our conversation is linked below. Stay tuned for more interviews with music professionals and thanks for visiting.

-Joe Kendrick

 

A Conversation with Music Pioneer Scott Welch

I would have never known Scott Welch had it not been for an intersection of traditional and social media last spring. As fate would have it, a LinkedIn post searching for opportunities to branch out led to a reply from a fan of my radio station, WNCW, who put me in touch with Scott for the Google Hangout episode of Lingua Musica posted in this article.

Myra Chapman of All Indianz saw my post, and as a listener from Greenville, SC, was familiar with me on the radio. She reached out and offered help in sourcing her extensive network of artists and music professionals for being on my new series of video interviews and roundtable conversations.

publicity, promotions, media relations and home of Akina Records

Myra put me in touch with Scott Welch, whose list of accomplishments and experiences reads like a highlight reel of milestones in the music business, with a successful foray into the medical field with ChromaGen for good measure. I was both excited and a bit nervous: would he be a high-strung type A personality? Would I be able to engage him and guide the conversation? And what to talk about? There was an overflowing cornucopia of life story here.

For example, Scott has managed the careers and development of multi-platinum recording artists Alanis Morissette, LeAnn Rimes, Steve Perry, Paula Abdul, Collective Soul, C & C Music Factory, and others that have sold a combined total of over 100 million albums worldwide.

Welch was involved with the marketing launch and the IPO of MP3.com, which was one of the first digital music websites and the launch and development of Stubhub, an online ticketing company purchased by Ebay for $320 million. He is also a co-founder of Highnote, a real time web search company and is on the board of directors of Musicians On Call, a nonprofit that brings music artists to the bedsides of patients in healthcare facilities.

Darius Rucker and Randy Houser perform for a hospital patient through Musicians On CallLuckily, Scott has a warm and patient personality and was easy to talk to both in setting up the outline for our show and on camera once it began. I wanted to draw out some sage advice for music artists, professionals and fans in the "wild west" kind of industry we find ourselves in now. How can you promote yourself best? What pitfalls can we avoid? And what about the future of the music industry? I read a quote of his from a 2002 interview which intrigued me: “The whole financial structure that involves artists and record labels has to be changed, and it will change....I would go back to focusing on the music and quit worrying about the corporate structure, worrying about how many units you sold, etc. It’s got nothing to do with art and art is what makes our society liveable.” These were some of the topics we drew from on the show.

We aired the interview live on my Google+ page and have the YouTube videos for you below. While the conversation was lively, our internet connection often was not. After a good start with no hiccups, some of our strands in the world wide web seemed to tangle and we had to start the show over again, so there are two parts to our conversation.

Your comments are welcome here and you may feel free to contact Scott directly as well at scott@swelchmgt.com. We hope you enjoy this episode of Lingua Musica, where music is the universal language!

 part one

part two