Just found out that one of the artists I produce, Chance McKinney, has won the 2009 CMT Music City Madness contest.

Just heard back from some amazing friends who will be on my solo CD:

I'm really excited to announce I'm starting on a solo songwriter CD tomorrow! Haven't cut a record on me in ages and so many people have asked for one, I took the plunge!

You're invited:

From the latest session on Daisy Mallory:

Hey everyone,

Please check the calendar for new shows in the Honolulu-Waikiki area.

More coming! Thanks to all the folks in Hawaii for the love and Aloha spirit!

Just heard last night (at our show at the Bluebird) that the voting at CMT has resulted in Sarah Darling's debut hitting #3 and Jeff Bates #1 on the Pure 12 Pack. That's amazing, especially considering Sarah has been on the voting only 3 days!
Thank you so much. It's awesome to see Black River Music hit two home runs like that. Sarah's CD is coming in June and the single Jack of Hearts is hitting radio now.

I've just finished producing five master sides for Daisy Mallory and folks, this girl is the real deal....a rare artist. Her final vocals are one pass, no comps, and NO TUNING. She sounds as good in the room live as she does on the tracks. I was amazed how consistent she was!
Only 15 years old, Daisy wrote or co-wrote all the songs. She's a wonderful, fun girl with long red hair and a really honest, modern voice. We recorded at Ronnie's Place, Milsap's studio inside Black River Music, with a killer band:
Eddie Bayers - drums; Matt McKenzie - bass; Mike Johnson - steel; Jimmy Nichols - piano, B-3, Wurly and strings; Danny Parks - electric guitar and banjo; yours truly on acoustic and resonator guitar. Marcia Ramirez and I did BGVs.
I turned to Kevin Beamish for mixing. Kevin has mixed nearly every record Kenny Chesney has ever cut, plus produced and mixed five albums for REO Speedwagon, worked with Stevie Wonder on his two best albums and has mixed 35 years of #1s from Love Machine to Candlebox.
Mastering was by Randy LeRoy at Final Mix.
After only a few sides were tracked, it was obvious to all of us that we had a killer session going and that Daisy was someone that all the labels would be interested in. So far, two majors and one indie are all talking to her team.
Speaking of her team, she's attracted a great bunch of players: Mike Milam for legal, Rod Essig as her agent, Chuck Flood for business mgr, and Henry Neuman and Chip Latham, managers.
As soon as I get the okay, I'll post a couple samples on my player. Meanwhile, we're waiting to see what will develop on the label side of things.
Wish her well!
 

Mark your calendars....Black River Music Group presents its artists and writers at the Bluebird Cafe on April 9th at 6 pm.
Jeff Bates, Sarah Darling, Jimmy Nichols, Jeff Dayton
Hope you can be there!