A & E Editor 16

The staff of Noteworthy Studio in Carbondale has created a sister label for Reception Records, and it is hoping it will offer local musicians a better chance for success in the music industry.

The new label is known as Relay Records. It is an offshoot of the bluegrass/folk label Reception Records, 705 W. Main St., which began in town about a year ago and represents such acts as The Gordons and Kevin Lucas.

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Kevin Graham, the executive producer of both labels, said Relay was initiated because the management at Reception wanted to expand their services to involve all types of local music acts rather than their previously limited scope.

Reception is a bluegrass/folk label, he said. And there are all these other great bands in the area that play all different types of music.

Graham said that in the past, local musicians have started-out as second-class citizens in the music world because they lacked the affiliation that would allow them to present themselves as professional.

An affiliation contract is not the same as a normal record contract. When a person affiliates, he or she simply prints the name of the affiliate label on the back of the recording, and does record pressing and packaging with them. In turn, the label provides supplemental promotional and legal services (at a cost) and allows the person to use its bar code.

Bar codes are the labels printed on all types of products that when scanned tell store workers the basics about the product. This is of the utmost necessity if one wants to market a product nationally rather than locally.

Chad Minier is the trumpet player for local ska-core favorites the Boro City Rollers. The Rollers, along with local alternative rockers Halfway Jane, are affiliating with Relay for their respective upcoming releases. Minier said that for the musical acts, there is an added advantage to affiliating.

With just an affiliation there is no binding contract, Minier said. So if we did get picked-up [signed to a desirable record contact], there would be no strings attached.

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Graham said he believes Relay has substantial help to offer area musicians in their quest for success in a difficult-to-succeed-in industry.

We’ve developed some resources and experience through Reception, he said. We’ve done radio promotion and national distribution of records.

Although the same people operate Noteworthy recording studio in town, Graham said bands do not have to record there to affiliate with Relay. In fact, Graham said qualifying to affiliate is extremely painless

Relay is open to all different types of music as long as they’re from the Southern Illinois area, he said. They just have to contact us when they have a reached a serious point in wanting to release a record.

While bands do not have to record in Noteworthy, Minier said the Rollers did and that helped them make the decision to affiliate.

We like working with Todd (Freeman, a co-producer at the studio) and Kevin (Graham), he said. We like the job they did on the production and everything, so we talked it over and decided it was a good deal.

Graham said the concept behind the creation of the label is basic.

It is to help area musicians and artists have a better chance of succeeding in the music world, he said.

For more information, contact Reception/Relay publicist Lisa Pangburn at 529-8081.