BRR Team

We wanted to send everybody our best wishes for this holiday season! Whether you are celebrating a holiday or not, the Bent River Records team wants to wish you a wonderful years’ end. We’ve been a little quiet over this holiday season as we have all been taking time away from our devices and spending it with our families and friends!

We will see you in the New Year with continued announcements around our artists and our annual Spotlight in April. All the best, and Happy New Year!

So, you are thinking about hiring a publicist…These are the top 5 tips that will help you hire and work with a publicist. There are many amazing companies and independent contractors out there and choosing the right one can be a challenge. Read on below for the most important factors in choosing the right one. 

• • Preparation
    When releasing an album you want to ensure that you have done all the necessary work to prepare your team. The first step is making sure that you have a product for publishing and that the recording and mastering are complete and you are ready to being duplicating your album. Another aspect is making sure that you are working with the right publicist by ensuring they understand the needs of your music as well as media outlets in your genre (folk, rock, punk, etc.). The right publicist will make sure that your album gets reviewed in media outlets that make sense for your genre. If you are a folk band you want to show up on websites like Penguin Eggs, CBC, and other relative folk websites.In addition to finding the right publicist, you should also think of which songs best represent your band or even a change in your sound. Publicity as a practice is similar no matter the genre that you are working in. By hiring a publicist that specializes in your genre they can better reach the relative media that directly relates to your music.  it is your job to ensure that you are hiring someone who is an expert in your genre. Make sure you do your research and ask around to see what your peers are saying about various publicists.
  • Timeline
    When musicians are creating albums they often have their own timeline in mind and by adding another team member allows for more freedom to focus on recording, and requires more communication. The publicist will often ask for as much lead time as they can because they are looking to employ a strategy behind the promotion; this can mean 3-6 months before the album is even released. Publicists have to adhere to various industry practices and blackout periods so that they can get the most press for your album. When you are hiring them they will be aware of competing for release dates with other similar musicians, holidays, and to avoid large industry events where media will be unavailable.
  • Materials
    I am sure that you have heard the saying “more is more,” well content is “king/queen” on the internet and the more promotional materials that you have the better.This includes items like:
    • Music videos
    • Lyric videos
    • Playthrough videos (guitar, bass, drum, vocal, etc.)
    • Photographs (promotional and social media content)
    • Strong songs from the album (called singles usually 1-2 for an EP or 2-4 for a full-length)
    • Giveaways
  • Correspondence
    The easiest way to streamline communication is to delegate 1-2 individuals in the band (or you, if you are a solo artist). These person(s) will be responsible for communicating not only with the publicist but the media as well. There are two benefits to this:
    • You can establish a stronger connection with your publicist and they can better understand your music and how it should be represented.
    • There is a consistent public voice that people can establish as streamline brand that aligns with the image of the music and the personalities behind it.Overall, it may be daunting for one or two people to take on the communications but ultimately there will be a greater level of consistency that lines up with the brand established for the musical project. Interviews need to be coordinated quickly, so make sure to set aside time for impromptu interviews and quick conversations to check in about the campaign with media as well as your publicist.
  • Empathy
    Typically, publicists and record labels have cycles for promoting their artists and in order to do a great job they need a clear timeline to prepare for the campaigns. This means that 3-6 months PRIOR to the album release date you need to prepare an electronic press kit (EPK or one sheet), content creation (videos, photoshoots), and strategize a timeline for promotion. By understanding someone else’s role and encouraging them to become a part of your team you will have a stronger promotional campaign that closely aligns with the brand of the project whether it is an album, tour, music video, or otherwise.Publicity should be used to garner interviews, reviews, and previews of your music and your career as an artist. By taking the time to research the right publicist and strategize your campaign you can make your music and your money work hard for you.

Edmonton based jazz vocalist, Kate Blechinger, is ecstatic to release her debut album, Under a Dancing Sky, at the Yardbird Suite. Under a Dancing Sky features innovative folk-jazz arrangements of Joni Mitchell’s compositions alongside several of Kate’s original songs which are inspired by the Canadian musical icon’s legacy. This collection of songs is a tribute not only to Joni Mitchell, who turns 75 years old this November, but also to Kate’s experiences growing up on the prairies.

Kate will be joined by a group of very talented musicians, including:

Brett Hansen – Guitar
Chris Andrew – Piano
Rubim de Toledo – Bass
Joel Jeschke – Drums
Joseph Semple – Clarinet
Mallory Chipman – Vocal

Date: Thursday, November 29, 2018
Time: Doors at 7 PM (show starts at 8 PM)
Location: The Yardbird Suite (11 Tommy Banks Way)
Price: $16 tickets for members | $20 for non-members
* TICKETS AVAILABLE AT DOOR ONLY. NO ADVANCE TICKETS.

For more info, visit: www.yardbirdsuite.com/tuesday-jam-sessions
or www.facebook.com/events/356283758464402/

Check out the breakout single “Night In The City” below!

Big news here at Bent River Records! We are adding another artist to the roster! Kate Blechinger is an inventive and charismatic vocalist, composer, and arranger. Originally hailing from Regina, Saskatchewan, Kate takes direct influence from the vast prairie landscapes of her youth to create expansive, evocative compositions and arrangements for listeners to enjoy. She now resides in Edmonton, and is an alumna of the Bachelor of Music program. She will be releasing an album under the Bent River Records label at the end of November. We did a small interview with Kate to see what lies ahead on the new record. Check it out below:

What is your album called?

My album is called Under a Dancing Sky.

What do you want listeners to know about the album?

Under a Dancing Sky is my debut album.  It is inspired largely by my biggest musical inspiration, Joni Mitchell, and the connection we share as female musicians hailing from the Canadian prairies.  To me, Joni has always been a strong example of a musician that follows her own creative path, often pushing boundaries and defying genre classifications along the way; I tried to emulate her spunky, experimental attitude in this process.  When picking songs to arrange from Joni’s catalogue, I tried to pull from the many phases of her career and to choose compositions related to the theme of journeying through many different spaces and contexts. In my own compositions, I focused on using the music as a vehicle to express my own journey, and paint the landscapes that served as a backdrop for my growth as a person and artist.

Where and when is the release?

The release is on Thursday November 29^th at the Yardbird Suite here in Edmonton.  I am grateful to have my release show be part of the YEG Thursday showcase series at the Suite!  Tickets are available at the door only, and are $20 for non-members, and $16 for members.

For more information, visit: www.yardbirdsuite.com/tuesday-jam-sessions

What can we expect?

On this album, listeners can expect an interesting hybrid of my two favourite musical genres, folk and jazz.  Symbolically, I grew up listening to folk music, and in more recent years, I have transitioned into writing more jazz influenced music.  So, this album combines acoustic instrumentation and folk lyricism with jazz harmony and improvisation to express where I have come from and where I am going.

The result is an eclectic and evocative mix of original compositions and my unique arrangements of Joni Mitchell’s songs, featuring some of Edmonton’s finest musicians!

Why did you choose to release a track early, and what is the track called? 

This track is called “Night in the City”, and it is a Joni Mitchell composition from her 1968 debut album, Song to a Seagull.  Today, on Joni Mitchell’s 75^th Birthday, I am honoured to share my take on one of her earliest recorded tunes.  According to Joni’s website, “Night in the City” was inspired by an area in Toronto called Yorkville Avenue, where one could walk down the street and hear the full gamut of music, both good and bad, mixing into musical puddles in one’s ears.  I felt very inspired to arrange this tune in a lively, jostling way, to give listeners a real sense of what that avenue must have been like in the 1960s.  I hope everyone enjoys my take on “Night in the City”.

Check it out on Soundcloud:
www.soundcloud.com/kateblechingermusic/night-in-the-city/s-KmGsC

Some of the artists on the label will be collaborating with some of MacEwan’s music students and outside musicians to perform at Music Conference Alberta this weekend! As a part of the Alberta Emerging Musicians Festival, Mallory Chipman, Chandelle Rimmer and Tom Van Seters will be performing with the MacEwan University Big Band (directed by Ray Baril), the MacEwan University Jazz Combo (directed by Kent Sangster), and will feature a special guest trumpeter Terell Stafford. Chandelle and Tom will also be performing a few tunes from their latest release, Stillness Falls.

This is going to be an exciting performance as it will showcase our local MacEwan community including staff and students, as well as showcase international performers to the Alberta Music community who is in town for the conference.

The performance is on Saturday, October 27th at 7:00pm in the Betty Andrews Recital Hall in Allard Hall at MacEwan University.

Click here to grab some tickets (non-delegate tickets available), and have a peak at some more information about the musicians in both The Big Band and Jazz Combo, as well as more information on the visiting trumpet player Terell Stafford.