INDIE NEWS BEAT October 2, 2006 Edition

Shelter From the Storm Records Launches Classic L.A. Cult Band Bluebeard

Los Angeles cult rock band Bluebeard has reformed and released its first album of new material in over 25 years, "Deluxe With Reverb." Produced and published by new independent music label Shelter From the Storm Records, "Deluxe With Reverb" features a selection of new material, re-recorded and re-mastered songs from the band's late-70s heyday, and a hard-charging cover version of INXS' "Pretty Vegas."

Bluebeard has been around for nearly 30 years and was a mainstay of the Southern California club scene in the 70s and 80s, playing dates with everyone from Van Halen to The Motels to Steppenwolf. They recently played a sold out appearance at L.A.'s Canyon Club, sharing a bill with Blue Öyster Cult. Their last full-length album, "Bad Dream," was released in 1978 and is a treasured collector's item among rock connoisseurs, with asking prices up to $500 per copy on on-line auction sites. Bluebeard received widespread critical acclaim in the U.S. (from the likes of Billboard Magazine, Cash Box, BAM and Radio Report), and was an underground favorite in Japan and Europe.

The tragic death in 2004 of Robert Barry Leech, the band's original lead singer and creative force, led the remaining members to reunite in honor of his memory with a singular focus to once and for all bring their brand of rock & roll to the world. "Deluxe With Reverb" includes a tribute to the past via a rockin' duet of The Rolling Stone's classic "Paint It Black," between Leech and new frontman Ellington Erin.

"Deluxe With Reverb" is commercially available now at iTunes, MSN Music, Napster, Sony Connect, Starbuck's Hear Music, Rhapsody and other leading on-line music stores. A special edition CD, featuring three bonus tracks, is available for sale at Amazon.com.

"We intend to re-connect with Bluebeard's core audience worldwide and introduce them to new fans via this new album," said JP Fillet, Shelter From the Storm's vice president of label operations. "Judging from the reaction of the standing-room-only all ages audience at their recent Canyon Club show, Bluebeard's music has strong across-the-board appeal."

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Eagle International Records Releases Honky Tonk Crazy (And Other Love Songs) By Durwood Haddock

Award winning singer/songwriter Durwood Haddock, releases his third album, "Honky Tonk Crazy (And Other Love Songs)" on Eagle Internation Records, the Texas native and industry veteran's songs have been recorded by such notables as Patsy Cline, Ernest Tubb, Carl Smith, Jerry Wallace, Billy "Crash" Craddock, Sissy Spacek, plus a host of others. His country standard, "There He Goes" is featured in the 1980 movie, "Coal Miner's Daughter" ­ the life story of loretta lynn and in 2005, "I Don't Wanta", also a Haddock/Miller composition was included in the soundtrack of the 2005 movie, "The Whole Ten Yards," starring Bruce Willis and Mathew Perry. More recently "There He Goes" was the featured so! ng in the 2006 movie, "The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things" starring Italian actress Asia Argento & co-starring, Peter Fonda, Marilyn, Manson And Wynona Ryder.

In this his third release all 13 songs are self-penned originals, and it"s as country and honky tonk as country/honkytonk gets. Haddock plays all instruments including twin fiddles, steel guitar, lead guitar, rhythmn guitar, harmonica, accoustic guitar, bass and drums.

All Haddock releases are available at your local media store or online at .

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Winners Announced In Great Lakes Songwriting Contest

A retired Marine Corps captain from Minnesota, a recent graduate of Northwestern University, a Chicago novelist, and a former child actor from New York City: These are just four of the 11 winners of the 2006 Great Lakes Songwriting Contest.

The Grand Prize goes to Jen Cass for her song "Small Town Boy," a song about the exodus from rural America to the industrial Midwest in the early 1900s. "It's a tribute to my grandparents, who taught me how to love unconditionally, and to anyone who's ever survived hard times by leaning hard on good love," Cass says.

Cass, who grew up near Detroit and now lives in Bay City, MI, has been a winner in numerous music contests (including the Metro Detroit Songwriting Contest and the John Lennon Songwriting Contest), and has performed her songs in major venues across the US. Her winning song comes from her third and most recent album, "Accidental Pilgrimage," which was produced by hit producer John Jennings and features some of the top session musicians in the country.

Five of Cass's songs also won honorable mentions in this year's contest.

First place honors were shared this year by Whit Hill of Ann Arbor, MI, and Michael Mahler of Chicago. Hill's song, "Farsighted," is the title cut from her most recent CD. Trained as a child actor in New York City, she went on to get a degree in dance from the University of Michigan before forming her band, "Whit Hill and the Postcards," in 2001. Hill also won a second place award in the 2006 Great Lakes Songwriting Contest for her song "Sandusky," from her acclaimed 2003 release "We Are Here." She also received honorable mentions for three songs in this year's contest.

Mahler, a recent graduate of Northwestern University, has written music and lyrics for numerous shows in both Chicago and New York. He co-wrote the original family musical, "How Can You Run with a Shell on your Back?" which will premiere at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre in March 2007.

Second place honors went to former Marine Corps captain and computer instructor Leo Clark of Burnsville, MN, for his light-hearted country-rock ballad, "Nothing Looks Good on You." Singer-songwriter Rachanee of Lansing, MI, won second place for her haunting exploration of life's pathways, "From Here," which she co-wrote with Steve Wilson of Nashville. Bruce Holmes of Chicago, a novelist, former championship chess coach and former teacher of Aikido and juggling, won both second place honors for "Shine" and a third place award for "We Were A Family." Both songs are from his debut recording, "Life's An Intelligence Test," which has been featured on over 70 radio stations across the country.

Third place honors were shared by Roger MacNaughton of Ada, MI, for his meditative piano composition "Cherry Creek"; Joe Crookston of Ithaca, NY, for his driving saga of adolescent tragedy "Freddy the Falcon"; Patrick Power of East Lansing, MI, for his tribute to a street musician friend "The Heart of Mary Lou"; Rachele Eve of Plymouth, MI, for her tribute to a young woman's internal struggles with romantic rivalry, "Lady in Black"; and Mike Silovich of Chicago for his big band song, "Waiting on Love."

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Grammy-nominated artist Jonny Lang's Releases New Album 'Turn Around'

Grammy-nominated artist Jonny Lang's new album "Turn Around" is now available in stores and on iTunes !

Ten years into his recording career, Jonny Lang is fulfilling the promise critics hailed at the outset of his career. He has garnered platinum and gold certifications, a Grammy nomination, sold-out headlines concerts around the world, and toured with the Rolling Stones, among other accolades. Now Lang's "Turn Around," releasing on A&M Records to general and Christian market retail Sept. 19, reveals him to be a young adult artist of extraordinary musical and spiritual depth.

On "Turn Around", Lang confidently employs the songwriting craft he introduced on 2003's "Long Time Coming", the first album on which he had written or co-written nearly all of the songs. Lang's own songs have been described as "more like Stevie Wonder than Stevie Ray Vaughn." At Wonder's request, and in his presence, Lang had the honor of performing "Livin' for the City" at the legend's induction to the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Like Wonder's first self-composed recordings, "Turn Around" is thoroughly spiritual and a personal expression of his faith. Producer Ron Fair, whose many credits include Black-Eyed Peas' "Where Is the Love," realizes the funk and gospel energy inherent in these 14 songs co-written by Lang and Grammy winners Drew Ramsey and Shannon Sanders , as well as five- time Grammy winner and GMA's most awarded artist, Steven Curtis Chapman.

"I've been a fan of Jonny Lang for a long time, but I think this record captures more of his heart and soul than any music I've ever heard him make," says Chapman, who co-wrote "My Love Remains" for the album with Lang. "I'm very honored to have had the privilege of writing with Jonny for this record and our friendship has shown me that he's a man that's passionate about his faith as a Christian and is committed to reflecting that in his music. This is an amazing record from an amazing artist."

"Turn Around" opens aptly with an organ intro by Sanders and continues with, "Bump in the Road," one of the album's numerous songs about the theme of redemption. Lang sings a duet with Michael McDonald on "Thankful" and in "One Person At A Time," the eminent musicians Sam Bush (mandolin) and Buddy Miller (guitar) join Lang for "On That Great Day," while Nickel Creek violinist Sara Watkins contributes to "Only A Man," on which Lang shares vocals with his wife, Haylie.

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Country Singer Miko Marks Taps MusicDish Network For Development Campaign

MusicDish, an Internet music magazine publisher and artist marketing/development firm, announced the addition of Michigan-based country singer Miko Marks to the MusicDish Network roster. Through its online marketing and brand development campaign, the MusicDish Network will promote the third single and first music video "Mama" - featuring Grammy winning Erykah Badu in the title role - from Miko's full-length album "Freeway Bound" ().

2006 has been a banner year for this country newcomer. Since signing with indie label Mirrome Records during CMA MusicFest, the singer/songwriter has opened for Warner Records artist, Ray Scott, and toured the states from California to Washington D.C. with the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo, America's only touring black rodeo, now in its 22nd year. The album "Freeway Bound", recorded in Nashville with legendary producer, Ron Cornelius, has enjoyed airplay in 14 countries including the US, while the title track was used in Episode #102 of CMT's "Home Blitz with Habitat for Humanity."

MusicDish Network will conduct 3 month campaign in support of the single and video "Mama", combining content development, syndication/street team, social networking and distribution. In addition, Marks will be aggressively pushed on social networking sites such as MySpace, YouTube and TagWorld (to name a few), while conducting a viral distribution campaign of the single and video on major file sharing networks such as eDonkey.

Raised in Flint, Michigan, the industrial heartland of the country, Miko discovered a natural vocal talent, and her writing skills blossomed under the care of a loving family and a life touched by enriching experiences. Her lyrics are optimistic and personal, delivered by crisp and powerful vocals that shine on the soulful, "I Believe In You" and lift the spirit on the jubilant, "Excited".

While attending Louisiana's Grambling State University on a music scholarship, Miko was enthralled with the story-telling nature of country music and felt that she had her own to share. As fate would have it, she became friends and collaborated with another talented GSU student, R&B songstress Erykah Badu, who portrays Mama in this autobiographical look into Miko's life.

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MusicDish Network Revamps Website & Service

MusicDish, an Internet music magazine publisher and artist marketing/development firm, announced a major update of its MusicDish Network website and service offering (www.musicdish.net). The MusicDish Network is a unique music community providing musicians and labels with online saturated marketing and brand development.

The MusicDish Network now offers artists and music companies a 3 month campaign combining content development, syndication/street team, social networking and distribution. As an online music magazine publisher for nearly 10 years, MusicDish has been a leader in content development and syndicated thousands of music articles through its network of over 200 affiliated websites. In coordination with its in-house street team targeting non-traditional outlets, MusicDish provides its clients with a critical mass of exposure throughout the Internet.

Social networking sites are also a key component to the MusicDish Network campaign. But while MySpace has captured the lion's share of attention among artists, we aggressively market through a set of social networking sites most suited to the specific artist or company, including TagWorld, Music Forte, iSound, Live Digital, and YouTube, to name a few. Beyond building a critical mass of 'friends' and music plays, MusicDish conducts special promotions to create broader awareness among these sites' audiences.

The redesigned MusicDish Network website features its current roster of artists, including Jazz chanteuse Mellani Day, Country artist Miko Marks, drum n bass act Mashed Buddha and Astrella Celeste, daughter of the 'British Bob Dylan' Donovan, as well as clients such as Indie Bible, WorkshopLive and YourGuitarist.com. Visitors to the new MusicDish Network website (http://www.musicdish.net) can review our past artists (over 150), campaign case studies, selected client videos as well as a news feed that will be made available to selected indie music websites and webradio stations.

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Makato.org Is Pleased To Announce The Winners Of Their Online Music Promotions Artist Of The Year Awards

Makato.org is pleased to announce the winners of their Online Music Promotions Artist of the Year Awards. Makato Artists of the Year, from our base artists and from a contest among indie musicians that are actively promoting themselves. The base or past Makato Artists of the Month (AOTM) with or without nomination on the promotions contest ballots. The AOTY criteria for base artists is chosen by Makato.org not only for talent and musicianship; but by the continued support they give to the Makato network and other artists in the US and abroad during the year!

The Nominated Artists of the Year (AOTY) promotion winners are the 11 artists that brought in the most visitors during the contest. It is the first year Makato has done that and the contest we may hold yearly at our MySpace.com/makato as it generated thousands of visitors! Base artists must be nominated to participate in that contest and cannot win on both accounts. Disbanded and mainstream contestants are disqualified as this is an independent contest and the winners get promotion with features, news and links throughout Makato.org all year and free. Makato's networking partners and affiliated websites may have additional information on the artists and you will find these artists throughout the entire indie network while browsing the web! The best part of a contest that runs this way is that the younger musicians can learn easily how best to promote themselves online.

The Artists are outstanding and show continued efforts through their self promotion and support of the network. Makato's success would not be possible without some of the support we get from the artists that promote our network - whether it be from their newsletters and their links or their word of mouth promotion! The AOTY winners all get free promotion and feature status throughout 2007 at Makato.org and we wish them all continued success in years to come! Click the artists name to visit their page at Makato below! All have free promo at Makato for one year to begin October 1, 2006 and VIP status on all Makato websites

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New Radiotracker Software Revolutionizes Free Internet Music

"All previous Internet radio recorders, Radiotracker 2 among them, filtered the user's desired songs from bulk music recorded in parallel, an approach that was constrained by DSL bandwidth," said Norman F. Foerderer, Director Sales & Marketing of RapidSolution Software.

"Those with an average DSL connection typically could simultaneously record and filter only up to 20 radio stations. But Radiotracker 3 Platinum uses a completely new technology that enables it to actually learn from thousands of other Radiotracker 3 applications around the world, determining what music is beginning to be played at any moment on over 14,000 Internet radio stations. This not only increases song delivery tenfold, it frees users from having to listen to individual stations and eliminates the need for bulk recording processes that consume bandwidth."

As with previous versions of Radiotracker, already popular in the U.S., Japan and Europe, the new easy-to-use application is an inexpensive way for music lovers to fill their MP3 players or PCs with thousands of free music tracks from Internet radio. Radiotracker software enables users with a broadband connection to download everything digital from punk rock to opera. Users simply select from 77 musical genres and then can listen along as Radiotracker scours the offerings of over 14,000 Internet radio stations, downloads the tunes, separates them into individual MP3 files and archives them on their hard drives.

Like TiVo and other applications that record broadcast material for personal use, Radiotracker accomplishes this without violating U.S. copyright law. And because downloads come from all over the Internet and not from a P2P server, Radiotracker users have complete anonymity.

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Provided by the MusicDish Network. Copyright © MusicDish LLC 2006 - Republished with Permission