The idea of Badly Bent Records was germinated about 2 years ago, when I (I being Stevie Z) decided that just being obsessed with good music wasn’t enough. Over the past 20 some odd years I’ve seen brilliant singer-songwriters and performers who had been attending their craft for years, still playing in small venues, often to crowds who didn’t give a rats buttocks.
Critical mass was reached in April of 2010, when I finally decided to get off my butt, and put my knowledge where my mouth was.....or something like that. After embarking on a crash-course in marketing using every available resource: books, podcasts, blogs, videos, and talking to people who knew much more then myself, I finally came to the conclusion that the time was right.....but I still needed that one final element.
The final element came, unfortunately, in the passing of my father Bill in August, 2010. My father was a very gifted creative man, who spent many many years perfecting ideas and projects, but yet never pulling the trigger to truly make it happen. I realized that I didn’t want to be staring at myself in the mirror at age 65 and saying “damn, I wish I’d started that record label after all”. And so, on Sept. 1, 2010, at 12:10 PM, Badly Bent Records was born. Breech, of course....nothing worth anything is easy....
Along with it’s own recording facility, Blue Feather Studios, and soon-to-be-launched publishing arm, Badly Bent Records aims at complete “musical midwifery” for an artist, working in conjunction with preferred photographers, videographers and other specialists, to help an artist get their songs out to the world. Badly Bent will also provide coaching on stage craft, an often overlooked component of a musician’s career.
Badly Bent Records will also be working with professional musicians to help others develop their ‘musical chops’ by offering lessons and workshops, and helping to network musicians with other musicians, because as Big Label Money (and control!) slowly die off, the only way people are going to make it is by helping each other.
The Badly Bent Records family will be focusing primarily on digital distribution initially, as it usually provides a better return to the musicians right out of the gate, enabling them to better focus on their craft, and hopefully enable them to be financially independent enough to concentrate on what matters - the songs and the music.
If you have any further questions about how Badly Bent Records or one of it’s divisions may be of assistance to you, please do not hesitate to contact me.
“The greatest song in the world, if no one hears it, is wasted.”
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