MAVERICK News Update – February 20, 2008

AND NOW FOR THE NEWS…

No Depression Magazine To Cease Publishing
No Depression, the bimonthly magazine covering a broad range of American roots music since 1995, will bring to an end its print publication with its 75th issue in May-June 2008.
Plans to expand the publication’s website (www.nodepression.net) with additional content will move forward, though it will in no way replace the print edition.
The magazine’s March-April issue, currently en route to subscribers and stores, includes the following note from publishers Grant Alden, Peter Blackstock and Kyla Fairchild as its Page 2 “Hello Stranger” column:
Dear Friends:
Barring the intercession of unknown angels, you hold in your hands the next-to-the-last edition of No Depression we will publish. It is difficult even to type those words, so please know that we have not come lightly to this decision.
In the thirteen years since we began plotting and publishing No Depression, we have taken pride not only in the quality of the work we were able to offer our readers, but in the way we insisted upon doing business. We have never inflated our numbers; we have always paid our bills (and, especially, our freelancers) on time. And we have always tried our best to tell the truth.
First things, then: If you have a subscription to ND, please know that we will do our very best to take care of you. We will be negotiating with a handful of magazines who may be interested in fulfilling your subscription. That is the best we can do under the circumstances.
Those circumstances are both complicated and painfully simple. The simple answer is that advertising revenue in this issue is 64% of what it was for our March- April issue just two years ago. We expect that number to continue to decline.
The longer answer involves not simply the well-documented and industry wide reduction in print advertising, but the precipitous fall of the music industry. As a niche publication, ND is well insulated from reductions in, say, GM’s print advertising budget; our size meant they weren’t going to buy space in our pages, regardless.
On the other hand, because we’re a niche title we are dependent upon advertisers who have a specific reason to reach our audience. That is: record labels. We, like many of our friends and competitors, are dependent upon advertising from the community we serve.
That community is, as they say, in transition. In this evolving downloadable world, what a record label is and does is all up to question. What is irrefutable is that their advertising budgets are drastically reduced, for reasons we well understand. It seems clear at this point that whatever businesses evolve to replace (or transform) record labels will have much less need to advertise in print.
The decline of brick and mortar music retail means we have fewer newsstands on which to sell our magazine, and small labels have fewer venues that might embrace and hand-sell their music. Ditto for independent bookstores. Paper manufacturers have consolidated and begun closing mills to cut production; we’ve been told to expect three price increases in 2008. Last year there was a shift in postal regulations, written by and for big publishers, which shifted costs down to smaller publishers whose economies of scale are unable to take advantage of advanced sorting techniques.
Then there’s the economy…
The cumulative toll of those forces makes it increasingly difficult for all small magazines to survive. Whatever the potentials of the web, it cannot be good for our democracy to see independent voices further marginalized. But that’s what’s happening. The big money on the web is being made, not surprisingly, primarily by big businesses.
ND has never been a big business. It was started with a $2,000 loan from Peter’s savings account (the only monetary investment ever provided, or sought by, the magazine). We have five more or less full-time employees, including we three who own the magazine. We have always worked from spare bedrooms and drawn what seemed modest salaries.
What makes this especially painful and particularly frustrating is that our readership has not significantly declined, our newsstand sell-through remains among the best in our portion of the industry, and our passion for and pleasure in the music has in no way diminished. We still have shelves full of first-rate music we’d love to tell you about.
And we have taken great pride in being one of the last bastions of the long-form article, despite the received wisdom throughout publishing that shorter is better. We were particularly gratified to be nominated for our third Utne award last year.
Our cards are now on the table.
Though we will do this at greater length next issue, we should like particularly to thank the advertisers who have stuck with us these many years; the writers, illustrators, and photographers who have worked for far less than they’re worth; and our readers: You.
Thank you all. It has been our great joy to serve you.
GRANT ALDEN
PETER BLACKSTOCK
KYLA FAIRCHILD
No Depression published its first issue in September 1995 (with Son Volt on the cover) and continued quarterly for its first year, switching to bimonthly in September 1996. ND received an Utne Magazine Award for Arts & Literature Coverage in 2001 and has been nominated for the award on several other occasions (including in 2007). The Chicago Tribune ranked No Depression #20 in its 2004 list of the nation’s Top 50 magazines of any kind.
Artists who have appeared on the cover of No Depression over the years include Johnny Cash (2002), Wilco (1996), Willie Nelson (2004), Ryan Adams’ seminal band Whiskeytown (1997), the Drive-By Truckers (2003), Ralph Stanley (1998), Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint (2006), Gillian Welch (2001), Lyle Lovett (2003), Porter Wagoner (2007), and Alejandro Escovedo (1998, as Artist of the Decade).

Maverick Comment – Like No Depression, Maverick has also seen a substantial drop in advertising revenue. We’ve also seen a substantial drop in subscription renewals, this appears to be down to many differing reasons – Lack of money is the main reason given, but next is the personal choice reflected in comments about not enough features about acts that individual readers want to read about; ie: I like bluegrass so I don’t want to read about Rascal Flatts; I want more Americana; I want less Americana, etc, etc. Also, there is the problem of the internet. Nowadays people can find the information they want for free with the click of their friendly mouse, so the tediousness of physically reading a quality printed magazine holds, less and less appeal. Like the No Depression people we work from offices situated in spare bedrooms, take little or no money out of the business and produce the magazine because we’re passionate about the music. Despite the misguided negative criticism we’ve received over the last few months, we do intend to continue publishing Maverick, but we do ask that all fans and lovers of the music will help us to achieve that aim by continuing to buy the magazine, support our advertisers and spread the word to those who’ve not heard of the magazine. It’s a tough world out there but our resolve remains strong

———–
Bobby Lord passes

Grand Ole Opry Star, Bobby Lord passed away February 16, 2008. Bobby had been in ailing health for some time. A native of Sanford, Florida, which was known then as the “celery centre of the world”, he was a singer, songwriter, and guitarist and television star. He had his own long-running syndicated television show in the 1960s, produced by WSM in Nashville. During his forty-year career he recorded for Columbia, Decca and Hickory and was a long-time member of the Grand Ole Opry. A full tribute will appear in the April issue of Maverick.

Brenda Lee adds Dove nomination to list of honours
Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Brenda Lee, who is also in the Country Music Hall of Fame, now adds a Dove Awards nomination to her impressive resume.
The music icon received a Dove nomination in the country album category for GOSPEL DUETS WITH TREASURED FRIENDS, which was released in April 2007 by Provident Label Group and features collaborations with Vince Gill, Dolly Parton, Martina McBride and Alison Krauss.
“To have been in this great world of entertainment that I love so much all these many years and to finally have my first gospel album out was thrill enough,” Brenda says. “To be recognised by the gospel community that walks the walk and talks the talk, I can’t put it into words. It’s pretty much overwhelming. I am so appreciative.”
At the request of her father-in-law, Earl Shacklett, Brenda sang at his funeral in 1995. After hearing Brenda sing Softly and Tenderly, Precious Memories and In the Garden, her husband, Ronnie, said, “Brenda, that was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard. You really need to do a gospel album.”
Brenda was raised in the church, so her musical roots and heritage were derived from gospel. She even sang in a gospel quartet by the time she was about 6. “For this to come full circle after all these many years is just amazing,” she says. “My mom had always wanted me to record a gospel album. Fortunately I got to do it before she passed away a year ago November.

Martina McBride, Alabama among Country Artists Nominated For Dove Awards
The Dove nominations are out and Martina McBride, Amy Grant, Ricky Skaggs and Alabama have nominations. McBride’s song Anyway is up for Country Recorded Song of the Year. She’s also on the album that’s up for Special Event Album of the Year, the soundtrack CD “MUSIC INSPIRED BY THE MOTION PICTURE AMAZING GRACE. SONGS 4 WORSHIP COUNTRY is also up for the award and features Charlie Daniels, Diamond Rio, Emerson Drive, Oak Ridge Boys, Rascal Flatts, Marty Raybon, Collin Raye, Ricky Skaggs, and a host of others. Skaggs could earn a few awards come ceremony time. He has two songs nominated for Bluegrass Recorded Song of the Year Love Will be Enough and Salt of the Earth from the album SALT OF THE EARTH which is also up for Bluegrass Album of the Year. Alabama is up for Country Album of the Year for SONGS OF INSPIRATION II. Amy Grant is nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year. The Dove Awards are awarded by the Gospel Music Association and will be handed out April 23rd in Nashville.

Marty Stuart, Connie Smith Donate To Country Music Hall Of Fame
The country stars, who are married, have donated Lester Flatt’s 1950 Martin D-28 guitar. The instrument, which some have called “the Holy Grail of bluegrass guitars,” was used on most of Flatt and Earl Scruggs’ classic recordings and live performances. Flatt and Scruggs are perhaps best known for their tunes Foggy Mountain Breakdown and The Ballad of Jed Clampett from the 1960s TV show The Beverly Hillbillies.

Classic Albums From Tanya Tucker, Suzy Bogguss And Other Re-released.
Albums from Tanya Tucker, Suzy Bogguss are being re-released. Capitol Records Nashville is reissuing 20 digital albums from its vault. The albums are also from classic artists such as Billy Dean, John Berry, George Ducas, Cheryl Wheeler and Lisa Brokop. All the albums will be available starting February 26th.

Rascal Flatts’ FEELS LIKE TODAY certified five times platinum

Rascal Flatts reach another sales milestone as the band’s third studio album, FEELS LIKE TODAY, is certified quintuple platinum by the RIAA for sales of more than 5 million units. The band is one of only three country groups in the last twenty-five years, including Alabama and the Dixie Chicks, to have an album certify for sales exceeding 5 million units. Concurrently, the band’s most recent CD STILL FEELS GOOD has been certified platinum with sales of more than 1.7 million units and MELT reached triple platinum status.

In the eight years since the release of their first CD the band has sold over 16 million albums and scored 9 #1 singles. Their current CD STILL FEELS GOOD is certified platinum and includes the hit singles Take Me There and Winner At A Losing Game.

Another Dolly And Porter Album Re-released
Two more classic Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner albums have been re-released. Their 1969 album ALWAYS, ALWAYS and 1971 album TWO OF A KIND are available together on a 2-on-1 CD reissue. Their 1980 album PORTER & DOLLY came out on Christmas Day. Wagoner died in October at age 80. Dolly also has a new album called BACKWOODS BARBIE due out February 26th.

Taylor Swift Directs New Video
Taylor Swift is taking more control of her career. According to gactv.com, she directed her new video, “I’m Only Me When I’m With You,” and edited it on her laptop. She says it was fun to put all the footage together and thinks creative people like to do anything creative. The video shows Swift’s first 18 months in the limelight. It has clips of her performing, candid shots of her with the band and other artists, and includes some of her fans.
Ira Dean leaves Trick Pony behind to move forward
Trick Pony founding member Ira Dean has left the group after more than a decade to focus on his song-writing and solo career.
In 1996, he and Keith Burns formed the group, which soon included Heidi Newfield and had hits such as On a Mission and On a Night Like This. Heidi left the group in late 2006 to pursue a solo career. She was replaced by Aubrey Collins, who also recently left the band.

The Big Session - Confirms Steve Earle to co-headline with the Oysterband

Friday 13—Saturday 14—Sunday 15 June 2008 De Montfort Hall and Gardens, Leicester

A leading light in environmentally friendly music festivals, acclaimed Leicester event The Big Session has confirmed country-rock legend Steve Earle as one of the headliner’s at this summer’s line-up. Earle is best known for classic albums such as GUITAR TOWN, TRAIN A’ COMIN’ and I FEEL ALRIGHT and released his most recent album WASHINGTON SQAURE SERENADE last year.

The festival—held at De Montfort Hall and Gardens from June 13^th-15^th—has also added Earle’s wife Allison Moorer to a bill that already features the talents of Oysterband, Seth Lakeman, Bellowhead, The Handsome Family, Cara Dillon, Devon Sproule, Kila, Lau, The Troubadours, Hey Negrita and Vincent Vincent & The Villains. Many more exciting acts will be announced imminently.

Now in its fourth year, The Big Session Festival has been heralded by fans and critics alike as one of the UK’s finest boutique festivals. Three sold-out festivals provide evidence of the event’s popularity with the public, while critical acclaim has included a prestigious win (Greener Festival Award) and two nominations (Best Family Friendly Festival and Best Small Festival) at 2007’s UK Festival Awards.

The Big Session Festival prides itself on its welcoming atmosphere and environmentally friendly organisation—indeed, it was one of only ten festivals to be awarded the Red Kite mark in recognition of its environmental planning that has made the festival as self sustainable as possible.

Since launching in 2005, The Big Session Festival has featured an eclectic array of artists including The Levellers, Chumbawamba, Nizlopi, The Men They Couldn’t Hang, Alabama 3, Eliza Carthy and Transglobal Underground.

A strictly limited number of early bird tickets are available now from the box office number 0116 233 3111 or online at https://kiosk4.ts.com/k?Demontfort&BSF. Early bird tickets are priced at £55 for adults, £20 for children and £5 for camping and only available until March 1st.

www.bigsessionfestival.com www.myspace.com/thebigsessionfestival

Chris Austin Song-writing Contest Deadline March 4

Aspiring songwriters, would you like chance to have your original songs heard by a panel of music industry professionals? Would you like a chance to perform at an internationally recognised music festival? Your chance is coming up, but only if you act by March 4!
Each year MerleFest provides songwriters with the opportunity to have their original songs heard by a panel of professional songwriters and others from the Nashville music industry by participating in the Chris Austin Song-writing Contest which will be chaired by music legend and festival-friend Jim Lauderdale. The deadline for entry in the contest is March 4, 2008.
The Chris Austin Song-writing Contest is divided into four categories; country, bluegrass, gospel, and general. First place winners in each category perform live on the Cabin Stage during MerleFest. All finalists will receive all-access passes to MerleFest 2008, lodging during the festival, and other prizes.
Interested songwriters can find out more about the Chris Austin Song-writing Contest by visiting www.merlefest.org or by calling the contest hotline at 1-800-799-3868, or by emailing Allison.Phillips@wilkescc.edu. Entries for the 2008 Chris Austin Song-writing Contest can be submitted on line via Sonicbids. New Sonicbids members may enter one song and obtain a six-month Sonicbids membership for $29.95. Additional entries and entries by existing Sonicbids members are $25. For more information: www.sonicbids.com/chrisaustinsongcontest.

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