Ardent Music

Oli Brown endorsed by Fender Guitars

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 17:23:05 -0600

FENDER are endorsing Oli Brown with an artist deal! This is great for Oli (he uses Fender amplification) and gives him the opportunity to expand his use of Fender equipment. Graham Brown says that this does NOT mean that Oli is moving away from his Stonetree guitar, in fact his new Stonetree custom model should be with him within the next two months. Oli has just returned from a successful tour of the States, where he had a great time. Sherman Robertson, Oli tells us, is fantastic live - do NOT miss him!! Ardent Sessions: Oli Brown Band "New Groove"

Indie Impact 2008

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 15:26:27 -0600

Oct. 18 is the date of the day-long conference. Below are confirmed panelists. Basically we are presenting our regions' indie artists, producers, labels & managers a conference full of info about songwriting&producing, new media&new money, touring & promotion, PRO registration/webcasters/broadcasters/soundexchange issues, indie financial business practices and more. We are targeting attendees that work in the indie rock & indie urban (rap/hip-hop/r&b) genres. Confirmed panelists include: Billy Hume (producer Shop Boyz/Ying Yang Twins/Lil Jon/Ludacris) Al Kapone (Critic's Choice Award-winning writer "Whoop That Trick") DJ Toomp (GRAMMY-winning producer Kanye West/T.I.) WyldCard (GRAMMY-nominated producer Chris Brown/Ciara) Ralph Sutton (engineer Steve Wonder/Elton John/Mary J. Blige) Paul Ebersold (GRAMMY-winning producer 3 Doors Down/Third Day) John Hampton (GRAMMY-winning engineer The Raconteurs/The Replacements/The White Stripes/John Hiatt) Dennis Herring (GRAMMY-winning producer Modest Mouse/The Hives) Pierce Stacy (general counsel IODA distribution) Gilly Roswell (music supervisor The Great Debators/The Commitments) Anne Pitts, atty, licensing for the Oxford American music issue, tour mgmt co. owner, Director Levitt Shell Jeff Powell, engineer and owner of label Humongous Productions Zac Ives, owner Goner Records Rachel Hurley, New Media Consultant for Ardent Studios, Programmer/Host for Breathruradio.com Tonya Butler, atty and music business professor at U of Memphis Nate Douglas, Paste Magazine Johnnie Walker, Memphis Music Commission executive director Cameron Mann, Memphis Music Foundation program director Mr. Del, holy hip-hop artist Jay Healy, Century Wealth Management And more are coming....

Jody Stephens Remembers Isaac hayes

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 20:07:54 -0600

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Isaac Hayes looked like he was 35 years old. I would run into him occassionally at Wild Oats and we would talk about healthy diets. I was really shocked when I got the news about his passing. My two favorite pairs of writers were Hayes/Porter and Lennon/McCartney. Years ago my wife, Diana, and a friend of hers were in line at the old Squash Blossom (a health food store). They had been busy talking as they approach the counter and didn't notice that Isaac Hayes was just in front of them, that is, of course, until he spoke. He was ordering a carrot juice for himself. My wife turned to her friend and said that she had never had carrot juice before...sounded interesting. Apparently Isaac heard her comment, turned around and started telling her about the virtues of "juicing" then bought her a carrot juice. He was a sweet, healthy soul. Jody Stephens Ardent Studios

Rob Jungklas Records Mapping the Wreckage at Ardent

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 15:09:45 -0600

In the Picture, L to R: Engineer Jeff Powell, Rob Jungklas, and guitarist Steve Selvidge. Rob Jungklas was in the studio with a who's who of Memphis musicians recording his new record, to be entitled Mapping the Wreckage. The group was here for five days and tracked 11 songs. Jeff Powell was the engineer, with Lucas Peterson assisting. The players on the session included guitarist Steve Selvidge, John Whittemore on pedal steel, lap steel, baritone guitar, guitar, and acoustic, Harry Peel and Robert Barnett on drums, Sam Shoup on bass, Jonathan Kirkscey on Cello. The guys will be back at Ardent to mix soon.

The Green Brothers at Ardent

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 10:38:58 -0600

In Studio C, L to R: Keyboardist Lester Snell, drummer Steve Potts, engineer Adam Hill, Al Green, assistant Lucas Peterson, Bobby Green, bassist Jimmy Kinnard, producer/guitarist Bobby Manuel, and organist Charles Hodges. The Green Brothers just finished their second stint at Ardent this year, doing work on their forthcoming project with producer Bobby Manuel, engineer Adam Hill, and assistant Lucas Peterson. The guys are from Florida and recorded with Bobby Manuel years ago at Stax. Their demos went unfinished until now, when they are back in Memphis recording with many of the same players originally on their sessions. They will return to Ardent soon to continue work.

Rock For Love 2!

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 12:57:48 -0600

SunTrust Rock for Love 2 benefit for Church Health Center planned for August 22-23 at the Hi Tone Lord T and Eloise, Snowglobe to headline respective nights SunTrust Rock for Love 2, the second-annual concert to benefit the Church Health Center, is set for Aug. 22-23 at the Hi-Tone, 1913 Poplar Ave. The concert – actually two back-to-back nights of music – will not only raise vital funds for the Center, but it will also celebrate the diversity of Memphis music with performances by some of the city’s best bands. Friday, Aug. 22 – Lord T and Eloise, Al Kapone, Two Way Radio, J.D. Reager and the Cold Blooded Three and Vending Machine. Emcee: Chris Vernon, host of “The Chris Vernon Show” on 730 Fox. Saturday, Aug. 23 – Snowglobe, the Coach and Four, Antenna Shoes, Oh No! Oh My! and Royal Bangs. Emcee: Janet Wilson, host “Janet’s Planet” on WEVL, FM 89.9. Tickets are on sale at Goner Records and Shangri-La in midtown and online at HiToneMemphis.com. Tickets for each night are $10, or tickets for both nights can be purchased together for $18. Cost to get in each show will be $10 at the door if tickets are available. A limited number of supertickets will also go on sale for $100 each. Each superticket is good for both Hi Tone shows plus access to an exclusive barbecue reception for bands, sponsors and VIPs at Ardent Studios on Thursday, Aug. 21. The reception will feature a performance by the Subteens.

Stax Says Goodbye to Isaac Hayes

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 12:04:27 -0600

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

The Soulsville Foundation, which operates the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, Stax Music Academy, and The Soulsville Charter School, is so deeply saddened by the passing of Isaac Hayes. We are in state of shock. Isaac is one of the most beloved members of the Stax family and we all cherish him. He will be missed not only by us, but also by the entire world and the millions of people who love him as much as we do.

Marc Willis, President and CEO of the Soulsville Foundation, said, "Isaac was unique and an inspiration to us all. His accomplishments as a musician are unparalleled. But more than that, he was a very dear friend and great supporter of the Soulsville Foundation mission, particularly the work we do with children. We will miss him and his wonderful presence more than we can convey at this time."

Isaac Hayes was one of the most genuine, humble, and sweet people we have ever known. He was always cheerful and ready to help anyone in any way that he could. He did that on a daily basis. Helping others was a tremendous part of his life.

Our thoughts go now to his family, particularly to his wife Adjowa and his children. Our thoughts are also with his dear friend and Stax pioneer, David Porter.

We will miss Isaac so much.

We invite you to visit the Stax Museum's official blog and click the "comments" section to share your favorite memories, thoughts, and reflections on this great man and what he meant to us all.

Thank You Friends review from Allmusic.com

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 21:00:58 -0600

by Stephen Thomas Erlewine Ardent Studios is renowned as a place where everyone from REM and the Replacements to ZZ Top and the White Stripes cut great albums, but for many pop fans the name Ardent is associated with the Memphis-based independent label from the '60s and '70s, the one that put out the three beloved albums by power-pop legends Big Star. Ardent has a history that stretches back far before Big Star, as they issued their first single in 1960, a full 12 years before #1 Record. This history is chronicled on Ace's astounding double-disc set Thank You Friends: The Ardent Record Story, the first thorough document of Ardent and, along with it, the Memphis underground pop movement of the '60s and '70s. Ardent functioned as the fulcrum for all the Memphis misfits obsessed with the British Invasion and thereby not part of the city's soul and blues-drenched music scene, which was as true at the start of the '60s as it was during the label's power-pop heyday of the '70s. In fact, Thank You Friends makes a convincing case that the power-pop glory years couldn't have happened without the foundation that Ardent head honcho John Fry laid during that first stretch of the '60s, when he was cutting garage bands and folk-rock. After cutting the stomping, gleefully moronic "Geraldine" with the Ole Miss Downbeats, Fry let the label lie for several years, during which time he became obsessed with the British Invasion -- not the gritty blues of the Rolling Stones, which he disdained, but the sterling pop of the Beatles, the crunching camp of the Kinks and the modern pop art of the Who and the Yardbirds. Eventually, Fry found a fellow traveler in maverick producer Jim Dickinson, who helped jumpstart Ardent in '66 with sneering singles by Lawson & Four More. These, along with the Avengers' trippy tremeloed "Batarang," the Bitter Ind's odd viola-infused "Hands Are Only to See" and especially the Beatles-meets-Byrds treat of the Wallabies previously unreleased "White Doors," hinted at the tremulous, trebly pop of the Big Star heyday in its sound but it was the songs recorded the next few years -- the 18 songs that fill out the remainder of the first disc -- that truly established the Memphis pop sound and sensibility. Of these 18, only four were released at the time, a startlingly low ratio that suggests the extent of how underground this scene really was. Fry tried to place these singles at larger labels, getting few bites, and soon the resident producer torch passed from Dickinson to Terry Manning, a pop guy who let other pop guys record late into the night in Ardent, learning how to navigate the studio and create the signature sound of Memphis, where guitars rang and clanged in equal measure. This is a key to how isolated this scene was, not just from the rest of Memphis but the world at large; they were shut off in the studio, creating their own sound, the precursor to indie kids holed away in the basement with a guitar and four-track. This scene eventually wormed its way into such solipsistic navel-gazing in the form of the endless unfinished sessions for Big Star's Third -- its darkness brushed upon with the inclusion of an original mix of "Holocaust," but for the most part ignored as the Big Star-centric second disc focuses in their brilliant, blinding pop, often present in alternate mixes or demos, some of which are revelatory (Chilton's spoken asides during the original version of "Mod Lang" are disarming), all of which help their very familiar music seem fresh again. Big Star is clearly central to the Ardent story and Thank You Friends, which is appropriate as they are at the core of the label's mythology and legacy, as there were countless bands in the next decade as indebted to them as they were to the Beatles. The band dominates this collection, via these alternate mixes and rarities from both Chris Bell and Alex Chilton (the original mixes of "Free Again" and "The EMI Song (Smile for Me) are particular highlights). This may hook in the Big Star fanatics who may not realize the depth of the band's scene. They might not know the prehistory of Rock City and Icewater, they might know their peers Cargoe and the Hot Dogs were, they might not know that Tommy Hoehn and the Scruffs carried on the tradition after the band splintered in the mid-'70s. All that evidence is here on this glorious and important reissue, one that makes a convincing case for the uniqueness of the Ardent-based pop scene -- not just through Big Star but beyond -- through its wealth of ageless power-pop.

Local musicians learn secrets to success with “Backstage Pass”

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 19:53:39 -0600

The new Memphis Music Resource Center recently launched a program to provide the local music community with rare access to renowned industry experts. The first “Backstage Pass” event featured a conversation with legendary producer Terry Manning and drew more than 100 attendees. Held at Ardent Studios, the conversation with Manning lasted two and a half hours with topics ranging from the very technical, such as the best microphone for a female singer, to insider stories about Memphis music history. Backstage Pass is one of many resources the new Memphis Music Resource Center will offer to help artists and industry professionals grow their businesses. Since opening in early June, the Center has enrolled more than 380 members, exceeding its 2008 goal of 200 members in its first month of business. For More Information Contact: Dean Deyo (901) 527-1029

Thank You, Friends: Big Star footage unveiled in the Oxford American

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 19:04:18 -0600

Via The Memphis Blog The new issue of the Oxford American just hit the stands, with stories about “superheroes, the wildest river in America, jailhouse cuisine, skinny-dipping in the Big Easy, two larger-than-life world explorers, a Texas con man who discovers the biggest oil field in America, war art from the front lines, the best damn football book, and a detailed guide to thrilling events and sights you won’t want to miss on your summer road trips” from writers including Bronwen Dickey, Roy Blount Jr., Hal Crowther, Sean Rowe, Gene Lyons, Jessie van Eerden, Sam Stephenson, St. John Frizell, Ada Liana Bidiuc, Pia Ehrhardt, John Jeremiah Sullivan, Will Clarke, and Stephen Marion. Also included: a southern movies DVD, which includes this incredible footage of Memphis’ own mythical Big Star cutting “Thank You Friends” at Ardent.

EDITORS NOTE: The Big Star segment is actually 1971 footage of the 4 piece band and other scenes edited to the 1976 Big Star 3 recording of Thank You Friends. -John Fry

American Princes Do Big Star!

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 11:28:04 -0600

Our friends American Princes perform their take on Big Star's "Don't Lie to Me."

Montgomery Gentry turned into Ardent followers of rock

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 17:18:06 -0600

Via Chicago-Sun Times Montgomery Gentry has always looked to classic rockers for inspiration, but the country duo never took things quite this far. For their seventh album, ''Back When I Knew It All,'' they holed up at Memphis' Ardent Studios, where Led Zeppelin, the Allman Brothers, ZZ Top and Bob Dylan recorded. The pair -- Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry -- were looking for a meatier sound after their last release, the more subdued ''Some People Change.'' ''We purposely stepped up the tempo,'' Gentry said. ''It was one of the conversations we had with [Sony/BMG chairman] Joe Galante when we sat down to talk about this record. He said one of his favorite productions by us thus far was the 'My Town' record. So we were trying to get back more to that sound and feel.'' It didn't take them long. They called in Blake Chancey (Dixie Chicks) to produce and Chuck Leavell (Rolling Stones, Allman Brothers Band) to play piano and organ. And, of course, they soaked up the vibe in Memphis, where blues, country and gospel converged to help create rock 'n' roll. The city on the Mississippi River has been a musical mecca ever since, with Ardent Studios one of its cornerstones. It's where ZZ Top cut ''Tres Hombres,'' Zeppelin made ''Led Zeppelin III,'' James Taylor did ''Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon'' and Steve Earle recorded ''Copperhead Road.'' ''Their ghosts were in there all over it, man,'' Montgomery said.

Smashing Pumpkins at Ardent

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 16:21:20 -0600

Top, from Left: Carter McHann, Billy Corgan, producer/engineer Bjorn Thorsrud, assistant Mike Wilson. Seated: Drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, tape op/engineer Jason Latshaw. The Smashing Pumpkins were in the studio last week with engineer/producer Bjorn Thorsrud and Ardent's Jason Latshaw, Mike Wilson, and Carter McHann. Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin were here working on a new song, entitled "G.L.O.W.," to be released in early September. Read More..

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Ardent Sessions: What Made Milwaukee Famous

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 21:33:00 -0600

The cool thing about watching Television on DVD is that you can skip all the annoying parts, especially the recap of the previous episode that is attached to the beginning of each show. The beginning of this article is akin to one of those annoying recaps – tailor-made for those of you just now tuning in. Anyone who is a longtime fan can fast-forward through the first few paragraphs. What Made Milwaukee Famous was formed in Austin, TX in 2003. Named for the song originally made famous by Jerry Lee Lewis about Schlitz Beer, the original line-up included Michael Kincaid (vocals, guitar), John Farmer (bass), Drew Patrizi (keys and guitar), and Josh Vernier (drummer) who would later be replaced by Jeremy Burch. The foursome spent two years playing locally and experimenting with their sound – a contemporary blend of alt-rock and synth-pop. Their varied style dabbles in radio friendly choruses, but also explored the classic loud-quiet-loud song structures that have earned Kincaid many Jeff Buckley comparisons. Ardent Sessions: What Made Milwaukee Famous "Sultan"
As the story goes, their lucky break came when Josh Rosenfeld of Seattle's Barsuk Records saw them at South by Southwest. This led to a slew of opportunities that led to many more. Their connection with Rosenfeld led to their opening for Arcade Fire during a warn-up show for ACL which led to them being in the right place at the right time when a spot opened up during the Austin City Limits Music Festival. After they signed to a management deal, they became the first band without a record label to play the Austin City Limits television show. Barsuk later signed them and re-released their self-released 2004 album Never Trying to Catch Up in 2006. When the album was released they became the darlings of the blogosphere and played Lollapalooza. It’s a scenario that every band dreams of, but one that rarely actually happens. The band added guitarist Jason Davis last year as they began working on their follow-up disc, What Doesn’t Kill Us, which was released in March, again on Barsuk. Produced by the band and Sparklehorse guitarist Chris Michaels, the new album delves into a more contemplative and less happy-go-lucky side of the band, which makes sense considering the title. However, WMMF is certainly not afraid to hop, skip and jump across the indie-rock tapestry. The music is still varied in style and tone and Kinciad’s voice feels just as authentic enveloped in sing-along choruses as it does when wrapped in epic, heart-wrenching pain. The music can be earnest and thoughtful, but overall WMMF manages to not fall into the sad sap category of music that label mates Death Cab for Cutie have opted for on their latest endeavor. Instead WMMF have sprinkled the new disc with enough lighthearted fair for the listener to understand that just because you’ve have a bad day, it doesn’t mean it’s time to give up. Let’s not forget the second half of the well-known cliché is the “makes us stronger” part. Ardent Sessions: What Made Milwaukee Famous "Self Destruct"
WMMF have already been on tour for most of the year, landing not only across the nation in mid-sized indie rock halls, but also at Washington’s Sasquatch and Tennessee’s Bonnaroo. They’ll continue touring through the end of the summer which will include a stop at Lollapalooza and they’ll end their tour with where it all started at Austin City Limits Music Festival. . If there was any band on the scene today that deserves the title “almost famous,” it would be hard to argue that band is not WMMF.

Montgomery Gentry Get Chills at Ardent

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 14:22:52 -0600

Eddie Montgomery developed keen observational skills at an early age. “My mom was a drummer, my dad was a guitar player, and the bartenders were my baby-sitters,” he said. “I make a joke about it, but that was the truth. Honky-tonk musicians don’t make a whole lot of money, so mom and dad would just take us with them. Troy (Gentry)’s dad owned the bar, so Troy and me grew up in a bar.” Montgomery Gentry’s seventh release offers the wit and wisdom the country duo has acquired in those honky-tonks over the years. The presentation is as raucous as ever, and it often gives a tip of the hat to the man upstairs. If the guys are feeling especially spiritual, they might draw inspiration from their recording sessions at Ardent Studios in Memphis. “Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, B.B. King and the Rev. Al Green recorded there,” Montgomery said. “There was ghosts in there. It would give you chills.”