Grand Ole Opry’s New Star by George Jones has been pressed and will be shipping out this coming Tuesday. We still have a handful of the limited edition copies left, so make sure to grab one on blue vinyl + bonus 45 before they run out!
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Summer Conclusion and Fall Preview
It has been one heck of a summer here in Minnesota. After outlasting a Winter that dumped snow on us all the way up ’til May, we skipped Spring and caught Summer in mid-stride. On the Secret Stash side of things, we spent a lot of time looking into future projects… More info to come on those. All we can say is we are really excited for 2014!
Now that Summer is officially over, we are looking forward to a great Fall. As of October 15, we are kicking off a new sub-label called Reserve Records which tackles releases that don’t quite fit into the funky/afro/latin grooves of Secret Stash. Our first release will be George Jones’ debut on Starday.
We also built an analog studio in our headquarters and so far there are several 45s worth of material in the can, all of which we are eager to bring into the world. It was a long process, but we wanted to take our time to really develop an aesthetic we’re happy with. Over the last few years we’ve spent countless hours listening to records and talking about the best recipes and ingredients we’ve come across for tasty soul, funk, and afro-beat stews. We also went diving into an ocean of research, exploring sunken ships on a mission to learn about historic studios, recordings, arrangers, and producers. After holding our breath for many months, we brought to the surface with us a treasure chest of old recording techniques, equipment, and philosophies. Needless to say, we are enthusiastic about what’s to come.
Black Market Brass 7″ preview on Wax Poetics
Great to see one of our favorite mags, Wax Poetics get on board with our upcoming 7″ release of new music from Twin Cities Afrobeat band, Black Market Brass. Read what they had to say about the band and the recordhere.Pick up a copy of the new single from our webstore.
Another Stellar Weekend of Afrobeat and Real Country in the Twin Cities
It was another action packed weekend here in the Twin Cities for us. With two new releases we are about to drop it was as good a time as any to celebrate with new music, classic tracks and some of our favorite live musicians in these parts. Black Market Brass are one of the hardest working bands in town. Often playing more than a couple shows a week the band sounds tighter than ever, have added a few players and truly brought the house down at the Nomad to celebrate the upcoming 45′ we’re about to help them unleash into the world.
As the place got more and more packed during the amazing opening sets from Grolar Bears and Liminal Phase, I had an awesome time DJing the proceedings from the comfort and security of the sound booth. By the time Black Market Brass hit the stage, the Nomad was boiling over with anticipation and they truly delivered the goods with an electrified set that included some new tunes as well as their new radio hit, “Big Muffler”.
Saturday night we brought the party to the other side of the river in Saint Paul. The Turf Club generously opened their doors for a great night of celebrating the music of our fave country crooner, George Jones. To celebrate the upcoming reissue of Grand Ole Opry’s New Star on our new imprint, Reserve Records a gang of local buddies took to the stage to perform some of the Possum’s signature songs. John Swardson, Eleganza!, Frankie Lee, Curtiss A, Actual Wolf and the Black Berry Brandy Boys took a pull from Jone’s string of hits and country staples to often amazing effect. A big thank you to everyone who performed and especially everyone who came out!
Peep these highlights from the evening..
Eleganza! “Whatcha Gonna Do”
Blackberry Brandy Boys with Actual Wolf “If Drinkin’ Don’t Kill Me”
Danny
Secret Stash
Propaganda Minister
Secret Stash Records Signs to Southern Record Distributors
We are very excited to announce that Secret Stash has just inked an exclusive distribution agreement with SRD in the UK. Since the beginning our records have been available in the UK (and other European territories), but this is a game changer. Our new agreement with SRD means Secret Stash titles will be more widely available in the United Kingdom and for a much better price.
Since its formation in 1987 as a physical music distributor of Southern Records releases, SRD has become one of the biggest of its kind in Europe, delivering a service that specialises in both physical and digital distribution to shops, stores and online platforms. Always standing independently, SRD is now run by the people who have worked to make it what it is today. Secret Stash is thrilled join the SRD roster alongside Light In The Attic, Daptone, Tru Thoughts, and many other excellent record labels.
Here is to our new friends across the pond!
-Eric
Co-Founder, SSR
“Hey Girl” Recording Sessions
This is a video from the 2 sessions that made up the Hey Girl 7”. We cut a few other sides during these sessions as well. The setup for the sessions was simple as all get out… band live with Sonny doing guide vocals. The philosophy behind getting the sound was pretty simple, and I’m not going to bore you with technical details*. Get everything sounding good in the room, and then mic it up. Put it on tape, then mix it down. The Lakers are a great group, so any compression or eq-ing by me on any of these tracks was merely to keep me busy rather than necessity.
Vocals were redone afterward simply because this was my first session in the room and I didn’t really know how vocals would have turned out with the whole dang band in there. The sessions were real easy. I got nice and tuned, and just yelled over the intercom between takes.
-John Miller, Studio Dad
* Technical Details
15 ips, +3
Drums: RCA 44bx + beyer M160 (summed down to one channel)
Bass: Sennheiser 421
Guitar: AKG d200e
Horns: RCA 44bx
Organ: Shure KSM44 (You really only need one microphone for a Leslie.)
Sonny: Shure KSM44
(that’s six tracks for those playing along at home)