Slichter's 2004 book

When Cajun Meets Corporate

The subdudes, a New Orleans-based act spanning numerous genres (blues, folk, R&B, country, Cajun, funk, gospel, and rock) has survived numerous attempts on its creative life.  The band faced a multi-personality implosion in 1997 and since then, has been recovering from a rather lengthy recording hiatus.  Through the years, they’ve also felt the sting of record company corporate mismanagement.

In June 2004, after a show at The Cutting Room in New York, subdude Steve Amedée commented about the band’s experience with stability of record company staff saying, “When we were with Atlantic, the A&R guy who signed us was there for a very short time and then left.  Then, the next person came in and wasn’t quite as interested in us.  All the time we were with Atlantic, and even through East-West Records, it was the same thing.  Three or four A&R people—the more you get handed down the less and less interest people have in you.”  Front man Tommy Malone also alluded to the difficulties of maintaining corporate attention after the courting period.  It’s been a struggle for the band to “get people on the business side that are as excited about [the music] as we are to help us get it to a lot of people.”

When it comes to sincerity of A&R personnel, Matt Scannell says, “I’ve seen both sides.  Some wear their hearts on their sleeves.  Others, you can see right through.  But these are the people who, in the board room, should be speaking the loudest, saying, ‘This is the band we need to be promoting right now.’  Instead, now they want to please the higher-ups.  They’re looking for the next stock to trade” or the next hot act to sign.  Jacob Slichter reinforces this idea, saying, “Unfortunately, my sense is that the major labels are structurally incapable of pursuing any other goal than pushing up the price of the company stock.”

Saving Grace

The subdudes and Vertical Horizon share the similar experience of shopping themselves around and waiting for the right record company.  Scannell’s band recently signed with Hybrid Recordings.  When asked his impression of the new label, the guitarist/singer/songwriter spoke about the notion of team “from the top of the company down to the fans.”  With the previous company it was, “like running the race, crossing the finish line, and the other runner is getting water, but there’s none for you.  [The people at] Hybrid are all there cheering for us.”

The subdudes have high praise for their Midwest-based Back Porch label (a division of Narada Records), especially in an industry dominated by New York and California companies.  Amedée adds, “They bring that Middle-America hard working ethic.  We’ve been with them three years and we still have the same people as when we began.  There’s a big difference right there.  All the other labels we had, we’d have been on our third or fourth A&R cat by now.”  Band member John Magnie also praises the Milwaukee label saying, “They’re normal, hard working people.  Not being in one of the big ‘music centers’ they have a little bit less jive.  They’re solid and honest.”

Both Vertical Horizon and the subdudes have an extremely loyal fan base because of their ability to tour, give excellent concerts, and thus, self-promote.  In fact, when Vertical Horizon arrived at RCA, they brought their pre-existing “grass-roots fan base.  The label didn’t have to do much.”  Similarly, the subdudes tour relentlessly.  By delivering what the fans want, they maintain their own reward system, building listener loyalty.  Vertical Horizon just completed a tour to support the re-release of GO 2.0, an album that was under promoted by RCA and as a result, probably lost out on some well-earned commercial success.