Mark Williams @ Bitter End (NYC) Friday, March 26th

For industry folks in the Big Apple, be sure to check out singer/songwriter Mark Williams perform at the Bitter End tomorrow (Friday, March 26) at 9pm. The 18-year old multi-instrumentalist is a stand-out virtuoso guitar player. He’s been playing professionally since he was 9 and played with B.B. King in Nashville when he was 11. New EP Starlit Stages is starting to get the attention of several East Coast label folks. Management is Ben Lazar (e-mail: blazar70@gmail.com)…

Standout acts from SXSW continue to heat up on the heels of the famed festival. Last night saw a sold-out crowd for Cymbals Eat Guitars at The Echo. Many were also there to catch openers Bear in Heaven and new Frenchkiss/Mom&Pop signees Freelance Whales… We hear several East Coast label folks have flights booked to catch Imagine Dragons in Utah on April 9th & 10th.  The band also plays the Viper Room in L.A. on April 14th… Fitz & the Tantrums lived up to high expectations in Austin last week and as predicted it didn’t taken long for label offers to start coming in. Expect to see label and publisher reps out among the fossils for the band’s First Fridays performance next week (Friday, April 2) at the Los Angeles Natural History Museum. Stay tuned…

Chiddy Bangin on BBC Radio 1

It was one-year ago today that we published our ‘welcome back & happy new year‘ piece for 2009, so a post-holiday roundup and a look at the early action in 2010 on this date only seems fitting.

Taking up the digital marketing reins at Hollywood Records is J Scavo, who exits his GM position at MySpace Records where he was integral in promotions like Toyota Rock the Space and Wendy’s Fresh Faces, as well as the signing of artists such as Christina Milian and Meiko among others… It appears things are heating up stateside for Philly’s Chiddy Bang with the Crush-managed artist being signed by EMI in the UK and their track “The Opposite of Adults” getting spun regularly on Radio 1.  Another early contender for one of the new year’s first bidding-derby acts is TMills, as we hear major-label heads are lining up to showcase the tattooed auto-crooner… Distorted electro-duo Sleigh Bells appear to be closing a deal with indie shop Mom & Pop, while Austin’s Ume is being courted by multiple big-indies on opposite coasts. Stay tuned…

In other updates, the next New Music Seminar will take place in Los Angeles on February 2nd, and will feature Spotify founder Daniel Ek as keynote speaker and numerous panelists including Ian Rogers, Alex Patsavas, Jason Bentley and Kevin Lyman to name a few… And in case you missed this holiday reading, checkout And Party Every Day: The Inside Story of Casablanca Records, the new inside account of the influential and infamous record label was penned by label co-founder Larry Harris.

The Lonely Forest finds a home

For those grinding it out to the bitter middle of the month, we have a few signing and artist stocking stuffers for you… CMJ buzz act Freelance Whales have signed to the Q Prime-backed Mom & Pop Records, though it appears there’s another East Coast indie label who will be involved as well. Exact details on the label collaboration are still unclear… Seattle’s The Lonely Forest will be recording with Death Cab For Cutie’s Chris Walla in the new year and it appears the band is signing with Walla’s Atlantic Records-imprint label as well.  Indie 2-piece Awesome New Republic are feeling the heat from both labels and publishers, but does one label already have the edge? We hear the Miami-based duo has been making the reverse snowbird flight north to showcase repeatedly.  ANR recently released their full-length album Hearts via Honor Roll Music, a newcomer to keep an eye on. You may remember them from the New York Times article on the burgeoning Miami indie scene who said the production house/studio/label “…is like the Brill Building meets Sub Pop.”
In the Mix: Minus the Bear, Randy Sabiston, Joe Purdy