Sunset Sessions: Daniel Glass of Glassnote Records

I just got out of a one one one interview between Matt Deal of Rolling Stone and Daniel Glass of Glassnote Records. What an incredibly inspiring interview and discussion. Daniel's got many mantras in running his businesses (they also started Four Song Night publishing), but one especially important one was, "You have to turn over the tables." With an extensive history in music through SAM Records, SBK, Rising Tide, Universal, and Artemis, Glass attributes his current life to learning what not to do in the past...how artists should be treated, how a company should be run, and being transparent with his "family" which not only includes the people working directly for Glassnote, but the artists themselves, publicists, managers, agents...everyone.

When someone asked how things happen...how do you get the introduction, how does a record hit, how does a career launch, he responded with a hockey analogy- "You never know how the puck gets in the goal," explaining that he never really got hockey because the puck moves so fast that you never really see the shot or misfire or deflection as the puck enters the net, but the entire team is working toward that end result. I think of the bands on Glassnote: Temper Trap, Givers, Mumford & Sons, Royal Bangs, Phoenix, Secondhand Serenade, Two Door Cinema Club, Justin Nozuka, and Kele and I think you can see how hard the label and the bands have worked to grow their fan base, to tour, to not shoot for instant success but rather the slow build, and it is absolutely inspiring. I would've never forgiven myself if I didn't ask a question, so I asked about what they provide tour support and he said it is the greatest initial expenditure along with the servicing of product to media, labels, etc, but if the artist is as great as Glassnote believes them to be, they are worth the investment of providing that initial tour support. I also would've never forgiven myself if I didn't take the opportunity to me Daniel and Adam and slip them a card and a CD, so hopefully they'll enjoy Jesse LaMonaca and the Dime Novels on their way to the airport this evening.

For old time sake, I thought I'd repost my first Mumford and Sons show at the Troubadour.

Sunset Sessions Rock 2011: Thursday in Photos

Back in February, I wrote extensively about Sunset Sessions. In a nutshell, the annual gathering presents bands to the small (<500) attentive audience of radio program directors and music supervisors who come from all over the country. Michele Clark has been doing Sunset Sessions for 14 years in the AAA format (Adult Album Alternative. Think KPRI). This year, the organization decided to expand, and this week they're back at La Costa for Sunset Sessions Rock-"Where Alternative Meets Active Rock".

Today kicked off with registration and some evening and late night music showcases. I was only able to stick around for the first round of bands, but those happened to include Deep Dark Robot (as well as an acoustic 91X performance by Linda Perry), Redlight King, AWOLnation, and our own home grown favorites, Transfer, who announced that they have an upcoming European tour including some huge festivals as well as getting their record picked up by a European label as well as signing with a music publisher.











I shot a ton of video, but I will have to upload as I attempt to get some sleep and will try to post it in the morning. In the meantime, the rest of my photos are after the jump if you click 'keep on reading'. I'll continue with my tweets and stuff throughout the day on Friday, and again if I can make it up on Saturday.