Gary Reid and Copper Creek Records (Bluegrass Productions of Virginia) have once again produced their annual Bluegrass Calendar.

The 2009 edition focuses on Pinecastle Records as they celebrate their 20th anniversary in ‘09. Each month features full cover photos of Pinecastle artists from their 20 year history, including Chubby Wise, The Osborne Brothers, Grasstowne, Special Consensus, Jim & Jesse, Larry Stephenson, Dixie Bee-Liners, Josh Williams and many others.

Of course, the long-running highlight of the Copper Creek calendars is the fact that important dates in the history of bluegrass music are indicated, including the birthdates, and dates of passing of prominent grassers, plus milestones in the development of the music.

The calendars can be purchased for $9.95 directly from Copper Creek, from Pinecastle, and from many resellers who specialize in bluegrass.

Pinecastle Records recently announced the upcoming release of four new projects during the first two months of 2009.

Promos are being sent to radio this week, despite the lag of as much as three months between now and the actual street dates for these new albums.

• Second Season – Kristin Scott Benson (1/13/09)
• Lord Bless This House – Nothin’ Fancy (1/27/09)
• The Hangman – Ernie Thacker & Route 23 (2/10/09)
• Three Silver Dollars – David Parmley & Continental Divide (2/10/09)

We asked Matt Hood, Pinecastle’s Director of Radio promotion, why they send promos out so early for new releases, and about their promotional download service for radio.

“For some time we have been using a new schedule for our mainstream releases. There are a few reasons why we send out CDs to radio so far in advance. The first one has to do with the production timelines of the major bluegrass print magazines. It takes a magazine a certain amount of time to prepare each issue for printing and it takes the printer a certain amount of time to print the magazine. There can be a lag time of a couple of months. In order to chart a single during the month of the release date the DJs have to have a CD in time to review it, put it in rotation, and (if the CD merits it) report it to the folks that publish these airplay charts. The same issue applies to album reviews.

Also, many folks in the media have such a backlog of CDs to review that it can take them several months to even review a CD. The point is to get as much exposure during the immediate timeframe of the street date as possible and we’ve found that shipping CDs several months in advance of the street date helps us do that.

Our first real proof of concept was with Special Consensus’ The Trail Of Aching Hearts, which appeared on the National Bluegrass Survey in Bluegrass Unlimited the month of the release date. Almost every album we’ve released since then has done the same. We’ve also had similar results with the chart in Bluegrass Music Profiles that they started in 2007.

All of the charts, reviews, and airplay provide invaluable information to sales reps from our distributor who then work to place Pinecastle product into stores.” (more…)

Pinecastle Records is here at IBMA doing some early celebrating. 2009 will mark their 20th anniversary year, and they are giving away free song downloads to people in attendance at the World Of Bluegrass.

They are handing out cards to everyone at the Awards Show on Thursday with a special code on the back good for one album download of their 20 year retrospective CD. Featured artists include Jim & Jesse, The Osborne Brothers, Charlie Waller, Grasstowne, The Dixie Bee-Liners, Special Consensus, Nothin’ Fancy and more.

Thursday night will be the first time these cards are given out, but Pinecastle says that all of their artists will have them at their record tables through 2009 – free for the asking.

Pinecastle Records has formed a new company and is launching a new business to provide marketing and publicity support for bluegrass artists.

MountainRidge Music Marketing was created to assist both up-and-coming and established, mid-level acts with a package of services at predictable, a la carte prices. These services include tour support, promotional material design and production, online press kits, radio distribution, CD duplication and a premium release package that includes all of these services.

Essentially, MountainRidge can offer for a fee the same promotional assistance that Pinecastle artists receive for their new releases and ongoing activities.

To help get the ball rolling, MountainRidge is searching for one talented band to receive these services for free. The selected act will have tour support for 15 dates of their choosing, a free online press kit, and will be included in all initial marketing and promotion when the company is launched in September.

To be considered, an artist must submit a press kit and recording by September 1 to:

Full details can be found online.

Ethan Burkhardt with Pinecastle and MountainRidge told us that this competition and the services of MountainRidge Music Marketing are available to unsigned bands as well as artists under contract with a label.

“We’ll gladly work with artists who have a label and feel like they need some extra help with tour support. Some small labels don’t send out promos for their artists, so we would be glad to help a signed band in that way also.”

Ethan also made plain that the two companies will be kept as discrete entities.

“MountainRidge and Pinecastle are going to be kept separate. MountainRidge Music Marketing is not being set up as a stepping stone to Pinecastle Records. We are simply providing another tool for bluegrass artists.

If a great band comes through MountainRidge Music Marketing and we feel that both the artists and Pinecastle could benefit from a relationship, we will move forward.”