Ninth Street Opus

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Ninth Street Opus
Ninth Street Opus Logo.jpg
Founded 2008 (2008)
Founder Wayne Skeen
Genre Alternative, Americana, country, folk, hip hop, indie, pop, rock
Country of origin U.S.
Location Berkeley, California
Official website www.ninthstreetopus.com

Ninth Street Opus is an independent record label in Berkeley, California. Founded in 2008 by producer Wayne Skeen, Opus is a genre-agnostic label, with recordings that focus on artists with strong live musical performances. [1] Their catalog’s recordings have dipped into folk, country, rock, jazz and alternative rock music genres. Opus offers management, tour support, Internet and traditional marketing and promotion, long term career and fan building and publishing.

A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing, promotion, and enforcement of copyright for sound recordings and music videos, while also conducting talent scouting and development of new artists, and maintaining contracts with recording artists and their managers. The term "record label" derives from the circular label in the center of a vinyl record which prominently displays the manufacturer's name, along with other information. Within the mainstream music industry, recording artists have traditionally been reliant upon record labels to broaden their consumer base, market their albums, and be both promoted and heard on music streaming services, radio, and television. Record labels also provide publicists, who assist performers in gaining positive media coverage, and arrange for their merchandise to be available via stores and other media outlets.

Berkeley, California City in California, United States

Berkeley is a city on the east shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emeryville to the south and the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington to the north. Its eastern border with Contra Costa County generally follows the ridge of the Berkeley Hills. The 2010 census recorded a population of 112,580.

Folk music Music of the people

Folk music includes traditional folk music and the genre that evolved from it during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted orally, music with unknown composers, or music performed by custom over a long period of time. It has been contrasted with commercial and classical styles. The term originated in the 19th century, but folk music extends beyond that.

Contents

Artists

The artist roster has seen steady growth since the label's start (see complete discography). The first band to sign on to Ninth Street Opus in 2008 was Blame Sally. Their first album with the label, Night of 1000 Stars, was released in May 2009. [2] Shortly thereafter, Opus released Carrie RodriguezLove and Circumstance which remained in the top three on Billboard's Americana Charts for over six weeks. In the winter of 2010, Opus released Sarah Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irion's album Bright Examples, produced by Andy Cabic and Thom Mohanan of Vetiver and includes artists such as Gary Louris and Mark Olson of The Jayhawks.

Blame Sally

Blame Sally is a collaboration of four solo female singer-songwriters from San Francisco who have recorded and performed together frequently over the past decade. The members of the group include Pam Delgado, Renee Harcourt, Rob Strom, Jeri Jones, and Monica Pasqual.

Carrie Rodriguez American singer

Carrie Luz Rodriguez is an American singer-songwriter and the daughter of Texan singer-songwriter David Rodriguez and Texas painter Katy Nail, and is the granddaughter of prolific Texas essayist Frances Nail. She sings and plays the fiddle, mandobird and tenor guitar.

<i>Billboard</i> (magazine) American music magazine

Billboard is an American entertainment media brand owned by the Billboard-Hollywood Reporter Media Group, a division of Eldridge Industries. It publishes pieces involving news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style, and is also known for its music charts, including the Hot 100 and Billboard 200, tracking the most popular songs and albums in different genres. It also hosts events, owns a publishing firm, and operates several TV shows.

Along with long term “label artists”, Opus also works on projects on an individual basis. These projects have included recordings with young artists looking for a professional album to tour with, side projects of signed artists and longer termed series projects with various artists.

Studio

Opus Studios, also located in the Ocean View district of West Berkeley, has a 48 channel mixer and a plethora of instruments including a grand piano, vintage mics, a Hammond B3 and harmonium available for recording artists to use. The studio includes a glass vocal booth, control room and large tracking room so full bands can record together live.

Pump organ keyboard instrument sounded by vibration of metal reeds

The pump organ, reed organ, harmonium, or melodeon is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed.

Chief engineer/studio manager is Dave Luke. [3]

Along with founder, Wayne Skeen, in-house producers include San Francisco duo, The Rondo Brothers. The Rondo Brothers, [4] Jim Greer and Brandon Arnovick, formally joined the Opus team after producing the first recordings of Rondo Sessions with The Kin. [5]

The Rondo Brothers

The Rondo Brothers are a musical collaboration between multi-instrumentalists and producers Diamond Jim and The Bastard Prince from San Francisco.

Artist roster

Diego's Umbrella is an American gypsy rock band consisting of five members from San Francisco, California. They are celebrated as San Francisco's Ambassadors of Gypsy Rock. The current members of the group include Vaughn Lindstrom, Jason Kleinberg, Kevin Gautschi, Redcup (bass), and Jake Wood (drums). Former members include Tyson Maulhardt, Kevin Blair (bass), and Ben León.

The Real Nasty is a Berkeley, California country/rock music-based band. Members are Ryan Lukas ,Sean Williams and Brian Huston (percussion). The music has been described simply as "countrified rock", and draws from a range of musical genres including bluegrass, world music, and country music.

Opus Project Series

Angelo Moore American musician

Angelo Carmen Christopher Moore is an American musician, best known for his work as lead singer and saxophonist for the Los Angeles ska and funk metal band Fishbone. Moore also performs and records under the stage name Dr. Madd Vibe.

Discography

YearTitleArtist
2009Night of 1000 Stars Blame Sally
2009Corner of the WorldLuce
2009Paper City The Real Nasty
2009There is No Reason Here (There is only a persistent feeling that we ought to look closely and love deeplyAnnie Bacon & her OSHEN
2009The Pam and Jeri ShowThe Pam and Jeri Show
2010The Year We’ll HaveLuce
2010Love and Circumstance Carrie Rodriguez
2010Felsen Loves YouFelsen
2010Live at Stern Grove Festival Blame Sally
2010From the Echo Cyndi Harvell
2010Bright Examples (EP) Sarah Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irion
2010The Kin Rondo Sessions EP (US)The Kin
2010The Kin Rondo Sessions EP (UK)The Kin
2010The Kin Rondo Sessions EP (Japan)The Kin
2010Strangers and Friends The Real Nasty
2011We Still Love Our Country Carrie Rodriguez and Ben Kyle
2011Bright Examples- (full length LP) Sarah Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irion
2011Richardson EP Diego's Umbrella
2011Forrest Day Forrest Day
2011Speeding Ticket and a Valentine Blame Sally
2011Dirty Dollars The Real Nasty
2012U.S. Elevator EP U.S. Elevator
2012The Only Way to Kill You EP Greylag
2012Vast as Sky The Roseline
2012Moons & Junes U.S. Elevator
2012Brand New Step Angelo Moore
2012Proper Cowboy Diego's Umbrella
2012Handsome Sea U.S. Elevator
2013Give Me All You Got Carrie Rodriguez

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References

  1. "Frequently Asked Questions". Ninth Street Opus. Retrieved 2010-12-03.
  2. "Press Release". Blame Sally. 2008-08-25. Retrieved 2010-12-03.
  3. "David Luke". AllMusic. Retrieved 2010-12-03.
  4. "Rondo Brothers". Rondo Brothers. Retrieved 2010-12-03.
  5. "TheKin.com". TheKin.com. Retrieved 2010-12-03.