 | This article contains promotional content .(May 2024) |
Ron Burman | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1965 |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Florida State University |
| Occupation | President of Mascot Label Group North America |
| Years active | 1986 - Present |
| Employer(s) | Mascot Records 2013-present Current (President) |
Ron Burman is an American music executive.
Burman was born in Philadelphia in 1965 and moved to Jacksonville, Florida when he was 12. [1] Between 1986 and 1988, while pursuing Communication Studies at Florida State University (FSU) in Tallahassee, Burman served as the Concert Director for Student Campus Entertainment (SCE) where he booked bands for the campus nightclub, The Club Down Under, The Metro Night Club, [2] as well as working at FSU's college radio station WVFS in Tallahassee. [1] While head of SCE, Burman booked hundreds of bands, including the Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Ramones, Jello Biafra, Alpha Blondy, The Flaming Lips, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., Love Tractor, and many others.
While still a student, he also completed a summer internship at Bulging Eye Booking & Management in Norman, Oklahoma, [1] who managed and booked bands including The Flaming Lips, Mudhoney, the Afghan Whigs and Alice Donut, whom Burman would go on to manage for several years. Burman graduated from FSU in 1988 with a B.A. in communications. [2]
Burman moved to New York City in 1988 to work for Associated Booking Corporation (ABC Booking), where he booked Anita Baker, B.B. King, Black Uhuru, Dr. John, The Wailers Band, Third World, and Yellowman, among others. among others. In 1991, he founded Stretch Management, which lasted until 1996. During this time he became the personal manager and tour manager for punk rock and alternative bands, including his old clients Alice Donut, Drunken Boat and Japanese noise-punks Ultra Bidé. [2] His bands toured several times across America, Canada, Japan, and Europe. [2] Burman signed both Alice Donut and Ultra Bidé to Jello Biafra's independent label, Alternative Tentacles. [3]
Following Stretch Management's closure, Burman became the showcase manager/festival booker for the CMJ Music Marathon in 1996 and 1997, booking over 1,000 bands into 60 New York venues, including giving Limp Bizkit and Rammstein their first shows in New York City. [2]
In 1997, Burman was hired by independent metal label Roadrunner Records which was beginning to expand from metal to more commercial mainstream and alternative rock. Less than two years into his career at Roadrunner, as a junior A&R executive, Burman was tipped off to two self-released albums by Vancouver band Nickelback: Curb and The State . [2]
Persuading the label to let him fly to Vancouver, Burman was impressed by the fans waiting outside the club in the rain, and the band's performance of “Leader of Men” from The State. [2] After three months of back and forth within the label, Roadrunner signed the group and re-issued the album, followed by Silver Side Up (2001) with its international hit, “How You Remind Me.” Burman went on to A&R a further five records for the band [4] that would go on to sell over 50 million albums internationally. [5] After the success of Nickelback, Burman was promoted to Senior Vice-president of A&R. [1]
Burman also signed the Vancouver quartet Theory of a Deadman, [3] protégés of Nickelback singer Chad Kroeger, who co-produced them through his own production company, 604 Records, together with Joey Moi. Impressed by singer Bryan Crouch, Burman signed another Canadian band: Hail the Villain, a melodic hard rock quartet from Ontario. [6] Roadrunner re-released their first album, Population: Declining in 2010.
Other Burman Roadrunner signings include the Australian hard rock band Airbourne, whose albums Runnin’ Wild and No Guts. No Glory. both entered the American, Canadian, and British charts, as well as Black Stone Cherry, The Wombats, Madina Lake, DoubleDrive and Biffy Clyro. [4]
In 2013, Burman became President of Mascot Label Group North America. [7] The Dutch label has a rock, metal, blues and blues-rock roster that has enjoyed success on European charts, with artists such as Joe Bonamassa, Gov't Mule, Volbeat, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Jonny Lang, and Black Label Society.
After joining Mascot, Burman helped in signing Black Stone Cherry to the label, whom he had previously signed to Roadrunner. [8] Burman has developed an international roster with artists from North America including: 10 Years, Any Given Sin, Black Stone Cherry, Calva Louise, Conquer Divide, Crobot, Dinosaur Pile-Up, Earthside, The Cold Stares, The Georgia Thunderbolts, Otherwise, P.O.D. and Shaman's Harvest. [9]
Burman was interviewed in the documentary film Freaks In Love by filmmakers David Koslowski and Skizz Cyzyk, covering Alice Donut's 25-year career in 2011, and additionally appeared in the VH1 TV series Metal Evolution that same year. [10]
He was also interviewed for the 2023 documentary film Hate To love: Nickelback by Leigh Brooks.
Nickelback is a Canadian rock band formed in 1995 in Hanna, Alberta. Throughout its history, it has consisted of lead guitarist and lead vocalist Chad Kroeger, rhythm guitarist, keyboardist and backing vocalist Ryan Peake, and bassist Mike Kroeger. It went through several drummer changes between 1995 and 2005 before Daniel Adair joined.
Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables is the debut studio album by the American punk rock band Dead Kennedys. It was first released on September 2, 1980, through Cherry Red Records in the United Kingdom, and I.R.S. Records in the United States. It was later issued by Jello Biafra's own Alternative Tentacles label in the United States. It is the only Dead Kennedys studio album to feature drummer Bruce Slesinger and guitarist Carlo Cadona.
Black Label Society is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1998 by guitarist/singer Zakk Wylde. To date, the band has released eleven studio albums, two live albums, two compilation albums, one EP, and three video albums.
Roadrunner Records is a Dutch–American record label focused on heavy metal and hard rock music. Founded in the Netherlands in 1980, it is now a division of Warner Music Group and is based in New York City. Formerly seen as one of the most powerful independent metal labels of the 1980s and 1990s, it would eventually become a massive host of metal acts; most seen in Roadrunner United and the following live concert. Since then, the label had continued to put out major releases, though by the 2020s, most major acts had left the label and it had been acquired by Warner Brothers, being relegated to something much smaller than before.
Corey Todd Taylor is an American musician, songwriter, author and actor. He is the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Slipknot, in which he is designated #8, as well as the lead vocalist, guitarist, lyricist, and sole continuous member of the rock band Stone Sour.
Curb is the debut studio album by Canadian rock band Nickelback. Recorded at Turtle Recording Studios in Richmond, British Columbia, with producer Larry Anschell, it was originally released exclusively in Canada by FACTOR on May 15, 1996. The album was reissued locally later in the year by Shoreline Records. After Nickelback signed with Roadrunner Records in 1999, Curb was remastered and released internationally on June 25, 2002. However, the remastered edition is controversial for its audio quality compared to the original issue as its dynamic range was significantly reduced and introduced severe clipping problems throughout.
Degradation Trip is the second solo album by Alice in Chains guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell, released on June 18, 2002. It marks his difficult transition from Columbia Records to Roadrunner, and was dedicated to Alice in Chains lead singer Layne Staley, who died two months before the album's release. The title was taken from the song "Solitude", the fifth track from the album. Degradation Trip featured two singles and was well received by critics, faring better than Cantrell's solo debut and bearing stronger resemblance to his work in Alice in Chains. The tracks "Anger Rising" and "Angel Eyes" were released as singles. "Anger Rising" reached No. 10 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks and stayed on the chart for 18 weeks. The album has sold 100,000 copies in the U.S. as of December 2002. In April 2019, it was ranked No. 21 on Rolling Stone's "50 Greatest Grunge Albums" list. Degradation Trip was released on vinyl for the first time on January 20, 2017, with a limited edition of 1,500 copies on transparent green vinyl.
Alice Donut is a punk rock band from New York City formed in 1986. The band released six albums before splitting up in 1996. They reformed in 2001.
doubleDrive was an American post-grunge band from Atlanta, Georgia.
Black Stone Cherry is an American rock band, formed in 2001 in Edmonton, Kentucky. They were signed to Roadrunner Records until 2015; the band is now signed to Mascot Label Group. The band consists of Chris Robertson, Ben Wells, Steve Jewell and John Fred Young. Black Stone Cherry has released eight studio albums as well as two EPs and have charted seventeen singles on the US Mainstream Rock Tracks charts. Their latest album, Screamin' at the Sky, was released in 2023.
White Witch was an American hard rock band from Tampa, Florida, United States, that made two albums for Capricorn Records in the early 1970s. Their name was a paean to "white magic", contrary to the "black magic" of groups like Black Sabbath. As the band announced before their shows: "To bring good where there once was evil, to bring love where there once was hate, to bring wisdom where there once was ignorance; this is the power of White Witch".
Monte Conner is an American music executive and artists and repertoire (A&R) representative. He was the former senior vice president of A&R for Roadrunner Records from 1988 until 2012, and is currently the head of A&R at Nuclear Blast Records. MetalSucks has called him "the most successful A&R dude in the history of metal."
The discography of American hard rock band Black Stone Cherry consists of 8 studio albums, 3 compilation albums, 1 live album, 2 EPs, and 28 singles.
Magic Mountain is the fourth studio album by American rock band Black Stone Cherry. The album was released on May 6, 2014. It was the band's last release with Roadrunner Records before their departure from the label and signing with Mascot Records a year later.
Crobot is an American hard rock band from Pottsville, Pennsylvania, composed of Brandon Yeagley, Chris Bishop, Dan Ryan and Pat Seals.
Mascot Label Group is an independently owned record label. Founded in 1989 in The Netherlands under the name Mascot Records, the company was renamed Mascot-Provogue in 1999 and since 2010 has been known as the Mascot Label Group. The company is based in the Netherlands and has offices in New York, Cologne, Stockholm, Milan, Paris and London. It was distributed by ADA and Warner Music Group until 2022; it is now digitally distributed by FUGA internationally and physically distributed by AMPED in the United States. Mascot Label Group is the parent company of the following labels: Mascot Records, Provogue Records, Music Theories Recordings, Cool Green Recordings, The Funk Garage, and The Players Club.
Mascot Records is a record label and rock music subsidiary of Mascot Label Group.
The Cold Stares are an American rock band from Evansville, Indiana, formed in 2009. The duo has independently released four studio albums - A Cold Wet Night (2014), Head Bent (2017), Mountain (2018), and Ways (2019) - with their fifth release Heavy Shoes released via Mascot Records on August 13, 2021.
The Georgia Thunderbolts are an American rock band from Rome, Georgia. Formed in 2015, the band released their debut album Can We Get a Witness through Mascot Records in 2021.
The Kris Barras Band is a British rock band named after its frontman and former MMA fighter Kris Barras. Formed in 2015, the band has released four studio albums.