WHEELS & DEALS:
TALES FROM THE A&R SIDE

AN EARLY AUGUST IN JULY: Yes, folks, when you’re up, take the dough and walk away. In the past few months, we’ve shared a few stories of several acts that had one or two offers on the table from a fun-lovin’ weasel—the kind that are ever more difficult to procure in current times. But the artist and their reps decided to hold out and proceed to do the good ’ol wind-’em-up. And the result, for some, was that the initial offers went away. Some acts were fortunate enough to get other offers elsewhere and finalize a deal, but others were left empty-handed—just like the time you laid that last C-note on black at the roulette table thinking you could win back some losses. Silly rabbit. But we’re happy to tell you now of one band that decided to shut it down while they were ahead. At presstime, the Michael Rosenblatt-repped/Stephen Short-produced Augustana were in New York for label showcases. The group had offers from labels at the top of their list. And before proceeding with additional scheduled showcases in N.Y. and L.A., the crew decided to go with their top pick and sign with Pete Giberga at Epic Records. Legal eagle David Byrnes mediated the weaseltude, but kudos to Rosenblatt, Short and the band for making a quick decision and for doing it right by not wasting label folks’ time and money... Meanwhile, the Kent Marcus-repped Hayley Williams was in N.Y. this week for label meet-and-greets. Word on the street is that the 15-year-old singer has offers from several major label suitors. The teen songstress will be in L.A. next week for more meetings and a showcase on Tuesday night (7/20). Details to follow. Meanwhile, another Marcus-repped act, Josh Hoge, has been garnering weasel attention as well... ASCAP’s Tom DeSavia is proud to announce that the lovely Jennifer Knoepfle has been promoted to Associate Director of Repertory at the perf rights org. The move marks a much-deserved boost for Knoepfle, who slaved away as Tom’s assistant for a number of years. Nice work, Jen. I guess your days of wiping the drool off DeSavia’s face while he computes artist royalties on his fingers and toes are finally over... Finally, the Atlantis Music Conference will be going down next week, so be sure to get your crunk on in Hot-lanta... BUZZ/GIGS: Nimbus performs on Thursday (7/15) at 9:30 p.m. at the Hard Rock Café at Citywalk in L.A.; Revelation Theory on Sat. (7/17) at the Mercury Lounge in N.Y.; check out Giant Drag on Mon. (7/19) at 10:00p.m. at the Viper Room; L.A. rockers Monterey perform Mon. (7/19) at 11:20 p.m. at the Roxy in L.A., and early buzz is building on Agynst. Check ’em out Tues. (7/20) at Arlene’s Grocery in N.Y... BUZZIN’: Aphasia and Jason Jordan... Hit me up: [email protected]