the hum / By Bob Doran

Listen

Record Store Day, Vetiver, Yonder Mtn., Green Day, 4/20, etc.

(April 16, 2009)  Continuing our discussion last week about the viability of record stores, well, this Saturday, April 18, is officially Record Store Day. As RSD co-founder Michael Kurtz explains, “Record Store Day is an excuse for record stores to have a party with the artists who love them and who want to celebrate their art with us. And there are a lot of these of artists: Tom Waits. Wilco. Dylan. Iron & Wine. Beck. Talib Kweli. Leonard Cohen. Paul McCartney. My Morning Jacket. And on and on.” Record labels big and small are producing special edition records and CDs for the occasion; 700 plus independent stores in 17 countries have signed up (including Missing Link, in Arcata).

S.F.-based indie folk-rock band Vetiver is among the bands offering limited-run 7-inch records produced just for Record Store Day, specifically, a baby blue record with “Wishing Well” on one side, “Pay No Mind” on the flip.

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Andy Cabic basically is Vetiver. He writes and sings the songs and assembles musicians to play them, drawing together ad hoc combos for recording and touring. Cabic says he wasn’t much involved in the decision to participate in RSD; that was by Sub Pop, the label that released his latest disc, Tight Knit. But he is very much involved in the record business.

“There’s a record label that I do A&R for; it’s called Gnomonsong. It’s the label that released the record I did prior to Tight Knit. I help them choose what artists they record. We have a record coming out in April by a San Francisco band, The Papercuts; [Band leader] Jason Quever is from up there.” (Note: Quever’s bio says he was “raised on a commune in Humboldt County.”)

So, I asked, is the MP3 killing the record business? “I think because of the medium of the iPod and music on the Internet, more people are listening to more music than ever before,” said Cabic. “Does that translate to people buying records? Not really, but they’re listening, and they’re attending more live concerts than in previous years. It’s all relative. You can have modest success; small labels like Gnomonsong are doing all right. When it comes to major labels, you’re seeing a lot of consolidation into companies run by people who aren’t into music; they’re business people. They’re trying to market music to people who don’t even buy records. But on the level I’m dealing with — fans of my music — they’re good listeners. [The musicians] who are selling records are the ones who have fans who listen and actually buy records.”

It’s not likely you’ll be able to buy that special 7-inch when Vetiver plays at The Depot (at HSU) Thursday, April 16, but don’t let that stop you from listening. Richard Swift opens (his new record is reviewed elsewhere in this issue). Tickets are dirt-cheap: two bucks for civilians, free for HSU students.

Ben Kaufman, stand-up bassist for the phenomenally successful bluegrassish-jamband Yonder Mountain String Band was at home somewhere in Colorado when I called him last week. We talked about the first time I saw YMSB, opening for Leftover Salmon in Arcata 9 years ago, near the start of their career. A short set saw them offer a couple of Dead covers and raggedy versions of bluegrass standards. “We were still learning about ourselves and trying to be a bluegrass band, the best we could,” said Kaufman. “As we went on, we realized, two of us are from Boston and two of us are from Chicago, so what do we know about bluegrass really? Is it in our blood? Not really. It was more second or third generation bluegrass, and newgrass we connected with. I don’t think we’re a bluegrass band any more. Are we the best musicians now? Nah. We’re good, but you’re not coming to the show to hear hot licks.”

So how did they develop an audience to become one of the best known string bands around? Not by selling records. “People started trading tapes online. We’ve encouraged taping and every show is recorded. We said, ‘trade ’em, give ’em to your friends.’ Next thing we know everyone knows who were are. We are a live band; we’re a touring band. Selling records is secondary.”

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