MARKETPLACE NEWS: SPOTLIGHT ON SIDECHO MEDIA AND JASON HEATH & THE GREEDY SOULS

The OurStage Marketplace connects artists looking for gigs with venues looking for new talent. With amazing opportunities both around the USA and the world, the OurStage Marketplace is the place to be for up-and-coming artists!

This week, we’re putting the spotlight on Jason Heath & The Greedy Souls. Like last week’s featured artist August Rising, Jason Heath & The Greedy Souls submitted their EPK to SideCho Media’s EPK dropbox in the OurStage Marketplace. The SideCho Staff liked what they heard and signed the band to a digital distribution deal, making their music available to music lovers worldwide at over 250 digital retailers and promoting the band’s debut album The Vain Hope of Horse.

Jason Heath & The Greedy Souls

Jason Heath and his bandmates make gritty, twangy Americana with a lineup that includes guitar, organ, accordion, harmonica, fiddle and piano. Their songs deal with the struggles of everyday people, whether they are personal or political. Heath’s storytelling skills are a credit to influences Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen. Their album The Vain Hope of Horse was digitally released  on August 25^th by SideCho Media and is available for download on iTunes, eMusic, Amazon mp3, Rhapsody and many more digital retailers. OurStage was able to talk to Jason Heath himself and ask some questions about their most recent record.

OS: You guys collaborated with some big names on this album like Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine/The Nightwatchman), Wayne Kramer (MC5) and Nels Cline (Wilco). How did this come about?

JH: I met Tom years ago when he attended a show of mine in Hollywood at what is now known as the Viper Room. Sharing similar views and aspirations, we became friends and my band opened a few times for Rage Against The Machine. He also produced a record for that outfit and later when he was crafting his alter ego, The Nightwatchman, he covered and rearranged one of my songs and we would do open-mic nights together to work out our material. So when I was making The Vain Hope of Horse it only seemed natural to ask him to be involved and I was fortunate to get him on there.

I met Nels when I worked at a record company that distributed his album Silencer. I was blown away by his playing and used to bug the label guys all day to work his record harder…it was a jazz/world music label and I don’t think they knew what they had in Nels. I worked in the mail room and warehouse and they would charge the musicians for CD’s for them to sell at shows…since I was in charge of the inventory I would just slip ‘em out the back door to Nels when he would come by.

I met Wayne doing the Axis of Justice Nights at the Hotel Cafe with Tom Morello. We have become close friends and he’s helped me out quite a bit…personally as well as musically. He’s one of the greatest guys I’ve ever met!! In or out of the music business!!

OS: With seven band members and a variety of instrument including guitar, upright bass and piano, what is your songwriting process like?

JH: The process is certainly not something I try to quantify in terms of a “step a, b, c” sort of thing. I try to keep out of the way as much as possible… the best songs seem to come that way for me. Sometimes it starts with just a phrase or a melody or both. I don’t write much down. I tend to think if it sticks around long enough in my head then it probably really wants to become a song at some point and then it kinda does. Sometimes I have no idea exactly what I’m talkin’ about, or even what chord I’m playin’, until sometime afterward—if ever. After I flesh it out a bit on the guitar or piano then I’ll play it for the guys/gals and see what they think. After they’ve put their touch on it, we’ll take it into the studio and experiment with arrangements/instrumentation for a bit…they’re always evolving and taking different directions…I like that about our songs. Other times we hit a groove and the whole thing is done in a few minutes…ya never know.

OS: Tell us about your work with the Danny Fund.

JH: The Danny Fund is a charity set up by Jason Federici (our organ, accordion player) to help fund research for treatment and to find a cure for melanoma. Jason’s father, Danny Federici (organ, accordion player for the E Street Band) lost his fight with melanoma a little over a year ago and it was one of his desires that something like this be started, and Jason worked bravely and tirelessly to bring it to life. He’s had a lot of help from the MRA (Melanoma Research Alliance) and Bruce and The E Street Band, as well as Thrill Hill Productions and quite a lot of the fans of the band. One thing we’ve been doing is trying to have live fund raisers that focus on music, awareness and a good time… sort of the thing we think Danny would’ve enjoyed. We did one at the Troubadour in LA last April and we’re doing one out in Washington, DC on Sep 19^th.  We’ve had some great folks (Tom Morello, Wayne Kramer, Mike Peters of The Alarm, Cracker, Shooter Jennings, Ike Reilly, Joe Purdy and many more) lend a musical helpin’ hand to the cause and we’re excited about the possibilities. We’re hopin’ we can do this a few times a year in different places so folks can get some information and help out and celebrate the life we’re livin’ now. Check it out at www.dannyfund.org…you can download some free tunes.

OS: You’ve won a ton of awards on OurStage, including a grand prize. Do you think this has helped further your career?

JH: Absolutely…we’ve made some great connections with music lovers and music biz folks alike. We’re actually working with a company we met here on Ourstage, SideCho Records, so I think it’s been extremely beneficial for us. There’s a lot of good music here and quite a bit of opportunity to get your stuff out to the people.

OS: What do you think are the benefits of digital distribution?

JH: I think as far as accessibility and the speed of which you can get something out to the public is unprecedented. For the independent artist it’s all really great. Your overhead is a lot less and that makes it quite a bit easier to actually get a release up and going. Seems as if it’s a natural progression as fewer and fewer folks are actually buying CD’s these days.

Check out some tracks from Jason Heath & The Greedy Souls in the playlist below! Think your band has what it takes to land a digital distribution deal with SideCho Media? Submit your EPK to their EPK dropbox in the OurStage Marketplace.