For 15 years, Signature Sounds Recordings of Whately has sought out innovative ways of promoting artists and distributing music to fans around the world. Now, to celebrate its years of success, the local label is holding an anniversary celebration at this year's Green River Festival. Artists such as Chris Smither, the Sweetback Sisters, Winterpills and more will be among the 15 artists from the label's current roster performing.
The Advocate recently spoke to label president Jim Olsen about the anniversary celebration and what fans might expect next from the constantly evolving label.
Advocate: Why did you choose to devote your label to acoustic music?
Jim Olsen: Well, there's a certain intimacy to this sort of music that a lot of people find really appealing. The intimacy sort of brings into focus the lyrics, and the more subtle aspects. … I think particularly the people that have been around for a while, people who maybe grew up in the early '70s when there were lots of great singer/songwriters, they find this sort of approach really appealing, and so do I.
Was it because you were already in the Northampton area that you chose to focus on this scene?
Yes. That is exactly it. At the time, I was the program director for WRSI and had a chance to work with a lot of these musicians on different projects before we actually started the label. It was a pretty organic process to get the label started.
Did you ever think you'd be celebrating the 15th anniversary of this label?
No. It's crazy. It always seemed like, "Well, we'll do this and see where it leads us," but the idea that it would be this long… it just kind of just rolled along year after year, and I feel like musically we've gotten better and better, which is really, really gratifying.
You have been able to get a lot of music in films and on television shows. Do you think that's a new outlet for your label's brand of music?
It definitely is. In fact, it's amazing now when you get a placement on, say, an HBO show. You see an instant bump in sales the next day. People are tuned into discovering music through those television programs. It's great.
Would you tell me about the anniversary celebration you have going on at the Green River Festival?
This is something that we did on our 10th anniversary in an indoor setting, and we're looking forward to taking it outdoors. It's a chance for us to get all of our artists together, which at the moment is 15 different artists. These guys never get to all be in the same place at the same time to do a show, and we're going to have a great show between the two stages. Everyone's going to perform, and there'll be some interesting collaborations. It'll just be a big old party.
Was it difficult to put together?
There were some scheduling challenges that we had to work through, but we were able to do it. I was really worried we were going to lose one or two performers along the way. A particular challenge was Richard Shindell, who lives in Argentina and isn't always here.
Was it because of your association with the Green River Festival that you chose it as the site?
Yes. I've served as the musical director for years, and it's always been an element [of it] that we've featured one or two Signature Sounds artists each year, and the festival enjoys it. The people who come to our festival seem to like the music, and this just seemed like the best place, the most logical place to do it. It's going to be fun.
Do you have any other plans to celebrate this anniversary?
We might do some other concerts. It's just so great to be able to get our people together in different combinations for this sort of thing. We might do a video project—we're going to be videotaping the festival.
What's next for Signature Sounds?
I wish I could look in the crystal ball and tell you. I do feel like eventually we're moving to a subscription sort of model—which is really what the major labels should've pushed for 10 years ago—where, just like your cable bill or your Internet bill, you pay a certain amount per month and you can access everything.
In the meantime, we'll just continue. There's no shortage of recording projects, and we have new CDs to put out.
The Signature Sounds 15th anniversary celebration takes place at the 23rd Annual Green River Festival, July 17, $25-60, Greenfield Community College, 1 College Dr., Greenfield, (413) 773-5463, www.greenriverfestival.com or www.signaturesounds.com.
