Record labels’ raison d’etre used to be pretty clear: fund and promote records, and send bands on tour. In the MP3 era, the very concept of an album has gotten slippery, and some labels fill much different roles than the old model. Where many a newer effort has focused on promotion, hawking a group of bands with a similar aesthetic, the new Amherst label Fashion People has hung out a shingle to do things the old-school way by making records and supporting bands through the whole process of music production and playing live.
Amherst’s Alex Chakour, guitar sideman for Sharon Jones and Charles Bradley, provides the studio, and members of the label’s bands manage Fashion People together. This week at the Iron Horse, the label goes public in a big way, throwing a triple record release party. And yes, that’s “record” — music will be available in cassette, vinyl, and CD formats. The performers include Howard (pictured at left), Ian Coss and band (pictured above), and Temporary Friends.
Dec. 12, 10 p.m., $8/advance, $10/door, Iron Horse Music Hall, 20 Center St., Northampton, (413)586-8686, iheg.com.
