The goal of every musician is to get signed with a label…. right?
During this panel discussion, we’ll hear from musicians (signed and unsigned), and long-time music industry experts on today’s music industry landscape. What do labels look for when signing an artist? What do artists need to know before signing? Is is possible to make it without a label? We’ll discuss these questions and others, including an open Q&A session.
Monday, October 21 at 7pm
Local 506: 506 W. Franklin St., Chapel Hill
Free & open to all
Presented by the Orange County Arts Commission
PANELISTS:
Billy Maupin, General Manager, Yep Roc Records
Billy Maupin is the General Manager of the Yep Roc Music Group, Hillsborough, North Carolina home of Yep Roc Records, Studio One and Riff City Sounds. Billy manages the worldwide sales and marketing for artists such as Nick Lowe, Dave Alvin, Alejandro Escovedo, Aoife O’Donovan, and Mandolin Orange, among many others.
Billy is a graduate of Appalachian State University with a B.S. in Broadcasting and began his career at the University’s College Radio Station, WASU. He serves on the board of both the Hillsborough Orange County Chamber of Commerce as well as the Hillsborough Tourism Board, and previously he served on the board of Hillsborough community radio station WHUP FM.
With more than 20 years of music business experience, including time with Disney-owned Mammoth Records, Billy is a proven leader in an ever-changing industry.
Kevin “Kaze” Thomas, musician and producer
Kevin “Kaze” Thomas has been apart of the Chapel Hill and North Carolina music scene for almost 20 years. As a hip-hop artist he has been signed to major labels Universal/Motown and Rawkus Records, as well as having his own label, Soul Dojo, independently distributed by Brick Records in Boston. His debut album, “Spirit of 94” produced entirely by producer legend 9th Wonder is considered a classic amongst the hip-hop community, and is known for being one of the founding fathers of the North Carolina hip-hop scene. He was touted one of the “8 Great Acts” of our area by David Menconi in 2005, and is currently the co-owner of VibeHouse405, and Local 506. Kaze is invested in our community scene and is committed to helping the next generation of artists from our area succeed.
Skylar Gudasz, musician
With her luminous voice and captivating songcraft, Skylar Gudasz has won the admiration of some of the most distinguished artists in music. In the past few years alone, the Durham, North Carolina-based singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist has shared stages with the likes of Ray Davies, Cat Power and Sharon Van Etten as part of the Big Star’s Third tribute concerts, opened for Television and toured from the US with Teenage Fanclub to Europe with the Mountain Goats, and appeared as a background vocalist on albums by Superchunk and Hiss Golden Messenger, making her TV debut with the latter on Late Night with Seth Meyers. In 2020, Gudasz is set to release a new album, Cinema, recorded between the famed April Base in Eau Claire, WI, with Brad Cook (Bon Iver, The National, The War on Drugs, Waxahatchee) and in secret studios across the lush forests of the rich NC music scene with Jeff Crawford (Daughter of Swords), Ari Picker (Dante High, Lost in the Trees) and Missy Thangs (the Love Language). This as the follow-up to her full-length debut Oleander (a 2016 release, produced by Chris Stamey, that prompted The Bitter Southerner to praise her as “the Joni Mitchell the South never had”).
Shawn Rogers Nolan, entertainment attorney
In the early 90s after attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and spending time in the trenches of college radio and local record labels, Shawn began his career in the music industry as the manager for the seminal indie rock band, Archers of Loaf. In the late 90s after a brief stint in the A&R and Film / TV licensing departments of Disney-owned Mammoth Records, he moved to Seattle to take the position of VP of International Marketing & Distribution and Creative Director of Film / TV Licensing at Sub Pop Records. There he had the pleasure of working with acts such as the Shins, Iron & Wine, Postal Service, and Sleater-Kinney among many others. Shawn moved back to the Southeast in 2005 and attained his Juris Doctorate from Georgia State University College of Law where he exceled in the field of Intellectual Property law. Upon graduation Shawn began practice as the lone associate for Jonathan E. Leonard, P.C., a firm that specializes in representing pop and urban artists, producers, writers, publishing companies and record labels. After six years of practice with JLPC, Shawn hung out his shingle under the name Shawn Nolan Law LLC, where he continues to assist the firm of Jonathan E. Leonard P.C. in addition to his own representation of writers, publishers, record labels, performers and other entertainment based companies. Some of Shawn’s representative clients include Merge Records, Sylvan Esso, METZ, U.S. Girls, Japanese Breakfast, Wye Oak, Heather McEntire, Mountain Man, Fruit Bats, Andy Shauf, Phil Cook, Skylar Gudasz, and Paradise of Bachelors among many others. Shawn currently resides in Chapel Hill, NC with his wife and their two children.
Martin Anderson, Founder, The Glow
Martin Anderson is the founder of The Glow, an artist management company based in Durham. Anderson’s roster includes the Grammy Award-nominated duo Sylvan Esso, as well as Wye Oak, Mountain Man, Phil Cook and more. Born and raised in the Triangle area, Anderson co-founded Trekky Records in 2002, the local label helped give starts to artists including Sylvan Esso, Lost in the Trees and Phil Cook. Anderson went on to tour manage such artists as Megafaun, Bowerbirds and Lost in the Trees before working as a manager at Middle West and C3 Artist Management. Anderson currently lives in Durham, NC.