MORE NEW SIGNINGS, RUMORS, ETC. -- Brett Dennen, once signed to Dualtone, is rumored to have been scooped up by Downtown… What L.A.-based female singer, once signed to Virgin, is thiiiiiis close to inking a deal for her new record with the folks at Nettwerk? Coolfer reports that Ween has signed with Rounder…Sixteen year-old MySpace darling Ashley Gearing has been signed by Curb…What Sacramento-based band, recently dropped by a major, has had label reps from the East coast flying West to see them lately? Gary Savelstein reports that the Capitol Music Group has signed Saving Abel …Sigur Ros, dropped by Geffen, signs with XL/Beggars …Driveblind has also been dropped by Geffen…Which unsigned L.A.-based singer’s recent show at the Hotel Café caused the city's Fire Marshal to show up and find out what all the ruckus was about? Which NY-based singer/pianist has more than a few major labels trying to sign him -- Atlantic and Universal being the two frontrunners?

KROQ FEATURES LOCAL ACTS AT THEIR "L.A. INVASION" CONCERT -- Los Angeles Alt-outlet KROQ will hold their "L.A. Invasion" concert at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA on Sept. 15, featuring Smashing Pumpkins, Foo Fighters, Velvet Revolver, Kid Rock, Chris Cornell, Cypress Hill, Perry Farrell's Satellite Party, and, before you think we mean that this concert already happened in 1998, Hot Hot Heat, Paramore and Against Me!.

The station will also have a "Locals Only" stage, featuring OneSideZero, New Years Day, Orange and The Pricks. No word on whether the bands were asked to waive their performance royalties ;) Oh yeah, the tickets that are still available for purchase are either $76.10 or $101.05 each (including the TicketMaster Convenience Charge).

CLEAR CHANNEL RADIO ONCE AGAIN ASKING UNSIGNED ACTS TO WAIVE ROYALTY RIGHTS?!? -- Clear Channel's L.A. Modern A/C KYSR (Star 98.7) is having a contest where the winning artist gets a song placed on their upcoming Star Lounge CD, a 'Star Lounge Concert' at the Guitar Center Studio and $10,000. Cool right? Well, we took some time to read the official rules:

BY ENTERING THE CONTEST, YOU ARE VERIFYING THAT YOU ARE THE OWNER AND PRODUCER OF THE SUBMITTED MATERIAL AND THAT NO THIRD PARTY OWNERSHIP RIGHTS EXIST TO THE SONG SUBMITTED.
YOU RETAIN ALL OWNERSHIP RIGHTS THAT YOU HAVE IN YOUR SONG IF YOU HAVE CREATED YOUR SONG YOURSELF. HOWEVER, BY SUBMITTING THE SONG, YOU HEREBY GRANT TO THE COMPANY A PERPETUAL, WORLDWIDE, NON-EXCLUSIVE, ROYALTY-FREE, SUB-LICENSABLE (THROUGH MULTIPLE TIERS) RIGHT AND LICENSE TO USE, PUBLISH, REPRODUCE, DISPLAY, PERFORM, ADAPT, MODIFY, DISTRIBUTE, HAVE DISTRIBUTED AND PROMOTE SUCH CONTENT IN ANY FORM (INCLUDING ANY TITLE OF THE VIDEO AND YOUR NAME AND LIKENESS), IN ALL MEDIA NOW KNOWN OR HEREINAFTER CREATED, ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD, FOR ANY PURPOSE.

Yikes. Just by ENTERING your song, you're no longer eligible to collect royalties from the largest radio broadcasting company in the U.S. AND you give them sub-licensable rights.

UPCOMING LOS ANGELES SHOWS OF NOTE:

Aug 28 - Dan Mangan - Molly Malone's (LA)
Aug 29 - Meiko – Hotel Cafe (LA)
Sept 1 - Medusa - Temple Bar (LA)
Sept 3 - The Prix - Viper Room (LA)
Sept 7 - Brian Wright & the Waco Tragedies - Hotel Cafe (LA)
Sept 9 - Sonia Leigh - Hotel Cafe (LA)
Sept 13 - AM - Hotel Cafe (LA)
Sept 16 - Resident Hero - Viper Room (LA)
Sept 21 - Joshua James - Hotel Cafe (LA)

SIGNINGS, ETC. -- MySpace Records picks up L.A. trio Nico Vega and Tokyo noise-popsters Polysics. The label will also (finally) release the debut from Hollywood Undead on Sept. 18. Switchfoot has left Columbia Records...Word is that the derby to sign 19 year-old Queens (via Puerto Rico) singer Carmireli is all but done -- more news as we get it... This could be old news, but it's news to us: "Heroes" actress Hayden Panettiere signed a record deal with Hollywood Records... Thrice, dropped from Island Records, gets picked up by Vagrant...

T'WAS A WEEK OF FANTASTIC SHOWS IN LOS ANGELES -- Tuesday and Wednesday nights this week we were at the Hotel Cafe -- both nights to see performances from NY's Ingrid Michaelson and L.A.'s Meiko. Both nights were packed to the rafters. Both ladies impressed.

These two artists make up quite the little bill! Both equally compelling singer/songwriters, but in different ways. Let's try to put it this way: If both girls were in your high school class, Ingrid would be your pal during after-school Drama practice and you'd cheat off of her in Honors Chemistry. Meiko is the girl you'd cut class with 'cuz she knows of a guy who could make a great fake ID. Make sense?

If you haven't picked up music from Ingrid Michaelson, go here and buy music from iTunes. The songs will be recognizable -- she's had lots of them featured in TV shows over the past year or so. The live show absolutely holds up to the recordings -- Michaelson exudes the confidence of an artist whose toured the world, and her guitarist/backup singer Allie Moss nails the harmonies every time. Sometimes the 'tween song banter is reminiscent of those SNL "Delicious Dish" skits (the ones in which Ana Gasteyer and Molly Shannon play NPR radio hosts), but you can't deny the overall cuteness of their set. We are officially super-fans. Good times.


L.A. singer/songwriter Meiko, who we've been championing on this blog from almost day one, will apparently have her music available through iTunes sometime over the next week or so, too. Stay tuned! We can only imagine it's just a matter of time before we hear HER songs in TV shows across the dial as well. Check out her MySpace page for concert dates -- she's hitting the road through September with Brett Dennen.


Thursday night, we were at the Hotel Cafe AGAIN (props to the bookers there -- they know their shit) -- this time to see NY's Brendan James and L.A.'s Jessie Baylin (both previously written about on TALENTfilter as well). Watching Brendan James was like watching a young Billy Joel or Elton John. Seriously. This guy is GREAT and you can SEE that he's going to be huge. Our only hope is that as he evolves as a writer, he'll add into the mix some of those non-ballad-y hits that guys like Billy and Elton have had success with. If he doesn't, he may run the risk of being thrown into the corner with Damien Rice and other way-too-mellow-for-the-masses acts. A little birdy tells us that Atlantic Records and Universal Records are the two front-runners in the label derby. More unsubstantiated 'news' as we get it!

Jessie Baylin put on a fantastic 'homecoming' performance as well -- looks like those dates with UK crooner James Morrison have really paid off! Much more like a rock star than a 'regular chick', Baylin and her band have outgrown the small stage circuit -- we look forward to seeing her at larger venues! If she can keep things in check and remain endearing and approachable, she could have a great future. Aanother little birdy tells us that Jessie is thiiiiiiiiiiis close to signing on the dotted line with a major label. We applaud her holding out for this long and hope she gets a fair deal!



Saturday night's alright for fighting, but the only folks we wanted to smack around last night were the bookers/promoters at L.A. venue The Mint. What happened to that place? We were there to see the talented L.A. singer/songwriter Andrew Paul Woodworth, and walked in to what appeared to be a cheesy strip club -- sans strippers. MC Douchebag was up there by the soundboard doing his best 'make sure you tip your waitresses and bartenders' shtick, and Woodworth and his band went on 45 minutes late. The sound is notoriously shitty at this place, but someone deaf was behind the board last night. Oof. Thumbs down to the staff at The Mint. Get your shit together people.
Regarding the show -- Woodworth was in prime form -- playing with an almost entirely new band, he blazed through his set of, well, entirely new songs, with experienced professionalism. Woodworth recently got married, and his new material is a lot less angst-y and a lot more love-y. Tough to immediately digest, especially if you've known him for being the 'on the verge of a nervous breakdown'-type frontman, these songs will be 'growers'. His new record, Eddy Ate Dynamite, will be released in Europe soon and he hits the road for a string of dates in Germany beginning September 19. Woodworth is available for signing outside of Europe, and iss actively seeking management and a publishing deal.

ZANZIBAR LEWIS WINS THE STAR 98.7 "ROCKSTAR THING-A-MA-JIGGY" -- Congrats to them! Hopefully they've got a great music attorney. Looking forward to hearing what's next! (All folks who took us on our odds -- the checks are in the mail)

STAR 98.7 ROCKSTAR SEACH FINALISTS ANNOUNCED -- Los Angeles' Modern A/C station KYSR (Star 98.7) has named the five finalists in their recently launched "Star 98.7 RockStar Search"...

The five local groups include Zanzibar Lewis, Drew Bray, Kat'l-ist, Garvy J and Brooke White.

Zanzibar Lewis singer Suzanne Santo has a sexy, smoky voice on top of her stunning good looks. Good stuff -- looking forward to hearing more...

Drew Bray is OK -- seems a bit generic... He may need a few more years before we take him seriously...

The song on Kat'l-ist's MySpace page, "Give You My Life" is a big fat Hot A/C hit. Seriously. Syrupy-sweet, hooky, just enough guitar to keep it out of rotation (for a while) in your nearest doctor's office...Some label should sign them and immediately change that horrible name -- seriously -- why make it hard on the soccer moms trying to find the disc at Wal-Mart? Or God forbid the problem they'll have trying to figure out how to correctly type Kat'l-ist into the iTunes seach function. Oof.

Garvy J is...just...eh.

Brooke White his SUPER hot, but her voice is so-so...

All the acts will perform live for an audience and a panel of judges at the Key Club in Los Angeles on Friday (Aug. 17). The grand prize winner gets $25,000 in cash and a record deal from Keifer Sutherland's Ironworks Music label.

Here are the odds we're offering up:

Kat'l-ist -- 2-1
Zanzibar Lewis -- 3-1
Brooke White -- 5-1
Garvy J -- 10-1
Drew Bray -- 20-1

UPCOMING NY / LA SHOWS OF NOTE:

Aug 14 - Ingrid Michaelson w/Magic Numbers – El Rey (LA)
Aug 15 - Dena Deadly - Knitting Factory (LA)
Aug 15 - Meiko - Hotel Cafe (LA)
Aug 16 - Anya Marina - Living Room (NY)
Aug 19 - Colorforms - Viper Room (LA)
Aug 21 - The Go – Knitting Factory (LA)
Aug 22 - Meiko, Ingrid Michaelson - Hotel Cafe (LA)
Aug 23 - Jessie Baylin, Brendan James - Hotel Cafe (LA)
Aug 24 - Elizabeth & the Catapult - Rockwood Music Hall (NY)
Aug 25 - Andrew Paul Woodworth - The Mint (LA)
Aug 28 - Everest - Spaceland (LA)