JEN HARTRY – INTERVIEW WITH VOYAGE LA
It was so great to sit down with Voyage LA and share a bit of my story and a bit of the CatBeach Music story. Check it out here.
SHOWS // Ryan Webster – Album Release Party
Tonight is the night!
A night to celebrate Ryan Webster’s debut album, The Point Of Pointlessness-which came out this week!!!
A night to hear some great music.
A night to be with great friends.
Tonight’s party will feature singer-songwriter Ryan Webster and his band and songs off of his new album – a 10-song ‘retro-funky-rock’ expression filled with existential angst, peppered with reprieves in moments of Americana and folk. Along with many of the players from the project, Ryan will perform the album in its entirety, illustrating the beauty in this complete musical experience. There will also be performances by Pearls & Swine, Jayson Belt and Moxi, and the party will feature jewelry from the socially conscious company, 31 Bits.
The party will be at Hollywood’s House of Blues on the Sunset Strip in their exclusive Foundation Room, on Thursday, October 17. Doors are at 6:30, with the first band starting at 7pm. This event is free.
‘The Point’ consists of 10 original songs, written by Ryan Webster – whose songs have been featured on Revenge, Ghost Whisperer and other network TV shows. ‘The Point’ was produced by Emmy-award winning songwriter-producer, Bobby Hartry who enlisted some of LA’s finest musicians, including Aaron Sterling on drums (John Mayer, Civil Wars, Glen Campbell), Jonathan Ahrens on bass (Jewel, Jason Mraz), and Greg Liesz on pedal steel (Ray LaMontagne, Wilco, Bruce Springsteen, Bon Iver). The album is available worldwide on-line via iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody, and e-Music. And you can pick hi res downloads, cps, and vinyl on Ryan’s website store: www.ryanwebstermusic.com.
SHOWS // MOXI – Final Show Of The Year
For CatBeach Music, this year began with much excitement and anticipation for the release of Moxi’s first EP – In My Dreams. The details of the project had been created over dinners and wine, songwriting sessions, and experiments in the studio. And it was finally time to bring this baby out into the world. The EP was introduced at a listening party up in the hills overlooking the city, followed by a packed out show at Hotel Cafe. Moxi and their first project was met with critical acclaim:
“Artist to watch! Meet Anna Nelson AKA Moxi, a Los Angeles-based singer and performer whose floating soundscape of vintage keyboards, big backbeats, and signature Omnichord strums are quickly brewing a buzz.”
-Rob Brayl – Bigger Than Beyonce
“Moxi was mixing raw vocal talent with an ambient upbeat sound that just made sense….this lady is going places.”
-Megan Harvey – Music In Press
-Megan Harvey – Music In Press
“While today’s pop music seems convoluted, Moxi certainly has that moxie to stand on their own.”
-Ace Ubas – The Owl Mag
“In Moxi’s case there’s no big label endorsed policy of smoke and mirrors, just a great talent and proof that pop music can be intelligent as well as commercially appealing.”
-Andy Von Pip – Von Pip Musical Express
“Well written/performed pop music with an artistic presence & ever so gentle touches of electronic mixed in for flavor”
-Bob Suehs – Rock n Roll Experience
-Bob Suehs – Rock n Roll Experience
“In My Dreams is good stuff that caught me off guard because I was thinking she was just another girl with a guitar. Instead she’s dramatic and dreamy and her songs are easy to get lost in. It’s an impressive effort all around and the fifth song, “Mystery,” is worth the price of the single alone.”
-PaulPop – The Pop Stereo
It has truly been an exceptional year for Moxi, filled with new fans, new videos, new songs, and shows across Southern California. And Moxi is closing out their year with a final show at House Of Blues – Sunset, in their Foundation Room. The show is a party celebrating the release of their label mate – Ryan Webster’s debut album: The Point Of Pointlessness. The party is open to everyone and is FREE!
House of Blues – Sunset – Foundation Room
Thursday, October 17
Doors: 7pm
Pearls & Swine: 7pm
Jayson Belt & Guests: 8pm
Ryan Webster: 9pm
Moxi: 10pm
More details about the event here.
By the way…if you don’t have Moxi’s first EP…you NEED this! Download it via iTunes here!
VIDEO/ Dave Grohl – You Are A Rockstar!
‘The musician comes first.’
You need to watch this keynote address! It is inspiring, motivating, exciting, and reassuring. It reminds us here at CatBeach Music why we are doing this.
As we watched Dave share his own journey, we were caught up in our own memories of making multi-track cassette tapes as awkward pre-teens alone in our bedrooms. For Jen, this involved the elaborate and fine production skills of first taping a Duran Duran song off the radio and then adding her own 11 year old vocals right over the top…she knew she was on her way to becoming the next Debbie Harry! For Bobby, the legitimate musician in the family, it involved hours upon hours upon hours of practicing guitar…learning every Landau and Lukather riff he could lay his ears on…listening to every record he could find at the record store down on Western Ave. in San Pedro…studying recording and producing techniques while founding his gear collection at the ripe old age of 12.
Music was our safe haven. It got into our souls. And it set us on our life’s trajectory…a life interwoven with songs, creativity, passion, and friends. We are humbled by the incredible musicians, artists and songwriters that are around us and we are thankful for this leg of the journey!
For us, it began as a couple of musicians and its still all about the musicians…but hey…what do we know?
Thanks for the reminder of where we began, for the decades of incredible songs and shows, and for the pursuit of true music. Dave Grohl-you are a rockstar!
VIDEOS/ Casey Black – Museum Made of Glass
This live recording of Casey Black’s song ‘Museum Made of Glass’ showcases Casey’s storytelling artistry. ‘Museum’ is one of 10 songs on Casey’s upcoming album ‘Lay You In The Loam,’ to be released by CatBeach Music in March 2013.
NEWS/ Distribution Deal Signed and Sealed
CATBEACH MUSIC SIGNS DISTRIBUTION DEAL WITH INGROOVES FONTANA
(LOS ANGELES and SAN FRANCISCO) November 11, 2012 CatBeach Music, a boutique indie label, signed a distribution deal with INgrooves Fontana, one of the world’s leading independent music distributors. This deal will empower CatBeach Music to connect its artists with its existing fans while expanding their reach to new fans with broad and innovative strategies.
INgrooves was founded in San Francisco in 2002. They have expanded over the past 10 years content distribution and marketing. Their offices are located in San Francisco, London, and Los Angeles.
Over the next ten years, INgrooves would become a force within the independent music scene, aligning itself early on with iTunes to pair up with its roster of elite artists.
In March 2012, INgrooves purchased Fontana Distribution from Universal Music Group, and the combined entity is now called INgrooves Fontana in North America. INgrooves Fontana distributes digital and physical music content to hundreds of online, mobile and physical retail stores worldwide.
CatBeach Music’s first release with INgrooves Fontana is a new project with local darling, Anna Nelson, to be released in early 2013.
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Last Week at CatBeach Music
It was a full house at CatBeach Studio last week. We had Eric and Beth Balmer from ‘fielding’, in for the initial tracking on their new ep. Aaron Sterling and Jonathan Ahrens came in to provide the foundation. Pocket anyone!? Lyle and Phoebe were on hand for cuteness and comic relief….although, we’re not sure Beth appreciates their talents!
Daena Jay was also in the studio for a writing session with Bobby. They gave the harmonium a little test drive too!
All in all it was a great week…so we thought we’d share a little. Thanks to our little FlipCam and iPhones, we’ve officially become very amateur lo-fi video editors. Some of our friends (who are very professional film and television editors) will be so proud…or…not…
Well, we’re having fun anyway!!