Man, a lot has changed since I wrote Pachinko Life. I’m proud to say I’ve officially opened the doors to Panama Sound, and Panama Records. Though Panama Records is just a merch site for now, I’m hoping to offer digital downloads of my own music at least. Maybe down the line I can front other people’s music as well and get them 97% of every dollar spent.
I look askance at the usual digital distribution channels. It seems like you have to choose exposure at the expense of independence and royalties – a crap compromise.
I’ve wrote an an extensive article on Arhoolie/Down Home Records. I have some follow-ups planned. You know, Strachwitz wasn’t perfect, but I admire his fortitude, endurance, and go-for-it attitude. I also respect that he recorded primarily – almost exclusively underrepresented artists, often in their living rooms.
His recordings were mostly made using an omnidirectional microphone (Electrovoice 636) – often hung from the ceiling and a field tape recorder (Roberts and Wollensak reel-to-reels). Modest gear even for the time – and those recordings are now held at Smithsonian Folkways.
This reinforces my attitude that the gear is secondary to the performance. Strachwitz was big on heritage – I’m not such a purist. I think there’s room for synthesizers, noise, and unclassifiable music. Music that doesn’t sit neatly into one of half a dozen Americana categories. Though folk and bluegrass do factor heavily into my recordings at the moment.
Honestly, I’m here to capture whatever comes through the studio. I’m interested in all of it. It doesn’t need a label. I leave that to other people, later.
What I am also interested in is being a good steward of the music that comes through here. I don’t currently have the budget to press 250 records after the session wraps. But I can guide my artists to decisions that will help them rather than hinder them.
As I’ve said on social media, I’m not a label and I’m not trying to be one right now. I record, do some post-production, hand-off the files and that’s IT.
I’ve got several artist spotlights in the works. At least four, with more on the horizon. I’m a half-way decent writer, so that helps me with stuff like this. The important thing is to get the facts right from the source and not through articles, articles are good material to form interview questions from but are not the final say in what actually happened.
My friend Paul Steinman said I might find myself in more of a promoter, or booking role if I keep this up. I’m not sure what’s going to happen next, I’m just bending with the wind like a willow tree. Thanks Jimmy Dale Gilmore for that reference, from his song Nothing of the Kind.