Swinging Steaks 'Sunday Best' CD A Labor Of Love For New Record Label

Swinging Steaks new CD, 'Sunday Best' was a labor of love for First National Records founder.

(PRWEB) October 10, 2005 -- Dave Witthaus has been involved in many facets of the music industry, but never thought about running a record company.

That all changed in early 2005 after a conversation with Paul Kochanski, the bass player in the legendary Americana band, the Swinging Steaks. "Paul mentioned that their latest CD, 'Sunday Best' had been released in Europe, but not in the US" said Witthaus. "The CD was selling well in Europe, and the band had been approached by several US labels, but with all the turmoil going on in the record industry, some of those labels folded, a few went on 'hiatus', and others placed demands on the band that weren't reasonable." For the time being the CD was only available as an import through a few US retailers and the band's website ( www.swingingsteaks.com ).

Witthaus, a fan of the band, decided to change that. "This CD was too good not to be available nationally." He approached the band backstage after a show with his idea of starting a label and releasing "Sunday Best". After showing the band his plans and explaining that he would be the "least corporate corporation they could ever hope to be involved with", they agreed to sign on.

Witthaus has owned Platterpus Records, an independent record store in Westfield, MA, for the past 23 years. He also spent 9 years in radio, including 3 as Program Director of Springfield, MA, AAA station WRNX. "I knew my way around the industry a bit, but starting a label put me in new territory"

After a lot of research, phone calls, e-mails, and a bit of luck, the project started moving along.

Needing a national distributor, Witthaus made a cold call to Redeye Music Distributors, a highly regarded CD distributor based out of North Carolina ( www.redeyeusa.com ). "These guys were my first choice. I knew from experience at my store that they were small enough to take care of little guys like me, but big enough to make sure that the CD was available to every music retailer in the country". Luck kicked in when the person on the other end of the phone at Redeye turned out to be a Swinging Steaks fan. Redeye soon agreed to distribute the CD.

Witthaus named the label First National Records ( www.firstnationalrecords.com ). "I named it after one of the credit cards I maxxed out to get the label started", Witthaus stated. "I know that's not the text-book way of funding a business, but when I went to the banks for a loan and told them I wanted to start a record label, they looked at me as if I just said I wanted to open a Yugo dealership. I want to prove them wrong."

Released last month, Swinging Steaks "Sunday Best" has been greeted with glowing reviews, nationwide AAA and Americana airplay, and better than expected sales.

"It's been a lot of work, but so far it's been all worthwhile" say Witthaus.

First National Records will be a full service label and plans to release CDs from other artists. "I have no idea how many CDs we'll release over the next few years. We'll be going for quality, not quantity. Swinging Steaks set the musical bar very high. Anybody we sign will have to meet or exceed that level of musical excellence."

About the Swinging Steaks:
A five-man band out of Boston,MA, Swinging Steaks are among the originators of the current roots rock/ alt.country movement. Fueled by dual singer/songwriters Jamie Walker and Tim Giovanniello, the group's material explores a rich diversity of musical Americana from full tilt rockers to mandolin-driven melodies and soulful ballads.
The Steaks' second album, "Southside of the Sky" introduced the band to a national audience with two top ten AAA radio singles and appearances on NBC-TV's "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" and NPR's "Mountain Stage". Their four self-released albums, "Suicide at the Wishing Well", "Shiner", the live, acoustic "Bare", and "KickSnareHat" continued to expose the group to new audiences and garner them appearances at SXSW, CMJ Music Marathon and Nashville Extravaganza.
The Steaks have appeared with John Fogerty, Hank Williams,Jr., the Black Crowes, Poco, Warren Zevon, Los Lobos, Jimmy Dale Gilmore, Paul Westerberg, The Band, Jason and the Scorchers among others and have toured extensively on their own.

For more information, a review copy of the CD, or to schedule an interview with the Swinging Steaks or Dave Witthaus, contact:
First National Records
(413)478-6339

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