ALIVE RECORDS' MICHAEL LEE AUSTIN AND BRANDI VALENTINE Coming To CRS To Promote Their Debut Albums 'Labor Pains' and 'Deeper'
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Label Promotes Its Artists Through Mainstream Channels and Alternative Internet Marketing

Alive Records recording artists Michael Lee Austin and Brandi Valentine are coming to Nashville to experience their first CRS.

Austin will be promoting his debut album Labor Pains and its title track single. Growing up in North Carolina, Austin listened to his grandparents' Hank Williams and Charley Pride albums.

Valentine will be talking about her new album Deeper and its first single “She's Got A Way With Men.” Her musical influences include Patsy Cline, Jim Reeves, The Judds and Reba McEntire.

Both Austin and Valentine have been garnering airplay at over 150 country radio stations nationwide.

Alive Records is an innovative new label that is marketing its artists via Internet and alternative marketing strategies as well as mainstream channels, including radio.

 

 

Get Ready For Valentine's Day:
BRANDI VALENTINE Goes 'Deeper' To Capture The Hearts Of Country Music Fans Everywhere
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"She Got A Way With Men (She Got Away With Mine)," First Single From Singer's Debut, Was Shipped To Country And Pop Radio On October 17
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Helmed By Veteran Genre Producer Michael Wayne Edging, 'Deeper'—Featuring A Mix Of Valentine's Country Roots And R&B Influences--
Marks Second Release For Alive Records, A Label Specializing In Alternative Internet Marketing

 

Looking for a little extra soul and substance in your country music? Then you best prepare your hearts, because Valentine's Day is coming early this year—more specifically, in January, when Deeper, the debut album by singer Brandi Valentine ( www.brandivalentine.com ), is released.

By then, it's a good bet that the album's clever and irresistible first single “She Got A Way With Men (She Got Away With Mine),” will be all over country and pop radio. Shipped to numerous stations around the country on October 17, the track is currently building steam.

Produced by veteran country producer Michael Wayne Edging , Deeper beautifully blends Valentine's pop-country roots with her longtime love of classic rock and soul. The collection is a twist of Motown meets Country where funky horns and grooves find a comfortable home next to steel guitar and fiddle. The album features songs co-written by Edging, his longtime partner Brian O'Shea and Edging's mother Betty Edging, along with a beautiful cover arrangement of Billie Holliday's “Them There Eyes.”

Deeper is the second release by Edging's Alive Records , which will promote its artists via both mainstream channels and through aggressive alternative internet marketing. The company's first album was Labor Pains by traditional country singer Michael Lee Austin, which was released in Fall 2005.

While the titles of recordings are often based on the name of a key album track or a good marketing hook, Valentine and Edging chose Deeper based on her desire to establish herself as a country singer unafraid to draw on other passions, tap into some heartier rhythms and sing her heart out, outside the box every chance she gets.

“Growing up in small towns in my native Washington State and Missouri, I listened to a lot of country music but there was so much more that excited me just as much,” says Valentine, who was born in Kennewick, Washington and now lives in Northern California and Las Vegas.

While Valentine's earliest musical memory finds her at age 5, getting a microphone from her mom at Christmas and singing along to holiday music on the radio, she also remembers rummaging through her mom's closet to dig out all sorts of old LPs. A short list of influences that helped define her later development as an artist includes country greats Jim Reeves, Patsy Cline, The Judds, Reba McEntire, Lynn Anderson and Kenny Rogers (“I wore out ‘The Gambler,'” she laughs), along with pop stars Pat Benatar, Dr. Hook, The Eagles and Amy Grant.

Valentine sang in a lot of church and school choirs, but recalls her first public solo number being “Fool Such As I” (recorded by many artists, including Elvis) at her sixth grade talent show. 

“When I'd listen to most country songs, I'd love them because they'd make me feel happy or sad, but sometimes I felt like they weren't going quite deep enough,” she adds. “That's where the songs we worked on come in, tunes that combine all the different styles I loved since I was a little girl. I love classical, so there are strings. I love classic R&B, so there are grooves and brass that touch on that. And ‘Blue Train' is a fun, Atlanta styled blues number. It's a little bit of everything, but in the end, it's who I am. The same way all of these styles I'm drawing from connected with me, I believe they will connect with listeners who hear the album.”

Valentine's fortuitous meeting with her future musical soul mate Edging came about through a fascinating series of events that bring to mind the phrase, “only in the music industry.” In 2000, when she was living in Crescent City, California (near the Oregon border), a promoter came to town and held a battle of the bands contest; first prize was an opening slot for country singer Mindy McCready at the local fairgrounds. She hadn't planned on entering the contest, but happened by the bar and sang to some tracks—and won!

Her performance before McCready's show caught the ear of her road manager (who heard Valentine sing via cell phone), who asked for a demo. The concert promoter Jim Vining also invited her to come to Vegas, where she started doing various gigs. One night when she was singing at the Idle Spurs Tavern, Bobby Howard—who had been in the legendary group The Coasters, for whom Edging played sax at one time—heard her and told her that Edging was looking for a female demo singer. Valentine and Edging hit it off immediately, and it was clear from the start that their future collaborations would involve much more than recording demos. In fact, Edging originally decided to launch Alive Records for the very purpose of releasing Brandi's music to the world.

“The minute he heard me, he asked, what do you want to do? Make an album?” she recalls. “It was that obvious that something big was going to happen with us. I started recording songs for him, put Brandi Valentine & Company together for business purposes, and we got rolling. Mike instinctively knew what kind of music I liked and he loved all the same things I grew up with. It's almost like meeting him was an answer from God and his songs were meant for me to record all along.”

Edging says of his protégée, “Brandi is the most naturally talented female singer I have ever met. It's like an old soul in a young body because she has a depth of musical styles she brings to the Country format. I like to call it Sade meets country. It's a sultry tone and a dynamic presentation with special attention to lyrical detail—Brandi has it all and gives it all onstage or in the studio at every performance.”

While Valentine is only at the beginning of what will no doubt be an inspiring career in country music, she sees the release of Deeper as a powerful dream come true. “Making my own album was my only goal when I was growing up,” she says, “and I am so happy to now be able to get out there and connect emotionally with people the way my favorite singers connected with me. Most people won't even try going after a dream, so I feel a great sense of satisfaction that things are coming together this way. I knew I wanted to do this from the time I was a little girl. I could talk to you and tell you how I feel about something, but I couldn't communicate as well as I do when I'm singing. The feelings I put out with music are far more powerful than anything I could say.”