Bna Puts Lauderdale In Spotlight

After a series of critically acclaimed and commercially overlooked albums, Jim Lauderdale knew exactly what he wanted to do if he ever got a chance at recording for a major country label.
'I really wanted to make a classic country album,' says the prolific singer/songwriter, who has penned a number of No. 1 hits for other artists. 'I've probably worn a lot of hats throughout the years, but I don't want to be labeled anything like retro or alternative. I just wanted to make a classic country record.'
That's just what he accomplished, says RCA Label Group sen-
ior VP/GM Butch Waugh of Lauderdale's BNA debut album, 'Whisper,' due for release Feb. 10. In an unusual development, Waugh says the label is releasing the first single and the album within a week or so of each other.
'Usually,' says Waugh, 'we will wait eight to 10 weeks after the single before releasing the album. That gives us time for a promotion tour. But response is good, press response is very good, so we're going to go out right away.'
The single, 'Goodbye Song,' will go to radio Feb. 2.
Waugh says that the label, in addition to servicing media with the album well ahead of release, sent out a special promotional compilation mini-CD. 'It's called 'Jim Lauderdale--In His Own Words,' ' says Waugh. 'It's five songs he wrote for other people: 'Halfway Down,' 'Where The Sidewalk Ends,' 'Gonna Get A Life,' 'King Of Broken Hearts,' and 'Stay Out Of My Arms.' These songs have all been hits for other people, but they're Jim's songs, so we sent them out so people could get the sense of Jim Lauderdale as an artist as well as a brilliant songwriter. We felt Jim needed the opportunity to do his own music.'
In that sense, says Waugh, BNA is treating Lauderdale as a new artist. 'The fact is,' he notes, 'we look at Jim as an artist/songwriter, not as a songwriter/artist.'
BNA picked the first quarter as the optimum slot to release the Lauderdale project, notes Waugh, who pegs the period as 'the best time to introduce what is essentially a new artist. At RCA and BNA, Joe Galante's aim is to introduce only two new artists a year from each label,' he says. 'We won't flood the market. We'll put out select artists and focus on them, because it can take a year to break an act.'
Waugh says retail plans will spool out as the project develops. For now, though, the emphasis is on radio promotion. 'Jim is an excellent performer,' says Waugh. 'He has a way about him, and we want to take advantage of that. We'll go out on a six-week promo tour and focus on the right markets. We'll go to the Southeast and Southwest and West, as far as Denver. He's strong in those areas. And we'll do it intensely.'
'We're going right to mainstream country radio,' says BNA Records VP for national promotion Tom Baldrica. 'Our regionals are setting it up for the radio tour, and we'll also try to set up events where listeners can come in and see the talent and the power that Jim Lauderdale is all about.'
WESC Greenville, S.C., operations manager Ron Brooks says he awaits the release with interest. 'Jim's one of our great and more interesting writers,' says Brooks. 'I'm looking forward to his shot at being a performer.'
WNOE New Orleans PD/music director Eddie Edwards echoes that sentiment. 'I hope he has a hit,' says Edwards. 'Anything we can do to break new people is good for us and for the format.'
Baldrica says the key lies in focusing on the target, especially with radio. 'We'll laser-beam our focus on some early targets and try to build our story from there,' he says. 'We know there are some pockets where we'll need a great story before some people will take a chance on playing a Jim Lauderdale record. I think he'll win people over with his talent and his charm and his wit. There are pockets of people who know him as a writer, and we'll introduce him to them as an artist.
'We'll also set up retail events in conjunction with our branches,' says Baldrica. 'Take him to the masses.'
One retailer in particular says his expectations are high for the project. Paul Bailey, buyer for Tower Records in Brea, Calif., says, 'This is guaranteed to be one of the top 10 albums of the year. I had been concerned about what a major label would do with him, but this is great. It's hard to put into words how good Jim Lauderdale is. His demos of his own songs are often better than the finished cover version by some other artist.'
For the album, Lauderdale did a fair share of co-writing, something he has not been known to do much of in the past. He collaborated with the cream of the crop: Harlan Howard, Melba Montgomery, Buddy Miller, John Scott Sherrill, and Frank Dycus. 'I considered writing it all myself, I would love to write it all myself,' he says, 'but I couldn't pass up the chance to write with some of the greatest writers. I wanted to kick it off with Harlan. 'Goodbye Song' is the first song we ever wrote together. That kind of sets up the album.'
Drawing on his bluegrass background, he also called on bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley and Clinch Mountain Boys to sing and play on the Lauderdale song 'I'll Lead You Home.'
Lauderdale cites Galante and RCA Label Group senior A&R director Renee Bell as being pivotal in inducing him to make a country album. Bell in particular has championed him for years.
'Renee and Joe let me do what I needed to do,' he says. 'They trust me. I'm really impressed with the RCA and BNA staff. They're really geared up and ready to go. Whatever's going to happen is unpredictable, but I feel comfortable that they will give it the old college try. That gives me peace of mind. I think I'm in good hands.'

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