Arista's Br5-49 Documents Live Show

NASHVILLE-There's nothing quite so effective as playing to your strengths, and that's just what road dogs BR5-49 are doing with the April 4 release of "Coast To Coast," a live album of their musical exploits last summer on tour with the Brian Setzer Orchestra.
"Everybody raves about the live show, and we wanted to put a piece out there that reflects that," says Scott Robinson, Arista senior director of artist development. "This is what fans have been asking for, and this is what we decided to put out."
Robinson feels the project is an accurate reflection of the band's onstage personality. "It's true to BR5-49," he says. "It's not the most polished record, and that's not what we're shooting for. We're shooting for something raw and edgy to reflect the live element of what the band is, and that was the end result, which is great. This is not the Nashville-polished, high production record. It's BR5-49, which is dirty, edgy, and raw, which is what we love."
This is the band's fourth Arista release and is, in fact, its second live album. After honing its crowd-pleasing show in front of enthusiastic audiences at Robert's Western Wear on Nashville's Lower Broadway, BR5-49 debuted on Arista in April 1996 with an EP appropriately titled "Live From Robert's." Since then it has released a self-titled sophomore album and "Big Backyard Beat Show."
"We recorded this album all over," says BR5-49's Chuck Mead of the new project. "We call it "Coast To Coast' because we did it everywhere-all over America."
Mead and BR5-49 cohorts "Hawk" Shaw Wilson, Gary Bennett, Smilin' Jay McDowell, and Donny Herron combine new tunes such as "Pourin' Pain," "Waiting For The Axe To Fall," and "Tell Me Mama" with well-worn favorites such as Charlie Daniels' "Uneasy Rider" and the previously released BR5-49 tune "Even If It's Wrong."
"We've gotten to be better players, and last summer it was a culmination of really, really taking it seriously and becoming a lot better players and songwriters," says Mead. "When you take a little time and step back and see what you have done, it makes you more inspired to continue doing that and do that in a way that doesn't drive you completely insane, which the road can do."
Mead says he's glad fans will be able to take a taste of BR5-49's live show home. "I'm not saying we're the Dead or anything," he says, "but there are lots of people that have videotapes and tapes of our shows. I think that's kind of cool, but we decided to go ahead and put out our own. This is our very own bootleg."
BR5-49, which is managed by Mike Pontes, recorded with two Adat machines to make the album faithful to the band's live show. There are no overdubs.
"We had [Nashville producer] Mike Clute mix it up in the studio," says Mead. "Clute did a great job and saved our ass in a couple spots without doing overdubs."
Though BR5-49 hasn't gained widespread support from country radio, the band has long been a darling with media and retail. "They are one of my favorite bands," says Tower Nashville GM Jon Kerlikowske. "Here it's going to do great. What it will do nationally, who knows? It will be a record that's anticipated to begin with, and it will do well out of the box here in the Nashville marketplace."
He admits the band's lack of radio support presents challenges. "It's the same problem all bands like BR5-49 have had," says Kerlikowske. "How do people know about it, 'cause they don't get any radio? They have to depend on listening station programs and alternative radio from college stations to triple-A stations to play them."
Robinson says the album will be serviced to country stations, but no single will go to country radio. Arista will work the track "Uneasy Rider" to modern rock specialty shows. "The band already has some true fans at radio that is not country, i.e., modern rock, triple-A, and Americana," he says. "Modern rock and triple-A have been requesting a record they can play that's not a Nashville-sounding record. This is a great record for them."
The band is booked by Creative Artists Agency and is being sponsored by Jack Daniel, which has tapped the band as spokesmen. "We'll be doing lots of cross-promotions with them from a radio standpoint and from a touring standpoint," Robinson says. "We'll tap into commercial buys, and we'll be doing all kinds of special [point-of-purchase materials] tied in with Jack Daniel's."
Robinson says the label plans "a whole bunch of new-media stuff, including audio streaming." He says the marketing approach will be grass roots and that the campaign will include in-store appearances, guitar giveaways, and special events. The band will do syndicated radio shows, including "World Cafe," "Mountain Stage," "Acoustic Cafe," and "E-Town."
"This band lives on the road," he says. "Labels love to have those artists, because they are constantly working, which provides opportunities from a retail, a promotional, and a media standpoint, which is great. We see this band as a career band. They'll be touring forever and making records forever. They keep going forward. This is not the kind of band that waits for radio to tour around."