re:thinking Music Distribution "A Good Slow Burn"
A brief word regarding a small band of sisters and brothers that launched a record label and tended to an Art House
It’s my normal Foto Friday over at FB, so I thought I’d repost here too with some additions to the story. This is a a re:think records/Art House pic from 1996-97-ish. I suspect a Christmas party or someone’s birthday. Middle row: Molly Ashworth (Nicholas), Katy Krippaehne, Andi Ashworth, Shane D. Wilson, Jay Swartzendruber, and Russ Ramsey. Bottom: Nick Barré. Top: Brent Milligan and Douglas McKelvey. There’s a whole book in this photo alone! Missing from this photo is songwriter-producer Tony Miracle, who along with Brent and Doug, was signed to music publishing with us via our production/publishing deal with Sparrow/EMI. When Russ moved on from his Art House role to attend seminary, David Dark took his place, handling all correspondence.
We signed and developed Sarah Masen and Switchfoot, marketing both artists to mainstream pop and Christian music simultaneously, breaking the old crossover model (kudos to Bill Hearn for trusting me with this vision). And we put out an eclectic sampler of artists titled One Point Oh!, with Nick collaborating with Peter Gabriel’s Real World art team on the cover (included: Sarah Masen, CP, Joey Richey, Karen Bradley, Aaron Smith, Diana Beach, Brent Milligan, Ensemblepossible, Sarah Hart, and Richard (Rico) Thomas). It was a whirlwind!
2023 is the 20th Anniversary of Switchfoot's breakout, double platinum album, The Beautiful Letdown, featuring the Billboard Top 40 hits, "Meant to Live" and "Dare You To Move." Catch them on tour in a city near you.
Stories from re:think and Art House history and more coming with Why Everything That Doesn’t Matter, Matters So Much: The Way of Love in a World of Hurt by me and my lovely wife, writer Andi Ashworth, March 12th, 2024. I just last week secured a publishing deal for my memoir and would love to tell you everything, but it’s not time yet. I can tell you, it will release approximately 11 months after our mutual book, so February of 2025. We have tons of work to do in preparing for all of this. I so appreciate you signing up to help with the book launches. If you haven’t done so yet, today is your day! Love and peace. cp
Breaking news, just added: Jonas Brothers version of Switchfoot’s “The Beautiful Letdown” produced by John Fields.
Article from People Magazine on Switchfoot and Jonas Brothers Collab and History.
One point oh was a great collection and still receives a lot of plays at my house. Really broke and reformed my ideas about what was out there musically
Oh heck yeah, Sarah Masen! Why haven’t I listened to her in a minute??? Good good stuff. I remember seeing her at Cornerstone the summer before I moved to Nashville.