VOXTROTNEW POP FOR NOW PEOPLE. ALSO IN THIS ISSUE... o M a r i o n, M o n t y P o w e l l, K e n d r i C K w y l d C a r d d e a n, P lu M B

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1 s e s a C M A G A Z I N E s P r i n g M ACG CA Z I N E VOXTROTNEW POP FOR NOW PEOPLE ALSO IN THIS ISSUE... o M a r i o n, M o n t y P o w e l l, K e n d r i C K w y l d C a r d d e a n, P lu M B

2 P r e s i d e n t s M e s s a g e 4 S E S A C N e w s 5 V o x t r o t N e w P o p F o r N o w P e o p l e 6 J a s o n M e a d o w s 8 M i c h a e l O B r i e n 8 1SEE KENDRICK WYLDCARD DEAN ON PAGE 11: C O N T E N T S T h e G r e e n c a r d s 9 O m a r i o n 1 0 K e n d r i c k W y l D c a r d D e a n 11 S E S A C H o l i d a y P a r t i e s 1 2 T V/ f i l m p e r f o r m a n c e D o l l a r s 1 3 M o n t y P o w e l l 1 4 S E S A C N a s h v i l l e M u s i c A w a r d s 1 5 A L A C R A N E S m u s i c a l 1 6 C h r i s t i a n L e u z z i 17 P l u m b 1 8 S E S A C J a z z A w a r d s 1 9 S E S A C A t l a n t a O f f i c e L a u n c h P a r t y 2 0 K e l i N i c o l e P r i c e 2 1 P e t e r & T h e W o l f 2 2 M u d v i l l e 2 2 S E S A C R o c k s 2 3 F a c e s 2 4

3 S E S A C M A G A Z I N E S P R I N G C R E D I T S P a t R o g e r s Senior Vice Pr esiden t, Corporate Relations /Artist Development E l l e n B l i g h J o n e s Senior Director, Corporate Relations s h a w n w i l l i a m s MANAGING editor m a r y b r e e n website coordinator J o c e l y n H a r m s corporate relations Coordinator C r y s t a l C a v i n e s s, J a n i n e C o v e n e y, P e t e r C r o n i n, D a n K i m p e l, M i c h e l l e N i k o l a i, S t e v e n W i n o g r a d s k y, K e v i n Z i m m e r m a n Contributing Writers L a t o c k i T e a m C r e a t i v e Art Direction / Design, For more info, check out: S E S A C O F F I C E S N a s h v i l l e 55 Music Square East Nashville, TN tel / fax N e w Y o r k 152 West 57th Street, 57th Floor Ne w York, N Y tel / Fax L o s A n g e l e s 501 Santa Monica Blv d, Suite 450 Santa Monica, CA tel / fax A T L A N T A 981 Joseph E. Lowery Blvd. N.W. Ste.# 111, Atlanta, GA tel / fax L o n d o n 67 Upper Berkeley Street London W1H 7QX, England t el / fa x P a t C o l l i n s p r e s i d e n t & c o o We are well into and things are off to a gre at start at SESAC. Our plate is full with many challenging and exciting oppor tunities in the ever-evolving musical landscape. We are proud to add several of music s hot test names to the SESAC roster of talent. Such notables as rock icons RUSH, countr y hit-maker Mont y Powell, R&B teen sensation, Sammie and rock band Young Lords are among the recent additions to the SESAC family. It s an honor to be associated with such great talent and a testament to ever yone s hard work. SESAC af f iliates are burning up the char ts. Nate Danja Hills has celebrated three #1 singles including Justin Timberlake s Sex yback and My Love. Danja also co-wrote the song that took Nelly Fur tado to the top of the char ts, Promiscuous. SESAC af f iliate Swizz Beat z has also had a tremendous year with the mega-success of his song, Check On It, as recorded by Beyonce. And the always impressive Br yan-michael Cox continues to ama ze with his work, most recently with Mar y J. Blige and her smash CD, The Breakthrough. The Latina team continues to af f iliate some ama zing ar tists. Over the last year, SESAC has signed several remarkable Latin writers and ar tists such as Claudia Brant, Fonseca, Echo and Diesel, among many others. SESAC Latina maintains its successful char t ac tivit y! Claudia Brant s Dime Quien Es, recorded by Los Rieleros del Nor te dominated the #1 spot 10 consecutive weeks in Billboard s Regional Mexican Airplay char t. Congratulations to our SESAC af f iliates on their vic tories at the 49th Annual GR AMMY Awards! Bob Dylan, Nate Danja Hills, Br yan-michael Cox, Keli Nicole Price, John Webb and Swizz Beat z were recognized at the awards ceremony for their work on some of the most riveting projec ts of the year including Mar y J. Blige s The Breakthrough, Beyonce s B Day and Justin Timberlake s FutureSex /LoveSounds. Lastly, we are thrilled to have opened an of f ice in Atlanta. The of f ice was of f icially christened at a standing-room-only launch par t y that at trac ted many well known ar tists, song writers and music executives from the Atlanta music scene. R&B ar tist Sammie per formed an incredible set accompanied by none other than Br yan-michael Cox on keyboards. All in all, it was a fabulous par t y and a f it ting launch for what we know will be an impor tant par t of SESAC s continued grow th. Your feedback is welcome and encouraged! Please feel free to comments to Shawn Williams at swilliams@sesac.com. N E W S C o n g r a t u l a t i o n s t o o u r S E S A C a f f i l i a t e s S E S A C o n t h e i r w i n a t t h e 4 9 t h A n n u a l G R A M M Y A w a r d s! S E S A C S I G N S R U S H Legendary Rock Icons In Studio Readying New CD f o r 0 7 R e l e a s e SESAC has signed legendary rock group, RUSH for U.S. representation. One of the music world s most successful and revered rock bands, RUSH has been a mainstay on rock stations for more than three decades accumulating multiple platinum and an astonishing 24 gold albums. The band has also dominated the radio airwaves with such smash singles as perennial favorites Tom Sawyer and Closer To The Heart. With a live show matched by few in the industry, RUSH has also established themselves as one of the most popular touring bands ever. SESAC couldn t be more excited to sign RUSH to our incredible roster of affiliates, says Pat Collins, President/COO, SESAC. RUSH is a truly iconic band that continues to create incredible music and perform to sold-out audiences around the world. We are honored to have RUSH in the SESAC family. Signing with SESAC was a natural for RUSH, says SRO Management s VP, Pegi Cecconi. SESAC represents some incredible artists so the band knew they would be in great hands and feel honored to be part of an amazing team. Among rock music s most popular and celebrated acts, RUSH has been a recording and touring band for over 30 years. The group, which consists of bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson and drummer Neil Peart, are currently in the studio working on a brand new project set for a Spring 07 release. Best Dance Recording SexyBack, Nate Danja Hills (producer) Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance Someday Baby Track from Modern Times, Bob Dylan Best Contempor ary Folk /Americana Album Modern Times, Bob Dylan Best R & B Song Be Without You Track from The Breakthrough as recorded by Mary J. Blige, Bryan-Michael Cox and Jason Perry (songwriters) Best R & B Album The Breakthrough by Mary J. Blige, Bryan-Michael Cox (producer) Best Gospel Performance Yolanda Adams, Victory, Greg Curtis Best Contempor ary R & B Album B Day as recorded by Beyonce, Keli Price, John Webb, Swizz Beatz (songwriters) I f yo u a r e a S E S AC a ffi li ate a n d wa nt to b e i n c lu d e d i n o u r Songwriter Links, S E S AC M yspac e o r Yo u T u b e ple a s e co ntac t Ta r a McDer m ot t at tmcder m ot t@s e s ac.co m. WWW. SESAC. COM 5

4 VoX trot ne w pop for now people JUST how far C an POSiTiVE WOrd-Of-MOUTh from MYSPaCE MEMBEr S and VariOUS BlOggEr S TaKE a BaNd? While it s helped such rock acts as Clap Your hands Say Yeah and the Walkmen garner a bit of airplay, it hasn t exactly taken those groups over the top. But chances are that those groups online-assisted advances will be almost effortlessly exceeded by Voxtrot, a literate and danceable quintet that s received rave reviews from all sorts of websites and even some important, bona fi de music publications. SPiN. COM s review of Voxtrot s self-released 2006 EP, Raised by Wolves, cited its John hughes-heyday paeans, twitchy pop, and surging, Strokes-y dancefl oor fi llers, while Pitchfork hailed the same recording as The stuff mixtape dreams are made of. The pure-pop throwback the group has been compared to everyone from the left Banke and mid-period Beatles to such 80s favorites as love & rockets and the Stone roses to modernday rock concerns interpol and Bloc Party is no mistake, as Voxtrot mastermind, vocalist and chief songwriter ramesh Srivastava freely considers himself a pop classicist. i fi rst got into playing music when i started taking piano lessons, at the age of eight. The lessons were really against my will, as i recall, he laughs, but i m glad i did it. My mom had played piano and sang a lot, that was her deal. and we were always listening to music in my house, from the Beatles to Elvis Costello. That was when i discovered the Beatles and some other great music from the 60s, songs that were really saying something. Within four years, Srivastava had begun composing his own pop tunes, which from the start refl ected his interest in chiming, timeless pop. Mainstream radio in 1995 mostly seemed soulless to me, he says. i didn t really like what the new records at the time sounded like. as a result, the austin, Texas native continued to look back to the 1980s, especially the British indie music scene that was dominated by such tunefully sophisticated concerns as the Smiths and the Psychedelic furs. Ultimately he traveled to glasgow to study English literature. i was aware of the whole history of the cool indie music scene there, from Orange Juice and aztec Camera on up to present day acts like arab Strap and Belle & Sebastian, he recounts. But while i liked indie rock music, while i was there i really got into techno and all this dance stuff it was practically the only thing i listened to for three years. i m defi nitely glad i was exposed to something else. during breaks, Srivastava would return to austin, where he gradually began putting together the pieces that would become Voxtrot. i ve known our drummer, Matt Simon, since he was 8 and i was 9, he explains, while Mitch [Calvert, guitars] and i lived together as roommates for awhile. Jared [Van fleet, guitars and keyboards] and Jason [Chronis, bass] were guys i would meet at parties that we were all at. We d get to talking and found out that we all liked pretty much the same things, musically. We eventually got together as a band, practiced maybe three times, then made a date for recording. Srivastava s winsomely passionate vocals. The group began playing a few dates around austin, though it s somewhat surprising to discover that Voxtrot never played austin s most famous showcase the annual South By Southwest conference until We were all very aware of it, Srivastava explains, but we couldn t drink until we were 21 and so it didn t make much sense to play there until a year ago. So we played house parties and that kind of thing for a couple of years instead. another well-received EP, entitled Mothers, Daughters, Sisters & Wives, caught the attention of several labels, with Voxtrot eventually signing with the Beggars group imprint, Playlouderecordings. They d heard about us at South By Southwest, and we met with them and a few others, he recalls. We decided that the Beggars group was a highly respectable company and so we went with them. The fact that main Beggars group label Beggars Banquet was once home to such seminal punk and new wave acts as the fall, the Cult, Bauhaus and the go-betweens certainly didn t hurt. Voxtrot is now putting the fi nishing touches on its fi rst full-length album, tentatively set for May 22 release. Though he s the main songwriting force in Voxtrot, Srivastava is quick to point out that the band s other four members also contribute to the songs content. USUallY i BriNg in ThE SONg SKElE TON TO ThE BaNd ChOrdS, lyrics, a COUPlE Of MElOdY ide a S, and ThEN E VErYBOdY BUildS ON it, he explains. i do usually know how it sounds in my head, but i m not always the best at expressing that in musical terms. But we ve known each other long enough that there s almost a kind of ESP that comes into play, where everyone kind of understands what the rest of us are going for although every once in awhile we need to push it a little. The group has also become seasoned veterans of the road, playing everywhere in the U.S. and appearing on select dates in Canada and the U.K. audience interaction is very important to us, Srivastava states. You know going in what you think are the parts of songs that are exciting, and to have that confi rmed that whatever it is you re doing is something that other people are interested in or moved by is an incredible feeling. in addition to the popular word-of-mouth on the internet, Srivastava also credits SESaC with helping Voxtrot get to where it is today. i really didn t know anything about publishing or collection societies or any of the business end of the music industry until we became a serious band about a year ago, he says. Being with SESaC has been really nice, in that they take the time to explain everything and everyone we ve met there has been very supportive. ThE WhOlE ide a ThaT YOU C an MaKE MONE Y and SOMEBOdY Will go OUT and COllEC T it for YOU Wa S ama zing, he adds with a laugh. Every time a SESaC check arrives i m surprised that there s somebody out there actually monitoring our airplay. it was at that time that the fi ve-piece realized it needed a name. it was really a last-minute thing, and the name Voxtrot doesn t really mean anything, Srivastava admits somewhat sheepishly. We didn t need a name for a long time because we were just a recording project, but then we got a show and we needed to come up with something, and fast. We were throwing different things at each other, and that one just stuck. The resultant fi rst Voxtrot recording, a self-fi nanced EP, came out in 2003 and sold at a few independent record stores in austin. its contents refl ected the group s infl uences and highlighted given what the future appears to hold for Voxtrot, it s a surprise that Srivastava will soon be getting used to. BY KE ViN zimmer MaN www. sesac. CoM7

5 J a s o n M e a d o w s S p l i t P e r s o n a l i t y With one boot in the stirrup and the other on a honky tonk stage, Jason Meadows career has already taken him from hot-and-dusty rodeo competitions, all the way to the bright national television spotlight of USA Network s Nashville Star. Through it all, this SESAC singer/songwriter has stubbornly insisted on presenting his music his way. Growing up in the rural town of Calera, OK ( 16 miles north of the Red River ), he received his initial inspiration from his musical grandparents and his two older siblings. My sisters would sing and I would sing along, he recalls. I still have 8-track tapes of Conway Twitty, the Haggard stuff, Hank Sr. and Hank Jr., Johnny Paycheck, George Jones, all those; I would put those in and sing to them. It didn t take long for folks to notice. It was fairly obvious, even early on, that this boy was born to sing that real country music. apartments, and the next day I went to work in construction. No stranger to hard work, and with a wife and young son to support, Meadows temporary construction job was looking more and more permanent when he came to a personal crossroads. Meadows was performing at a party when he met Kerry Bay, who began recording demos with the singer and networking him into the Music Row publishing demo scene. Meadows fell into a routine of songwriting and singing demos for Music Row publishers. And that s when Nashville Star came calling. As the show s runner-up, Meadows lost out on a label deal with Universal South Records but walked away with a readymade audience of millions and complete control of his career. Working with co-producers Bay and fellow SESAC affiliate Nick Pellegrino, Meadows signed to Baccerstick Records and hit the recording studio with a purpose and with a vengeance. Meadows hit the road, honing his singing and performing skills through non-stop, night-after-night touring. Through a family connection, Meadows came to the attention of fellow Oklahoman Reba McEntire, who sent a representative to check out the singer s act. Meadows was soon meeting with McEntire s husband/manager Narvel Blackstock, who urged him to move to Music City and offered his support. My buddy was shuttling horse trailers from Oklahoma to Knoxville, he says. I couldn t afford a U-Haul so I said, Hey man, can you throw my stuff in the trailers and just dump me off in Nashville? He dropped me off at one of Reba s The album s title song and debut single, 100% Cowboy, comes kicking and screaming out of the gate, a wideopen, musical tribute to everything the singer/songwriter stands for. Not surprisingly, Meadows keeps it real, with wild horses and rowdy country music front and center and side by side. I actually do roping in the rodeos and do a concert prior to, he says. I go out and do a big show for 8000, 9000 people, then run around, change clothes, get up on a horse and rope steers in a rodeo. I mean, how cool is that? By Pe ter Cronin The Greencards Three Extr aordinary Aliens You d think that people would have had enough of silly love songs, Paul McCartney sang in one of his famous tunes. But, he added some people wanna fill the world with silly love songs. Enter Michael O Brien, asking the same question as McCartney: What s wrong with that? For O Brien, former lead singer with the best-selling Christian band NewSong, as well as songwriter of numerous top hits, releasing an album of songs entitled Something About Us, dedicated to the feelings he has for his wife of 17 years was simply a way to celebrate their relationship. I wanted to bless her and honor her, O Brien said about his wife, Heidi. The music was inspired by O Brien s restored relationship with his wife, one the singer said was at the brink of divorce six years ago. Now the couple has seen that by sharing their story, they may be able to help others. The people listening have provided new outreach venues for O Brien, such as speaking and singing at Christian marriage conferences and men s and women s conferences. The Billy Graham Association has contacted the O Briens about telling their story, as well as a possible opportunity to work with famed radio psychologist Dr. Laura (Schlessinger), O Brien said. The new music collection, O Brien s first since departing the lead vocalist role he held for almost seven years with NewSong, is titled Something About Us and features 14 songs that the singer/songwriter describes as sappy, romantic. SESAC writer Regie Hamm was a co-writer on the project with O Brien. Currently the music, which O Brien released on his own label, is available at O Brien s website, and at Christian retailers. Distribution details are in the works for secular outlets, O Brien said. Although the music is new, the style of the songs harkens to another era, one where men and women danced closely while a crooner belted out tunes. O Brien, of course, has no trouble in the crooner role. Since his first album came out in 1995, O Brien has been stopping folks in their tracks to listen to his soulful and melodic voice. Songwriting, however, is at the core of O Brien s career. And now leaders at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Ky., have asked O Brien to write a musical for the 25,000- member church s Easter program, where an estimated 80,000 people will visit over a 10-day period. O Brien also hopes to release a praise and worship record. As far as another collection of love songs: I ll probably never make another record of love songs like this, he said. Perhaps, O Brien thinks the world has now had enough of silly love songs. By Crystal C aviness M i c h a e l O B r i e n I n T h e M o o d F o r L o v e In just a few short years, The Greencards - Carol Young, Kym Warner, and Eamon McLoughlin - went from being an unknown band with a self-released album, to touring with Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson and then winning the Americana Music Association s New/Emerging Artist of the Year Award in The ironic thing is, this triple-threat acoustic trio is not American. Young and Warner hail from Australia, and McLoughlin is from South London, England. Young, the band s lead singer/ bassist, boarded a Southwest flight and landed on the musically fertile Texas soil in 2001, eventually making her way to Austin to join Warner, her former bandmate. I was living on my credit card, which up until about a year ago, I was still paying off! she laughs. As fate would have it, she and Warner, a four-time Australian national mandolin champion, met up with McLoughlin, a classically trained violinist, in an Austin recording studio. They started picking together and booking shows around Austin. It was very challenging in the beginning, we just found jobs wherever we could, because we had a work visa to play music, we had an arts visa -- it s called an extraordinary alien. On March 6, the band bows Viridian, their second album for Dualtone Records. Never having worked with a producer before, they enlisted Doug Lancio (Patty Griffin, Robinella) as co-producer, and set out to make a decidedly non-bluegrass sounding record -- a stylistic detour from their previous projects. The instrumental virtuosity is still very much part of The Greencards unique newgrass sound, though this album stretches a bit more into the pop realm. As much as we love bluegrass music, we don t have a banjo in the band, and we weren t born in Kentucky, Young says. It sort of seems a bit hypocritical to really go too far down that track. We sort of wanted to stretch a little bit more on this one, and Doug had a lot of input there. Lancio suggested that they eschew their usual recording methods and come into the studio relatively unprepared. Instead of isolation booths, they recorded together in real time to capture a more spontaneous, dynamic feeling. The songs were only roughly rehearsed ahead of time and were not roadtested, a direct contrast to their prior records. Since we recorded this in May 06 and mixed it in June, we started trying a few new songs out, but that was after the fact that we d recorded them. I feel like it s a record that pushes the boundaries, and pushes us musically which I think is a really healthy thing, especially bands like us that are doing 150 dates a year, Young explains. It s really nice to actually be challenged each night and at the moment, I m challenged! Young says after a year of heavy touring in 2005 and into early 2006, it was difficult to find the time to write. She enlisted friend Jedd Hughes for the opening track, Waiting on the Night, a sultry, guitar driven slice of life song that grooves gently with Young s ethereal vocals, punctuated by a delicate string section. She and Kym had both admired bluegrass star Ronnie Bowman s songwriting and vocals for years as lead singer of the Lonesome River Band, and their songwriting session for Who Knows, opened her eyes to a new way of crafting songs. Fans won t find a song title for Viridian on the album. It comes from the Latin word viridis, which As much as we love bluegrass music, we don t have a banjo in the band and w e r e n t b o r n i n K e n t u c ky. means green -- the effect that oxygen has on metal, that distinct color of blue/green. It ties into a sort of global thing for us, Young concludes with a chuckle. by Michelle Nikol ai WWW. SESAC. COM9

6 at 22 YE ars Old, SiNgEr, SONgWriTEr and actor OMariON has alre ady SPENT MOrE ThaN half his life in ShOW BUSiNESS. his experience and skill as an entertainer is showcased on his sophomore album, 21, which features more of the artist s songwriting abilities than his previous set, 2003 s O. The album represents a new maturity for the star, who fi rst earned his performing stripes in the popular teen band B2K. like most young people, Omarion says he d been waiting to reach this pivotal age. 21 is a milestone in everyone s life, he notes. anyone who s under 21 can t wait to be 21 and anyone who s over 21 remembers what it was like to be 21! 21 is also Omarion s second straight album to debut at Number One on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart, the pinnacle of pop sales success. The singer insists that Number One was never his goal, but he s gratifi ed nonetheless. To have two Number Ones back to back, that didn t even come in my mind, says the inglewood, California native. i just want to be able to come out and sell a nice amount. i don t really care about it being Number one, but sure enough god said, i m gonna give you this Number One--here you go. KENDRICK WYLDCARD DEAN K E E P S I T R E A L in-demand SONgWriTEr /PrOdUCEr KENdriCK W YldCard de an makes no bones about his path to success in the music business: he realized at a young age that a career in music was his dream, and pursued it relentlessly. Now he s working with everyone from young pop/r&b sensations Chris Brown (the #1 Billboard hit Say goodbye ) and Usher to Celine dion and Britney Spears. soundtrack to the 2007 holiday fi lm This Christmas. Chris really is like a little brother to me, dean enthuses. he s just super talented, and i think he has a great future ahead of him. in the meantime, dean is gearing up for work with dion, Spears and r. Kelly, as well as moving into branding himself via clothing and shoe deals under his Wyldcard moniker. i fi rst had a vision when i was about 12, watching all those awards shows like the grammys and the amas, he recalls. i knew that i didn t have the chops to be a vocalist, but i defi nitely felt a connection with performing, being onstage giving an audience something to cheer about. i said a prayer to god and believed in it and here i am. dean s family background didn t necessarily point to a career in show business: his father was a pastor and his mother was heavily involved in the church, so i needed to go about accomplishing this without compromising my beliefs, or making myself an outcast. Starting with a Playskool set of drums at age fi ve, dean graduated to real percussion instruments and by high school, was playing in the jazz band, leading the orchestra s string section, and serving as senior class president. dean majored in history at the University of florida, resulting in a brief career as a history teacher. i didn t want to be a music major, because i ve always felt that there s no professor or one thing out there that can teach you everything about music. a lot of it is taught by experience; you can t just open a book or live vicariously through others. dean s big break came when producer Bryan-Michael Cox took him under his mentoring wing and soon dean quit his teaching gig and relocated to atlanta. There, Cox brought him in on the Brown project. Chris was a precocious 15-year-old kid, and i was fresh out of teaching that age group, dean explains. We formed a quick bond, and Say goodbye was the fi rst song we recorded. in sports, a wild card is a team that s usually an underdog, not expected to win -- but, as they say, any given football team can win on any given Sunday, he explains. in addition, when you re playing a card game, whoever s holding the wild card tends to win the game. i like to say that life deals us a deck of cards, and some of us are blessed to have the wild card. lest one think that dean s not fully appreciative of all he s achieved, he s quick to point to both his religious background and his expanding philanthropic activities. i m still active with my church, and donate to the american heart association, he notes. i m also involved with a group that s still coming together, which will set up kids from the 10 major U.S. markets in a songwriting competition, with each market represented by an established artist or producer to help guide them. These are all low-income kids, who don t necessarily have the amenities afforded to their contemporaries. dean also spends time speaking for SESaC, which he feels is the best performing rights group there is. actions speak louder than words, and in my case they have embraced someone who s still a relatively new songwriter/producer and stood behind me from day one. attention, exposure and recognition are very important to everyone in the business, and SESaC sees to it that the songwriter/producer isn t forgotten. given his schedule and ambition, it s not likely that dean soon be forgotten either. When do i sleep? he asks rhetorically, then laughs, Never. BY KE ViN zimmer MaN The same team is now working with Chris Brown on both his sophomore album, due this fall, and the o M A r i o n G e t s t H e M i da s t o U c H The album features the input of Pharrell Williams, the Underdogs and Bryan-Michael Cox. The artist has already spun out two top singles from the album, starting with the party-ready Entourage, produced by newcomer Eric hudson. The second radio single is the love-goingwrong ballad icebox, which utilizes the lyrical image of a refrigerator to describe a heart too frozen to move forward. The tune owes it hypnotic, driving production sound by white-hot hit maker Timbaland. Omarion says the song was mostly written when he reached out to Virginia s superstar producer to get his Midas touch. When we reached out to Timbaland for that record, it was pretty much done. i told my boy, if this happens, this is totally meant to be, remembers the artist born Omari grandberry, who penned the track with Keri hilson, Ezekiel lewis, King logan, K. Patrick J Que Smith and Johnkenun Spivey. Myself and J Que, we got to the studio early and we heard the beat and we just started coming up with ideas. lyrically, icebox addresses the phenomenon of how the ghost of an old love ruins the prospects for a new one. So did Omarion experience this himself? it s defi nitely from a personal experience, he admits. i know so many people that have gone through that, liking somebody very strongly and it turning into love, and then for whatever reason it doesn t work out and then it kind of messes it up for any new girl to come in your life. You do get an icebox, where you say, i m never gonna love again. That s immaturity talking but it happens to the best of us. Though he s been performing for several years, Omarion feels that he s fi nally reaching his stride as a total artist. The challenge for me was to convey emotion like i never have before, he says of his work on 21. like when i look back on the old school, people that i looked up to like James Brown and Michael Jackson, they always had this hardcore passion that drew you into them. When you saw James Brown drop to his knees with the mic, right on the one, and sing Please, Please, Please, [you knew] he was really feeling what he was saying! So i try to have that element. Omarion spent the last part of 2006 on the popular BET Scream tour, a trek he s undertaken for several years. Now the artist has launched his own record label imprint, O records, and is introducing a r&b teen quartet called 2 Much. after appearing in 2004 s You got Served, Omarion has been developing a strong fi lm career. he recently wrapped the music biz drama reggaeton. Coming up, he and stepbrother Marques houston will appear in the horror fl ick Somebody help Me, as well as the drama Street Soldier. in the meantime, the next single from 21 will be Midnight, produced by the Underdogs. BY JaNiNE COVENE Y i like to say that life deals us a deck of Cards, and some of us are Blessed to have the wild Card.

7 S E S A C H O L I D AY PA R T I E S S E S A C C e l e b r at e s T h e H o l i d ay s i n L o s A n g e l e s A Brief Over view: Composer s Television and Performance Doll ars The writer s share of public performance royalties are the lifeblood of television and film composers, sometimes making the difference between just getting by and financial success. But these back end royalties are not to be taken for granted. It s vital for one to know how to collect and protect this income. Performing rights organizations (PROs) like SESAC and its domestic and foreign counterparts license the music in television and radio broadcasts as well as other nonbroadcast venues. To insure the composer gets paid, it is critical to see that their royalties are not waived inadvertently or by virtue of pressure placed on the composer to do so. S t e v e n W i n o g r a d s ky i s a n SESAC s West Coast office kicked off the holiday se ason with a part y for its affiliated songwriters, publishers, composers and industry friends at Santa Monic a s L A Farm. 1 SESAC s Trevor Gale (third from left) hangs out with Chris Stokes, Jerome Jones (IMS) and artist Marques Houston 2 SESAC s James Leach (far left) chats with Denisse Larat and Jonathan Wine of the band HURT 3 (Left to right): Composer Chris Beck, SESAC s Hunter Williams, composer Bruce Miller and SESAC s Dennis Lord 4 SESAC s Pat Rogers (far left) and J.J. Cheng (far right) catch up with EMI s Richard Bull and Lo-Ruhama Ochoa at t o r n e y a n d t h e P r e s i d e n t o f T h e W i n o g r a d s ky C o m pa n y i n N o r t h H o l ly w o o d, C a l i f o r n i a, p r ov i d i n g m u s i c b u s i n e s s a f fa i r s a n d l e g a l s u p p o r t f o r c o m p o s e r s, s o n gw r i t e r s, m u s i c S E S A C R i n g s I n T h e S e a s o n I n N a s h v i l l e p u b l i s h e r s, r e c o r d i n g a r t i s t s a n d t e l e v i s i o n, f i l m, v i d e o a n d m u lt i - m e d i a p r o d u c e r s SESAC s family of songwriters, publishers and business associates came together to celebrate the holidays at Nashville s atmospheric FlytE restaurant. The party was filled with friends and associates gathering for great food and laughter. 1 Singer/songwriter Jill Block hangs out with (left to right) SESAC s John Mullins and Tim Fink and Carnival Music s Frank Liddell 2 SESAC s Tim Fink (right) greets songwriter Steve Nelson during the soiree 3 SESAC songwriter Monty Powell (right) takes in the party with wife Anna 4 SESAC s Shannan Neese (center) gets into the holiday spirit with Rob Hatch (left) and songwriter Sam Tate S E S A C N e w Y o r k R e v s U p F o r H o l i d ay s Be diligent, e ven with good l anguage in the contr act Many composers believe that they are entitled to these royalties as a matter of law. But, the term writer s royalties is not found anywhere in The Copyright Act. In the world of television production, the right to collect these royalties is granted to the composer only by contract between the composer and the production company. Accordingly, unless there is proper language in this contract, the composer jeopardizes the receipt of those royalties. Even with the correct language requiring that the writer s share be paid there are still ways the composer might not collect their share of performance income. For instance, many cable networks and local television broadcasters attempt to circumvent PROs and lower the costs W h a t a C o m p o s e r C a n D o of performing rights payments by asking that the producers of local and syndicated programs license these rights directly to the broadcaster. The financial terms of that direct license may be substantially lower than what the license would be worth if collected by a PRO. Furthermore, a clause may be inserted in the contract stating the composer can collect the writer s royalties from his or her PRO. But, the statement is misleading because the broadcaster has direct licensed the work and does not pay the PRO. So, no writer royalties are due to the composer from the PRO. There are also instances of well known production companies and cable networks issuing agreements forcing composers to waive performance royalties entirely. And, while the PROs try to protect their composers through a variety of payment rules, sometimes the composer doesn t get paid because of the agreement made by or with the production company New York s restaur ant, K anvas, was the set ting for SESAC s holiday get together. A host of New York-based SESAC writers, publishers and industry friends converged on the Big Apple hotspot for a festive holiday part y. 1 SESAC s Tara McDermott (right) joins Lily Cushman for a chat during the party 2 SESAC s Jamie Dominguez (far right) hangs out with Stephen Hindman (left) and Penelope Trappes of the band Lismore 3 Bryan-Michael Cox (left) greets SESAC s Trevor Gale (center) and Linda Lorence-Critelli 4 SESAC affiliates Keli Nicole Price and Bryan-Michael Cox chat during the evening s festivities The fact that many composer agreements state that the composer s music is a work made for hire for the producer does not, for the most part, preclude the composer from collecting this income. Work made for hire has to do with authorship and ownership, not income. But, the composer must make sure that the necessary language is in their agreement and check the PRO to make sure the broadcaster is paying the appropriate license fees. To protect my composer clients, I attempt to get language in the agreement stating that the producer continues to have the right to issue a direct license, but must do so for fair market value, consistent with industry custom and practice, and pay the composer their 50% writer s share of these royalties, as would a PRO. I am not always successful in negotiating that language but I always ask and am frequently successful. Another way to try to protect yourself, if the production company will agree, is to license your music to them instead of contracting to create a work made for hire that the production company owns. By licensing the work, the composer retains ownership, is his or her own publisher and controls the performing rights on both the writer and publisher side. But, frankly even in this instance the producer or broadcaster may require a direct license of the performing rights be included in the license fee, thus eliminating the ability of the PRO to license the work and pay royalties. Having said all of this, a composer sometimes faces the dilemma of losing the job if he or she does not waive these rights. It is a personal decision which must be weighed with the knowledge that there is always someone willing to take a job for less money or on terms that might not be fair, just for the credit or chance to foster a relationship. In closing, these are complicated issues, and composers need to arm themselves with knowledge and have good representation by an attorney, manager or agent to assist them in preserving and protecting a key source of income that can last for many years. While the PROs can attempt to educate their affiliates, it falls on the composer to decide what is best for their career and to protect themselves accordingly. By Ste ven Winogr adsk y, Esq. 13 WWW. SESAC. COM

8 AS A SonGwritEr, ProducEr And nashville tastemaker, SESAc S mont Y PowEll is living testimony to what can be accomplished when raw talent, professional tenacity and impeccable timing come together. After finding big success in the 90s as coproducer and co-writer on diamond rio s first three smash hit albums, and rebounding from country s post-90s downturn, Powell has re-emerged as a music row songwriting powerhouse, currently dominating the country charts as co-writer of keith urban hits like days Go by, tonight i want to cry and who wouldn t want to be me. s a M & a n n i e tat e w i n s o n G o F t h e Y e a r At s e s A c s n A s H v i L L e M U s i c AwA r d s Powell has enjoyed a consistent string of hit singles with artists including diamond rio ( nowhere bound, norma Jean riley ), tim mcgraw ( one of these days ), brooks & dunn ( i Am that man ), chris cagle ( miss me baby ) and, of course, urban. i met keith on a cold call, Powell says he called me completely out of the blue and said he was an artist from Australia who was going to make a record for warner bros., and i was on a list of people he should call. ten minutes later, it was decided i was producing the record. we basically have been best pals ever since. Growing up in the small north Georgia town of resaca, Powell learned about country music from his dad, a singer/songwriter with his own musical ambitions. my dad made the pilgrimage to nashville in the 60s, Powell says. i still have his rejection letter from rca. he made a couple of custom singles and i distinctly remember as a kid stopping at radio stations and asking them to t h e r e a r e V e r y F e w P u r e ly C at h a r t i C P r o C e s s e s i n t h e w o r l d l i K e s o n g w r i t i n g. M O N T Y P OW Ell Co M e s Fu l l C i r C l e 1 2 husband and WifE SONgWriTiNg TE am SaM & annie TaTE WErE NaMEd SESaC S COUNTrY SONgWriTEr S Of ThE YE ar ON ThE STrENgTh Of ThEir SMaSh, if YOU re held at SESaC S MUSiC row he adquarter S ThE TaTE S de Vil MEga-SMaSh, WhiCh held ThE NO. 1 SPOT ON ThE COUNTrY CharTS four CONSECUTiVE WEEKS, Wa S also going ThrOUgh hell (BEfOrE ThE de Vil E VEN KNOWS) NaMEd COUNTrY SONg Of ThE YE ar. award WiNNEr S a S recorded BY rodne Y atkins. during CErEMONiES for ThE E VENiNg included: Sam & Annie tate, if You re Going through hell Adam Shoenfeld, mississippi Girl Justin Pollard, Feels Just like it Should Ashe underwood, drunker than me travis hill, Anything but mine Victoria Shaw, A Good man Joe nichols, what s A Guy to do liz rose, tim mcgraw burton collins, i don t tim Johnson, God only cries liz rose, for her work on Souls Alike buck Jones, for his work on Lucky Star walt wilkins, for his work on Lucky Star randy Sitzler, for his work on Lucky Star kieran kane, for his work on Red Letter Day kieran kane, kevin welch, dustin welch & claudia Scott for their work on Lost John Dean ray wylie hubbard, Snake Farm Peter cooper, for his work on The Devil You Know Steve nelson, for his work on Workbench Songs Shawn byrne, for his work on Migrations bob dylan, Hope & Desire bob dylan, Modern Times Song of the Year: if You re Going through hell (before the devil Even knows) ; Songwriter of the Year: Sam & Annie tate; Publisher of the Year: carnival music Publishing 1 All the evening s winners gather for group shot 2 the Greencards perform for the crowd 3 (left to right): SESAc s tim Fink, publisher troy play it. we d be ten miles away just as the signal was fading, and some of them would actually put it on. the discovery of John denver changed my life and put it on track, Powell says. i devoured everything he did and that s what got me wanting to write. i still have notebooks from when i was 11 or 12 where i wrote my own lyrics to John denver tunes. it will say at the top of the page, to the tune of Sunshine on my Shoulders. by the time he moved to nashville to enroll in college, Powell was already emerging as a hot guitar player and something of a showman. when an annual campus-wide 50s night gave Powell his first chance to strut his stuff, he made the most of it. in the audience was Pat Patrick, leader of the Pat Patrick band, nashville s leading society orchestra. looking to inject some youthful rock n roll into his show, Patrick hired Powell on the spot, and the guitar player spent the next few years learning the music business ropes. For the next several years, Powell would live the life of a journeyman guitarist with Patrick and various christian rock outfits, including an extended run with singer russ taff. when a friend in the advertising jingle business tapped Powell for his guitar and writing skills, the musician found his career heading in yet another direction. the jingles he was creating were successful, and he found himself traveling to agencies across the country, composing and performing on jingles for companies like Allstate and coors. on weekends, Powell stayed busy recording the country songs he d been writing. those songs soon caught the attention of future blackhawk member Van Stephenson, who was impressed enough to provide Powell with an introduction at warner chappell music. my timing couldn t have been better, Powell says. i was here, and my game was together and ready to pop when the boom happened. At the end of the 90s, with country music slowing down, Powell wondered whether he was through with nashville and/or country music. i had the typical burnout cycle that everyone has, he says. inspired again, Powell eventually got his groove back, even as he felt his priorities shifting. i think i just fell back in love with the process again, he says. these days, Powell s songwriting and production continue to dovetail into one another, with one discipline feeding the other. Signed to SESAc as of April, 2007, Powell sees beauty and structure in his creative life. being able to produce gives you a leg up on the whole process, he says. i m way more informed now by a bigger picture. i really want to look at the industry that s around me and try to serve it through my gift and my craft and do things that work. by PE ter cronin tomlinson, SESAc s Shannan neese, liz rose ( tim mcgraw ), SESAc s John mullins and publisher Edward williams 4 (Back row): SESAC s Tim Fink, Pat Collins & Trevor Gale; (Front row): Sam & Annie Tate 5 Sam & Annie tate performing a rousing version of Song of the Year if You re Going through hell (before the devil Even knows) with artist rodney Atkins www. sesac. CoM

9 cultur AllY And liter AllY, the dur AnGuEnSE music movement was born in chicago, where a large number of mexicans originally from the state of durango now call home. this latest style of regional mexican music has its roots in a youthful rhythm that is danceable. it represents the latest crossover phenomenon but, not in the usual sense of crossover. that is to say, duranguense is a u.s. Spanish language product that is exported to mexico with much success in both countries. one of the leading proponents of this movement is the chicago-based group Alacranes musical with their unique duranguense interpretations (or covers) of hit songs. Jose lugardo del toro and Eduardo urbina, SESAc latina-affiliated composers of the group, have also written their first new song for the group titled Por tu Amor. this song has been on the billboard regional mexican music charts for twenty weeks among the top five positions and has helped the group start 2007 with a big bang. in addition to Jose and Eduardo, other members of the group are also SESAc latina songwriters, including oscar urbina Jr, Sergio Federico, Guillermo ibarra and Erik urbina. other musician members of the group are hector urbina, rodolfo Avitia, rene urbina and chris urbina. AL ACR ANES MUSICAL MÚSICA MEXICANA MADE IN CHICAGO! Jose lugardo del toro, co-wrote the song Por tu Amor, informs us that he began to write songs after he joined the group focusing his themes on love and the pain of being in love. According to Jose, the success of Alacranes musical is a result of hard work and patience that we have toward our quest for a better future for all of us. he further stated that i like to work with other composers because i believe that working with my colleagues brings an infinite number of ideas to consider. Jose shares with us that the secret to the success of Por tu Amor is that he wrote it on Alacranes tour bus while visiting the michoacan area of mexico. he tells us he was inspired by the intense sentiment and vibe from the people he met during the tour. FÍSicA Y cultur AlmEntE, El movimiento de música dur AnGuEnSE nace En chicago, donde reside un gran número de mexicanos originarios del estado de durango. Joven ritmo primordialmente bailable, esta es la variante más nueva del género regional mexicano y, a su manera pero al revés porque hasta ahora usa sólo el español, también representa un crossover ya que este producto es expor tado desde Estados unidos a méxico, funcionando con éxito en ambos mercados. El grupo Alacranes musical se ha conver tido en uno de los exponentes más conocidos del estilo duranguense y, aunque al principio prefería los covers, en sus grabaciones siguientes también incluye temas inéditos. durante el año 2007 Alacranes musical se ha destacado gracias al sencillo Por tu Amor, cor te que ha permanecido más de 20 semanas en el char t de música regional mexicana de billboard, llegando al top-5. Ambos asociados con SESAc latina, los autores de Por tu Amor son José lugardo del toro y Eduardo urbina. ninguno de ellos se desempeña como músico titular de la agrupación. Per tenecen a Alacranes, pero sus responsabilidades están fuera del escenario. los otros afiliados de SESAc latina, compositores e integrantes del grupo, son Óscar urbina Jr., Sergio Federico, Guillermo ibarra y Erik urbina. ( los demás componentes son héctor urbina, rofolfo Avitia, rené urbina y chris urbina ). José lugardo del toro, el co-autor de Por tu Amor y eventual músico invitado, dice que empezó a escribir después de la formación del grupo, enfocándose más que nada en el amor y el dolor. refiriéndose al enorme éxito logrado por Alacranes con esta canción opina que es el fruto del duro trabajo con que hemos confrontado la carrera, y nuestra paciencia en la búsqueda de un futuro mejor. En relación a su forma de trabajo, reconoce que le gusta trabajar con otros compositores, porque pienso que cuando se compone con compañeros las ideas son infinitas. Y en eso consiste justamente el otro gran secreto del éxito de Por tu Amor, ya que el tema fue escrito en el autobús de Alacranes musical, mientras nos encontrábamos de gira por diversas ciudades de michoacán y otros estados de la república mexicana. Eso le permitió ambientarse mejor y recoger para su inspiración el entorno exacto donde el grupo efectúa su trabajo diario, incluso aquello que hace vibrar a la gente de un modo mucho más intenso. by nelson henrique Z And lupe de l A cruz CHRISTIAN LEUZZI MUSIC AND PERSISTENCE IN THREE LANGUAGES if crossover means to cross over to the Anglo market or to build a bridge that will facilitate a step toward that goal, then christian leuzzi s crossover journey began ten years ago when he first crossed the Atlantic from italy. he arrived in miami to the heartland of two popular music styles, the American and latin sounds that dominate so much of pop culture throughout the world. upon his arrival in miami, the young italian songwriter quickly began to reach out to industry contacts looking for opportunities to work with established composers. Speaking about his first GrAmmY- winning song Just take me recorded by Gladys knight, christian shares with us that i am not just now achieving a crossover career, it actually began in 2000 when Gladys knight recorded my song, but that year i also had my first Spanish hit song quien te hace El Amor recorded by Puerto rican recording artist Gisselle. the SESAc latina affiliated composer continues to celebrate his crossover success while working on important tracks with other artists. most recently, American idol winner clay Aiken recorded christian s song A thousand days for his latest album. he also collaborated with noted songwriter Aldo nova on the track reason i Go on which was recorded by celina dion for her latest album. his compositions have earned him the nickname of the melody man among his peers, a trait he embraces by telling us that a good melody can be used in any language. these are the basics to which he adheres to in his compositions, this is why i am able to write fluently in my native italian or in English and Spanish, says christian. though curiously, when i dream, it is a mixture of languages. overall, christian leuzzi happily admits that he is living the best moments of his career as a composer-songwriter who is working with superstars like the Spaniard david bisbal and mexican recording artist, Yahir. however, christian emphasizes that besides good music, in this business you need a bit of luck in order to achieve success. with a play on words, christian shares with us these final thoughts: the most difficult is done. the easy stuff i will do in the future, even if it turns out to be very difficult. LO MÁS DIFÍCIL DE MI CROSSOVER YA ESTÁ HECHO Si crossover significa cruzar hacia el mercado anglo, o construir un puente para dar un gran paso en esa dirección, el crossover de christian leuzzi comenzó hace 10 años cuando saltó sobre el Atlántico desde su natal italia para aterrizar en miami, en el corazón de un mundo poblado por dos vertientes musicales predominantes: la americana y la latina. recién llegado establece allí un primer contacto con la industria, sobre todo con el trabajo de sus famosos compositores. Afirma el autor afiliado a SESAc latina que en realidad yo no estoy haciendo ahora el crossover. lo hice el 2000, el año en que Gisselle grabó mi primera canción en español: quién te hace El Amor. El mismo año salí con una canción en inglés, cien por ciento mía, en el disco de la legendaria Gladys knight. Ahora mismo, en pleno 2007, christian leuzzi celebra la continuación de su crossover con otros dos importantes temas: A thousand days con clay Aiken, el triunfador de American idol; y reason i Go on con celine dion. Ambos son sencillos en los respectivos álbumes. Este es el fruto de su colaboración con el consagrado compositor Aldo nova, otro de sus buenos amigos en la industria discográfica. lo que no dice es que por la calidad de sus canciones ya muchos lo llaman the melody man. En relación a lo que significa este apodo christian afirma que una buena melodía se puede usar en cualquier idioma. Y por eso escribe con igual fluidez en italiano, su lengua natal; y, además, en español o en inglés. curiosamente, cuando sueña lo hace en una mezcla de lenguajes. En síntesis, christian leuzzi admite que actualmente está viviendo el mejor momento de su carrera como compositor por ser también el autor de los nuevos sencillos del súper astro español david bisbal y del destacado cantante mexicano Yahir. Subraya que, además de buena música en este negocio se requiere un poco de suerte. Jugando con las palabras, finalmente, declara que lo más difícil ya está hecho. lo más fácil lo haré en el futuro, aunque me resulte muy difícil. by nelson henrique Z And lupe de l A cruz 17 www. sesac. CoM

10 In a word, ser endipit y. That might be how best to describe the life and career of the artist Plumb. I ll stumble upon something -- whether I wore this in a photo shoot, or we used this kind of film in my video, or I said this in a lyric -- something innovative without meaning to be. I ve been very fortunate that something accidentally in my ridiculous human nature ends up being a benefit sometimes, said Plumb, aka Tiffany Arbuckle Lee. The veteran singer/songwriter, whose songs have been recorded, in addition to her own projects, by a number of major artists, as well as found their way into films, TV shows and national commercials, cites examples of her serendipitous life: meeting her husband when she emphatically was not looking for a boyfriend; embarking on a singing career when all she wanted was a part time job; and discovering her talent for songwriting when, after signing her first record deal, she was told she needed to write her own music. There s certain things I m intentional about and there s certain things that I ve had absolutely no control over. The ones that have not been planned by me. the things that have meant the most, have found me, she said. The musical chapter of Plumb s life began when, at 19, the young singer, who was raised in Atlanta, took a job as a back up singer to save money to attend nursing school. I had a great passion for music. I had sung in church and school choirs, she said. My thought was that singing would be a great way to earn money for school, but I had no intention whatsoever of making music my career. One back up singing job led to another which led to studio work which led to moving to Nashville which led to the phone call that singers everywhere dream of receiving. Out of nowhere, I got a phone call from this guy saying that he had heard my voice and wanted to sign me as a solo artist, she said. She inked the deal with a small Nashville label one month before her 21st birthday. With a record deal in place, the young artist soon learned that her label expected her to write her own material, an aspect of the music business of which Plumb knew nothing. In yet another serendipitous moment, Plumb found the answer to her songwriting dilemma while looking to buy a guitar. A neighbor, Matt Bronleewe, an original member of the band Jars of Clay, happened to be selling a guitar. The two met, became friends and started writing songs together. The songwriting partnership continues today and has evolved into Bronleewe serving as Plumb s producer. The duo teamed up on Plumb s latest project, as well. The 12-song CD is a mixture of edgy rock, melodic pop and emotions ranging from frenetic to sublime. The album, Plumb said, is sort of like a day in the life of me. In t wo words, Chaotic R e solve. I m easily affected by my environment, if you will, she said. It s absolutely chaos one minute and then it s sweet utter bliss and then it s really sentimental and then it s really fast and then it s really slow. I ll have one crazy moment and one that s not so crazy. Chaotic Resolve may describe Plumb s life, but the words also title her fourth Curb Records, released in Following the path of other Plumb music, the songs have morphed, finding lives of their own on film soundtracks, TV scores and national commercials. The singer/songwriter s resume boasts a long list of music included on end credits, soundtracks and throughout major Hollywood films, including the 2005 Hilary Duff comedy The Perfect Man, Gwyneth Paltrow s hit View from the Top, Bruce Almighty with Jim Carrey and Jennifer Aniston, and The Story of Us, starring Bruce Willis and Michelle Pfeiffer. Her music is no stranger to television either, with TV credits ranging from Dawson s Creek to ER to Roswell. Michelle Branch, Mandy Moore, Kimberley Locke and Jennifer Paige are a few of the artists who have recorded Plumb s music. The universal appeal of Plumb s music likely stems from her ability to write music that transcends the initial intended audience. I try to write as metaphorically as much as I can so that a song is not just limited to one circumstance, so more than one audience can relate to it, she said. But at the end of the day, there is a muse behind it that inspires that story. Just as Plumb s new music is autobiographical in that it represents her stage in life as a new mother, the songwriter also writes about topics that are not biographical. On Chaotic Resolve, the song Cut discusses selfmutilation, a topic that Plumb cannot relate to as a victim. She feels strongly, however, that she can give a voice to young people struggling through some of life s toughest challenges. I decided to dedicate one song on each album to people who are hurting, because these songs have let people know they are not alone, which is the first step to healing. By Crystal C aviness SESAC honored its affiliated composers in the ja z z genre at a awards ceremony at New York s historic Tavern On The Green. The audience was tre ated to a stunning performance by ja z z gre at C assandr a Wilson accompanied by Jason Mor an on piano, both honorees SESAC s Linda Lorence-Critelli, Jason Moran, Ben Allison, Ted Nash, SESAC s Pat Collins, Cassandra Wilson, SESAC s Trevor Gale, Jeremy Pelt and SESAC s Jamie Dominguez 2 SESAC s Linda Lorence-Critelli, Ben Allison and SESAC s Trevor Gale 3 Cassandra Wilson performs 4 Composer Vana Gierig and SESAC s Linda Lorence-Critelli 5 SESAC s Linda Lorence-Critelli, Jason Moran and SESAC s Trevor Gale 1 JA Z Z AWA RDS 19 WWW. SESAC. COM

11 S E S A C A t l a n t a O f f i c e L a u n c h P a r t y God allows me to go through things and I live through it and then I go in creative mode and write about it and bless somebody with it. SESAC celebr ated in st yle at the l aunch part y of the newly established office in Atl anta, Ga, at popul ar hotspot, The Foundry at Puritan Mill. With more than 400 music producers, songwriters, publishers and e xecutives in at tendance including hitmakers Bryan-Michael Cox (Mary J. Blige, Mariah C arey), Kendrick De an (Chris Brown), and Donnie Sc antz (Ludacris) among many others, the SESAC Atl anta l aunch was a gal a affair with a diverse gathering of industry professionals. 1 2 KELI NICOLE PRICE G E T S G R A M M Y S P OT L I G H T F O R D E J A V U (Left to right): SESAC s John Mullins, James Leach, Cappriccieo Scates, songwriter/producer Donnie Scantz, SESAC s Trevor Gale & Peniece Le Gall 2 SESAC s Trevor Gale greets GRAMMY Award-winning songwriter, Keli Nicole Price 3 SESAC s Cappriccieo Scates takes a moment to chat with producer/manager Stone Stafford 4 (Left to right): Songwriter Traci Hale visits with SESAC s James Leach 5 R&B singing sensation Sammie entertains the crowd with Bryan-Michael Cox assisting on keyboards 6 (Left to right): Songwriter/ producer Bryan-Michael Cox has a laugh with SESAC s Trevor Gale Virginia Beach native Keli Nicole Price has been perfecting her songwriting craft for a decade now, placing tunes with hot recording artists like Lil Mo, Total, Missy Elliot, Timbaland, Angie Stone, Joy Enriquez, Tamia and others. Now she s in the limelight with a Grammy Award nomination--her first--in the Best R&B Song category for collaborating on Beyonce s smash 2006 single Deja Vu from her sophomore album B Day. I feel like I m about to get married! I feel like I m getting prepared for my wedding day, laughs the singer-songwriter about the Grammy honor. I didn t even think it was possible. Price collaborated with Makeba, Delisha Thomas, as well as Beyonce, Jay-Z, and producer Rodney Jerkins on the tune, which was born at one of Rodney Jerkins intense grind sessions at his studios in the summer of Myself and Delisha did the B section and the hook. Those were finished first, and we kinda got stuck on the verses because Rodney was like, It has to be this, it has to be that, Price recalled. So Makeba came in on the verse and helped us out. The power of the song required some special production, she recalls: They were like, the song is almost bigger than the music so we have to go back and redo some things. So they went back and added horns. Beyonce later added some embellishments, while Jay-Z created his rap for the tune. A singer as a teen, Price was introduced to Missy Misdemeanor Elliot during her senior year of high school. Elliot liked Price s vocal style, so much so that she called Price away from her first year of college to add vocals to her many production projects. When Elliot saw that Price liked to create poetry as well, she encouraged her to create her own songs. Her first recorded composition was Lil Mo s Five Minutes from the 1998 Why Do Fools Fall In Love soundtrack, overseen by Missy and Timbaland. A single mother of two--her youngest then just six months old--price headed to the music mecca of Atlanta to gain more experience. Through manager Kevin Wells, she connected with teen group B5. Price worked on songs for the group s debut, and as the clean-cut boy band got noticed by Disney, Price went along, writing and arranging music for such Disney projects as Radio Disney s Jingle Jams and the animated film Kronk s New Groove. It was really fun. It s something to turn to the Disney Channel and your song is on and your children are singing it, says Price, who is mother to CJ and Shari. After two years in Atlanta, Price returned to her native Virginia Beach, and more artists and producers came calling on her Price Tag publishing imprint. She currently has two songs on the new Tamia album, and is working on material for Beyonce s re-release of B Day, the next solo album by Michelle Williams, and the longawaited comeback album by Whitney Houston. I just think, simply put: I m relatable, says Price of her songwriting style. God allows me to go through things and I live through it and then I go in creative mode and write about it and bless somebody else with it. So if they re going through the same thing, there s a song there. If they listen to it, it s like: That s me! That s something I ve done, I ve cried about that, I ve smiled about that, I did miss him like that. When it comes to actually getting her song ideas recorded, Price laughs. I am so anal about writing. I have to have wide-rule paper and a Number 5 lead pencil, she says. I take a mechanical pencil with me everywhere. If it s a pen I m about to throw up, if it s college rule paper I m going crazy. As long as I have that paper and that pencil a melody will always stay in my head. SESAC has been a great source of information and strength for the artist as she built her career. I ve called Trevor (Gale) and Cappriccieo (Scates) and their assistants and asked them every question in the book, and they just smile and answer me, notes Price. They ve always been open to me since I was in my teens. They ve always been so supportive. As a Grammy nominee, Price jokes that she ll get even more support. On a serious note, she is grateful for what the nomination means to her career. It s the greatest thing to just be nominated, she says. It put me on another level in certain circles and people respect you for what you do that normally wouldn t even know about you. It s not just associating you with something good, but you have to be a little bit better than good to be nominated. by Janine Covene y 21 WWW. SESAC. COM

12 P e t e r a n d t h e W o l f : R e d H u n t e r L e a d s t h e P a c k Although Peter and the Wolf might sound like the name of a hairy duo, it is notable that the group really has no set line-up other than Red Hunter, a singer/songwriter whose MySpace page notes a long list of band members including two black cats named Hector and Don Juan, a bearded playwright, a transvestite, a socialite, and a flashlight. This might well be, since Hunter is given to appearing with a retinue of up to 20 ad hoc band musicians joining the show at any given time. is under the auspices of the L.A.-based label Workers Institute. The son of a Navy commander, Hunter had spent much of his childhood in transit. He studied piano and symphonic music in college before heading off for to France. Returning to the U.S., he learned how to write music, dropped out of college, worked as a pianist and percussionist, and slept on rooftops and in vacant dorm rooms. A LO H A B R A N D N E W And what shows they are. For one memorable performance Hunter invited the audience to gather on the bank of a river in his adopted hometown, Austin, Texas, to be transported by canoe to an empty island for a midnight concert. I started out writing these spooky nighttime songs, Hunter recalls, and I got my friend Dana Falconberry to sing with me. We were staging shows in places that weren t even venues -- like in an old bus. The name Peter and the Wolf stuck. I started doing all kinds of projects with different people, but put everything out under that name as an umbrella kind of thing. The confessional vocal style and minimal guitar on the latest release, Lightness, is paired with an organically lo-fi recording, where percussion is provided by hands beating on the backs of guitars, or beans rattling in a cup, orchestrating songs of poignant authenticity. After a string of indie releases, selling CD s mainly at shows and online, Peter and the Wolf s latest creation Hunter s career in the music business began in earnest when he quit his day gig as a waiter at the Spaghetti Factory in Los Angeles, and spent the next 14 months homeless. After leaving Los Angeles, Hunter toured the U.S. in a beat up Toyota, playing shows wherever he could. I d call up college kids I knew who d moved to different towns and ask if I could play in their living rooms. He finally settled down in the Lone Star State. When I got to Austin I felt that I could actually stay here, he testifies. It would make sense that a man given to staging often-secret shows in cemeteries, on rooftops and in burned out barns and boxcars might not go the most conventional route when it comes to his performing rights organization. SESAC, Hunter says, understands. When I tell my friends who are associated with other PRO s something about how I m friends with my representatives at SESAC, they are amazed. They don t know what that kind of hands-on thing is like. By Dan Kimpel B O B DY L A N FA I N T K i l l s w i tc h E n g a g e SESAC. We re in the band. y o u r m u s i c, y o u r r i g h t s, y o u r m o n e y T h e B l a c k H e a r t P r o c e s s i o n P e t e r a n d t h e W o l f C a n d i r i a C o h e e d a n d C a m b r i a D e c i b u l ly B r a n d n e w T w i s t e d S i s t e r P r o m i s e R i n g T h e Fa i n t H o t R o d C i r c u i t D a l e k L e M e u L e P u r r C l a s s i c C a s e C a l e Pa r k s Va u x R e c o v e r E r a s e E r r ata T h e P i e r c e s Y o u n g L o v e H at e b r e e d M r. L i f C o h e e d a n d C a m b r i a I S I S M AT E S O F S TAT E S a u c y M o n k y L e s S av y Fav P r i e s t b i r d T h e Ata r i s O w e n G o e s C u b e T e d L e o + t h e P h a r m a c i s t s Pa i n t I t B l a c k T h e R a p t u r e R a d i o 4 I S I S T h e S t r ay s A l l T h at R e m a i n s M at e s O f S tat e A l o h a S av e s t h e D ay T h e J u l i a n a T h e o r y H o p e w e l l B r a n d t s o n S y b r i s Fav o u r i t e S o n s E l- P T h e I c a r u s L i n e H a r M a r S u p e r s ta r Y o u n g L o r d s B e n z o s K i l l s w i t c h E n g a g e S at u r d ay L o o k s G o o d T o M e T h e P i c t u r e D e a d M e a d o w B e a n s R y e C o a l i t i o n J e r r y C a n t r e l l B o b D y l a n A e s o p R o c k N e w F o u n d G l o r y L i o n F e v e r R u s h V o x t r o t D a d d y M u d v i l l e : M a r i ly n C a r i n o a n d B e n R u b i n S t e p U p T o T h e P l a t e Future-past is the paradoxical phrase that illustrates the sound of Mudville, a New York City based musical collective formed by new SESAC affiliates Marilyn Carino and Ben Rubin. Ben is classically trained and has been a jazz singer since he was a kid, and I started out singing country music, so I think we re both rooted in the American rock and roll roots tradition, says Carino, but we like the cutting edge of it. While the past is represented with sonorous upright bass, whirling Hammond B3 and lush orchestras surrounding Carino s luminous vocals, these sounds are ingeniously transformed into the timbre of the future, courtesy of Rubin s sonic wizardry. Avant-garde influences, countermelodies and polyrhythms are all in the mix on their latest CD, Iris Nova. Steel guitar master Buddy Cage, R.E.M. s Mike Mills and Brazilian percussionist Mauro Refosco are among the illustrious list of collaborators. Carino qualifies what attracts this level of players. Carino and Rubin, native New Yorkers who met in San Francisco through a classified ad, initially worked on songs separately. For the duo s first two records Carino would record four track demos or sing live, and Rubin would then write the arrangements. But with Rubin s career arc as a producer in ascension he has remixed Wu- Tang Clan s Killah Priest, Brazilian Girls and many others -- he will often have used tracks left over. I ll say, Give me that! It will become a Mudville song eventually. Sometimes it is just a ghost of the original, but it gives me a chance to stretch and Ben loves it because all of the work is not in vain, says Carino. And about that name: yes, since Ben Rubin is a baseball fan, Casey at the Bat is one reference point, but Carino s devotion to Nichiren Buddhism, and the essence of the lotus, is also significant. The most perfect and beautiful flower only blooms in the mucky mud, which is a metaphor for how our lives are these pure entities that really need the muck of daily life to be able to reveal their splendor, she relates. I thought it was poetic and Ben liked it. And we also like that mighty Casey struck out we re the underdog. Music licensing is a high priority as the group has placed songs in major Canadian television shows, in indie films, and they ve just scored their first-ever independent feature. With their PRO, there is joy in Mudville, avows Carino. Our relationship with SESAC is new, but I think we have similar goals. We feel the industry is very receptive to what we re doing. The great thing is that once people hear it they like it we just want to get it out there. By Dan Kimpel TED LEO + THE PHARMACISTS YO U N G LO V E T H E R A P T U R E T h e L o v e d O n e s P i e b a l d PA R L O U R B O Y S r u s h R A D I O 4 P E T E R A N D T H E W O L F V OX T R O T N a s h v i l l e Lo s A n g e l e s N e w Yo r k A t l a n t a Lo n d o n W W W. S E S A C. C O M PA R LO U R B OY S

13 > SESAC hosted a congratulatory brunch for affiliate Bryan-Michael Cox for his multiple GRAMMY Awards nominations. The brunch was held on the morning of the awards and drew a festive crowd of family, friends and business associates all anxious to wish the writer/producer extraordinaire the best on his big day. (Left to right): SESAC s J.J. Cheng (left) and Pat Rogers (right) congratulate Bryan-Michael Cox on his numerous GRAMMY nominations < CMJ Music Festival SESAC s Josh Feingold (far left) and Jamie Dominguez (far right) visit with Blacklist at the CMJ Music Conference > SESAC hosted the annual Frank Brown Songwriters Conference in picturesque Gulf Shores, AL. Seen enjoying the music and atmosphere are (left to right): Songwriters Ron Harbin, Kim Williams, David Chamberlain, SESAC s Ellen Jones and John Mullins and songwriter Brice Long < SESAC HOSTED A CD RELEASE PARTY FOR SONGWRITER/MUSICIAN JERRY SALLEY. His new cd, New Songs, Old Friends features an array of top level artists and musicians, many of whom attended the soiree to show their support. (Left to right): Darryl Worley, Jim McBride, Salley and Duane Allen of the Oak Ridge Boys > SESAC presented the Urban Alternative Mixer at Los Angeles hotspot Zanzibar and featured a night of entertainment featuring Supa Lowery Bros., Deep Red, Anthony David and Sekou (The Misfit). The event benefited the Black AIDS Institute. (Left to right): Gel aka Greg Curtis Jr., SESAC s James Leach, N Dambi and Greg Curtis Sr. 55 Music Square East, Nashville, TN Presorted Standard U. S. Postage Paid Mailer s Choice 37210