Tag Archive for: oregon music

ALEX STEININGER joins ALL ACCESS LIVE!

Local Heroes Month continues! Join me and the dynamic NW Publicist PR champion Alex Steininger at 5pm today to discuss the evolution in the music scene, both live, online and globally. Alex has worked with countless artists to assist their efforts to be noticed. Topics such as “why should we hire a publicist?”, “what does a record label offer us today?”, “does touring really help?” and more will be discussed.

Sponsored by Rhythm Traders and Five Star Guitars

More on Alex:
Alex Steininger got his start in music in 1995, writing about both local and national bands for the America Online magazine ChipNet. Making several connections with indie and major record labels, when AOL ceased ChipNet in 1997, Alex Steininger co-founded the online magazine In Music We Trust with life long friend Ryan.

In Music We Trust Magazine soon found an audience with like-minded music fans; In Music We Trust covered all genres, leaving no sound untouched, which resonated well with its readers, especially during the dawn of the world wide web. In Music We Trust managed to gain the attention of Billboard Magazine following it’s launch, which reviewed the website, stating that they were champions of the little guy.

While still doing In Music We Trust Magazine, in 1999 Alex was hired to work at N.A.I.L. Distribution (National Alliance of Independent Labels) heading up their marketing department, working alongside artists and indie labels to coordinate their marketing efforts at retail. That same year, Alex started In Music We Trust PR, and picked up his first two PR clients courtesy of Cavity Search Records: King Black Acid and Helio Sequence. Many other clients followed after.

In 2001, Alex started another chapter in the In Music We Trust empire, launching In Music We Trust Records with the debut solo record from former Crackerbash/Jr. High front man, Sean Croghan. That year also saw Alex move to Burnside Distribution, accepting the title of Marketing Director and Label Liaison, again working alongside artists and labels, and retail stores, to better represent the Burnside catalog at both local and national retail outlets.

In 2003, CD Baby offered Alex the job of Vice President of Business Relations, and Alex moved over to CD Baby.

While Vice President of Business Relations at CD Baby, Alex secured deals with Amazon.com, Ryko Distribution, and Super D, a one-stop distributor, for CD Baby’s catalog. The Ryko Distribution deal saw Alex heading up CD Baby’s umbrella label group, with it’s first release a live album from Reel Big Fish. The Amazon.com deal would make each CD Baby title not available on Amazon at the time available for sale. The Super D deal allowed CD Baby’s clients, who didn’t have distribution deals in place, to stock and special order their titles at retail. All three deals helped with CD Baby’s rapid growth.

After four and a half years at CD Baby, all while still doing In Music We Trust Magazine, PR, and the record label, Alex left CD Baby in 2007 to focus on In Music We Trust full-time. The following year he added another division to In Music We Trust, launching In Music We Trust Management. He hasn’t looked back since.

Now, here we are, nearly twenty years later, and Alex Steininger is still doing In Music We Trust, managing bands, running a national PR firm, and operating his record label. As the name states, Alex trusts in music and is thankful to be involved in helping expose, guide, and create hype for a wide array of artists and bands.

From the episode, here’s the clip of Western Aerial’s “Housewives” performance for Alex’ birthday, complete with his contributions:

ALL ACCESS LIVE with NORMAN SYLVESTER

Norman Sylvester’s family migrated to N.E. Portland, as many local African American families did to work in the 40’s and through the 50’s. After the Vanport flood, the Black community mostly lived in the Albina area due to “red lining”. The churches, schools & neighborhood was full of music and produced many of our Musicians of color. Norman “the Boogie Cat” as he is known, played in many Soul, Funk & Blues bands while also working full time and raising his young family. When the Trucking Company he worked for went broke in 1990, most of his children were through school and it was time to try at being a full time Musician to pay tribute to the beginnings of American music; Blues & Gospel with the Norman Sylvester band.

Norman gives his energy to many community needs with his talent and they annually work to support Benefits, Non-profits & Elderly concerts. He has been the Talent Booker of the “Inner City Blues Festival” since the start to raise funds for Jesse Jackson’s bid for the Presidency in 1988. After the first Black President was not meant to be yet, they continued the Annual Festival for many different Social Justice causes for the next 10 years.

After 10 years off, the campaign; Health Care for All-Oregon approached Norman about booking an annual Music event to fund awareness for Universal Healthcare and he has dedicated the past 9 years for that goal. Norman was one of the founding organizers of the “Good in the Hood” Festival, from 1991~2002 which was a needed event to promote safety in North Portland and to celebrate its diverse community culture. He has been so pleased that this Festival still exists & thrives today!

At 76 years old, the Boogie Cat’s biggest mission is to mentor young Artists whenever possible. For the past 25+ years his band has worked in schools as Artist in Residence. He worked with Bravo Youth Orchestra during the pandemic, as our youth needs music more than ever at this time.

See this latest History project Norman is working on: https://www.facebook.com/OldPDX/videos/701175280665403

Sponsored by Five Star Guitars

ALL ACCESS LIVE with MIKE BRANCH

Mike Branch is one of those guys that looks intimidating upon first meeting, but softens the heart and brightens the room with an infectious smile. He’s been fronting rock & roll bands for decades in the area, and most recently joined forces with regional favorite “Night Rose” to bring a wide range of crowd favorites to a community desperately in need of the whole package – great songs, great performances and great attitudes.

A reputable graphic designer and savvy online marketer, Mike has a solid balance of both sides of the brain needed to be creative and successful at the same time. Some might say that’s magic.

Let’s see if he’ll share some of his magic tricks when we go live!

Sponsored by Five Star Guitars