Can You DIG It? Still, many in the industry are upbeat about Sacramento’s music business opportunities. Dreams of molding Sacramento into a Seattle or San Diego flicker in the hearts of local music fans as recording studios and independent labels pop up and stay afloat.
Marty DeAnda disputes the staleness of the Sacramento market, and he should know. This is the guy who caught Jackie Greene at an open mike night at a midtown nightclub, heard two songs and told his wife he was quitting his job to manage the skinny kid from Placerville.
DeAnda walked away from a six-figure salary as a corporate suit with Firemen’s Fund to put his complete energy into
DIG Music, a local recording label and management firm. He now manages Greene, a singer/songwriter who signed with Universal and spent the summer headlining at major big-city venues. He also manages another singing phenom, alternative country artist Chris Webster, the lead singer for the popular Sacramento zydeco band Mumbo Gumbo.
“I do my homework. I’m out four to five nights a week looking at bands around the Sacramento area, and pound for pound, we have as much talent as Nashville, New York or San Francisco,” says DeAnda.
DIG Music started in 2001 as a part-time gig for DeAnda. His partner, Dennis Newhall, finds unreleased songs from the 1960s and ’70s, then remasters, packages and sells them. DeAnda projects revenues to hit seven figures this year and expects continued growth for DIG Music.
Johnston started Pus Caverns 14 years ago, partly because he “thought it would be cool,” he admits. The studio didn’t pay his bills for the first six years, and he kept his day job. Now business is good for him and co-owner, wife Lesa Johnston, and two employees. “I work more than I want to,” Johnston says. “Sacramento’s always been good that way. There are lots of young bands that keep coming. I’m always waiting for the bottom to fall out, but it doesn’t happen.”
Brian Wheat, bassist for the nationally known band Tesla, built Sacramento’s
J Street Recorders in 2002 to fill a need for a state-of-the-art, quality recording studio at cheaper rates. Chris Cary, studio manager for J Street, says the studio doesn’t really make money off local bands but stays successful by drawing big bands from “indy” and major labels.
“We wanted something in Sacramento that could handle major labels and local stuff,” Cary says. “We have several big producers, including Michael Rosen, who won a Grammy for working with Michelle Branch, and we work with Papa Roach and the Deftones. We can give the same quality as studios in Los Angeles and San Francisco, but cheaper.” Now Wheat is looking at starting up his own independent label.
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