A2IM stands for the American Association of Independent Music and at a meeting of the Chicago chapter in the Windy City last night, it's clear to see that despite the struggles and the current economic woes, a lot of people remain committed to indie music and to maintaining and boosting the profile and rights of independent musicians, labels and studios.
The gathering, which took place at The Hideout a few blocks north of North Avenue, drew musicians and label owners and staffers, along with studio staff, to network, talk shop and maybe get a little business done.
It was an interesting group. First, I met Bruce Iglauer, whose Alligator Records has long been one of America's best -- if not America's best, I'm not expert enough to say -- blues label.
But for about five years in the early 1980s Alligator also released some reggae records, so I was happy not just to meet this man I've known about for nearly 30 years, but to hear some of his anecdotes of working with The Abyssinians, The Mighty Diamonds and Mutabaruka at places like Bob Marley's Tuff Gong studio.
I was surprised to learn that Iglauer is a regular visitor to Milwaukee, his wife's hometown and a place where they still own a residence.
But perhaps most interesting were the contrasts and the variety of stories being told. Two stories stuck in my mind ...
One comes from a guy who works at one of Chicago's most respected studios. It's the place someone like Beyonce, for example, would record when she's in town. This engineer said that work from major labels has dried up in a big way as corporate budgets are slashed. He seemed hopeful, but admitted times are bad.
Meanwhile, despite the economy, Josh Wentz, a musician and graphic designer who owns Sidedown Audio, hasn't changed his game plan. Wentz releases small runs of home-recorded music by a number of musicians and although money isn't really flowing, Wentz uses his income as a graphic designer to fund the releases. He often offers his graphic design services to other musicians for free just to help guarantee their discs will be released in attractive, artistic sleeves.
Some might have been attracted by the promise of the free Red Stripe (and the evening's swag was a cool little Red Stripe bottle replica flash drive!), but they stayed for the conversation and camaraderie and, perhaps, for the comfort of knowing they're not alone in the game.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
