Music Pro Show: Episode 27

Show Notes
I. Contact Us / Get Involved

• Email: TheMusicProShow(at)Gmail.com
• Frappr Map: www.frappr.com/musicproshow

II. RIP Singer / Songwriter Paul Davis - Taken from WTOK-TV's website: "If you take Paul Davis' biography, it's going to be very small," said Van Mac of WOKK/The Radio People. "If you start stacking up his contributions to the music industry, it's very large. It's funny; he had so many hit records and the average person might not even know who Paul Davis is."

Davis released eight albums in his career with six singles reaching the top 20 on the Adult Contemporary charts, his highest being "Cool Night" which reached number two. His hit "I Go Crazy" reached Number 7 on the Billboard Top 100 Charts, and remained in the Top 100 for an incredible 40 weeks. His songs "Cool Night," and "'65 Love Affair" also reached the Top 10 in 1981 and 1982, respectively. Six of his recordings reached into the Top 10 on either the Billboard or Country charts. Davis was inducted into the Jimmie Rodgers Hall of Fame in Meridian in 1987."

Davis passed away at Rush Hospital in Meridian , MS on April 23, 2008 from a heart attack. He was 60 years old.

III. Brian's Editorial: The State of Web Technology in 2008, Online Marketing, and Creating Global Culture Around Your Art

IV. Tonight's Guest - Rich Ward: Guitarist, Singer, and Songwriter (Stuck Mojo / Fozzy)
Rich "The Duke" Ward is a singer, guitarist and songwriter who first made a name for himself as a founding member of the band Stuck Mojo. For years the band had been building a loyal fan base in rock clubs all across America, but their first big tour came in October of 95 when they were asked to join Machine Head as their opening act on a ten-week stint of North America. That was followed by the band's first European tour, an eleven week run hitting Germany, France, Italy, England, Austria, Denmark, Poland, Belgium and the Czech Republic. On the last show of the tour, STUCK MOJO performed on the main stage at the prestigious Dynamo Festival in Eindhoven, Netherlands. Having just been named the year's best live band by MTV Europe, many rock journalists covering the event noted that STUCK MOJO was the highlight of the show.

The band would go on to tour with Pantera, Testament, Life Of Agony, Type O Negative, The 24/7 Spyz, Sevendust and Clutch. STUCK MOJO became Century Media's biggest selling act in America and would remain so until 2004. In 2000, after six albums, eight world tours, years of living out of suitcases and constant friction between the band’s management and the band's record company, Century Media, Stuck Mojo drifted apart. Rich went on to release several records with other band projects (Fozzy, Sick Speed) as well as a solo record and, after a 4 year hiatus, decided to reform Stuck Mojo by testing the waters with a 17-date tour of Europe in February 2005. Not only were the gigs incredibly well attended but the live reviews in the press were ecstatic, leading to 4 more tours of Europe and a 6 week tour of the States over the next 16 months.

In Part 1 of our interview, Rich talks about the beginnings of Stuck Mojo, how they got their first recording label contract, and he shed some light on what it's REALLY like to be a label-signed musical act. What you take away from this interview is a better picture of the reality of getting signed to a record label. You will also see what that can mean to any musician who loves their craft and entrusts the success and future of his/her career to a corporation whose goals and vision are of a different motivation. Rich's unfettered candor and brutal honesty may be shocking to those with their eye on that proverbial Brass Ring.

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VI. Get Brian's audio book, "Stickin' It Out - the Anatomy Of A Professional Drummer" for only $1.99 at BrianStephens.com. Just enter the coupon code "musicproshow" at check out to get your instant discount on this download-able digital product.