Raise a toast - down the hatch arrives
A new indie label, 598 Recordings, launches this year with the phenomenal duo, The Damn Quails. 598 Recordings is the brainchild of Chance Sparkman and renowned songwriter/musician/producer, Mike McClure. Sparkman, a successful Oklahoma business man and lifelong country music fan, approached McClure offering a partnership that would provide a new platform for McClure’s multi-leveled music expertise. Knowing that Sparkman would get behind music that needed to be heard, McClure agreed and immediately recruited The Damn Quails as the label’s debut artists.
“After hearing their songs backstage at my show in Tecumseh, I knew they had the goods. I asked my bass player/mentor, Tom Skinner, if he was starting a label who he would sign. He said, 'The Damn Quails.' I took that as a sign. ” Sparkman is thrilled about the new venture! “I decided to challenge myself to conquer the barriers of entry into the music business. I am enjoying the learning process, but most importantly, I look forward to discovering the talent Oklahoma has to offer. With a partner in Mike McClure, 598 Recordings has the resources necessary to be successful.” 598 Recordings will also stand as a go-to resource for new up and coming talent in the area via their YouTube page and the 598 Recordings blog page written by Mike McClure. To connect visit online www.598recordings.com or www.facebook.com/598Recordings or www.youtube.com/598Recordings for more details.
Described as a “young band with old souls,” The Damn Quails are a combined effort between singer/songwriters Gabriel Marshall and Bryon White, proud saplings of Oklahoma’s opulent music vegetation. Their debut studio album appropriately titled DOWN THE HATCH will shell out on October 25th to an already mounting fan base desperate to lay hands on this very special release. The album’s first single “Fools Gold” will hit radio on September 25th.
It is a very lucky thing for anyone who considers himself a music aficionado that Bryon and Gabriel would eventually come stool–to-stool in a highly respected ritual among songwriters known as the Song Swap. It was in this survival of the fittest setting where two songwriters, both equally fierce in measure, would set into motion a pairing that resonates a lifetime of compatibility despite its level of humble beginnings.
Backed by the ‘Quail Philharmonic,” The Damn Quails live show spills off the stage with a pooled sound that makes veteran performers stand up and take notice, and on any given night the philharmonic fills to include some of their peers from other bands. After all, the jam is what it is really all about and Bryon admits that they have never performed a song the same way twice. DOWN THE HATCH is produced by the veteran combo of Mike McClure and Joe Hardy. McClure’s producing/recording credits that include Cross Canadian Ragweed, Turnpike Troubadours, Stoney LaRue, Jerry Jeff Walker, Gary P. Nunn and Lloyd Maines. Hardy currently runs Billy Gibbons’ Foam Box Studio and has recorded everyone from ZZ Top to The Replacements to Steve Earle. The enormity of talent combined in this debut release is staggering. From the first sweet sounds of harmonica and fiddle on “Better Place To Stop” to the airy essence of “Mary” to the lonesome call of “California,” The Damn Quails deliver one of the most solid performances of any freshmen album you will ever hear.
Check out www.thedamnquails.com for tour dates, music and more information. Follow them on www.facebook.com/thedamnquails and https://twitter.com/thedamnquails.