Luke Eddins Helps Baby Bands On The Big Screen

In the movie School of Rock Jack Black tries to make a splash as a respected rocker. In real life, thousands of unknown bands struggle to do the same. Recently, some have found a new and clever way: landing their songs in Hollywood hits.

ASCAP member Luke Eddins and his fledgling company Luke Hits (lukehits.com) link small-fry-only musicians with blockbusters like The Ring (Dreamworks), Cheaper by the Dozen (Fox), and Kangaroo Jack (Bruckheimer). You might mistake that great hip hop track you hear in the new Barbershop 2 commercials with 50 Cent. That is actually a totally unsigned rapper in Minnesota that Luke found. “The sheer quantity of unsigned acts to wade through is mind-numbing. I love doing the dirty work though. I want every single unsigned artist out there to mail me a demo,” says Luke.

A former high-school rocker himself, 27-year-old Eddins is showered with never-heard CDs from bands around the globe, and meticulously sifts through every single song, alert for the next 50 Cent or The Strokes. His unheard of approach allows artists to retain rights to 100% of their publishing, songwriting, and masters, and his deals are always non-exclusive. His only caveat: unsigned bands only.

Studios like Fox, MGM, Sony, Warner Bros, and Disney are already catching the drift. Licensing a song from a young girl who happens to sound like Michelle Branch -- for a fraction of the usual price tag -- makes perfect sense amid shrinking Hollywood budgets. An indisputable win-win for bands, the artists garner exposure, add a feature film to their resumes, and make a hefty chunk of change. All for the price of one licked stamp addressed to Luke.

Prime Time

Emmy Award-winning composer Earl Rose composed the original scores for three prime-time television specials which aired within one week: A&E's “In The Shadow Of Cold Mountain,” the world premiere of the companion documentary to the major Miramax feature film Cold Mountain aired December 17; the two-hour world premiere of the History Channel's “Remember The Alamo” aired on December 16, and the two-hour History Channel Special “Nostradamus: 500 Years Later” aired on December 14, the 500th birthday of this extraordinary figure.

Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey

They describe themselves as “Higher Consciousness Jazz,” and Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey’s music is often beyond description. With roots in jazz, their songs and experiments flourish with improvisation, be it from an original composition, a cover, or out of thin air. Never having a Jacob or a Fred as a member, the band has existed since 1994 and was named “The #1 New Star in Jazz in America” by U.S. News & World Reports in 2002. The band has toured relentlessly, playing over 200 shows a year, at such legendary clubs as Yoshi’s, the House of Blues and the Knitting Factory. The group consists of Brian Haas on keyboards, Reed Mathis on bass and Jason Smart on drums. The band was honored in the 51st Annual Downbeat Magazine Critics Poll as Rising Star: Electric Group, and Haas was recognized as Rising Star: Electric Keyboards/Synthesizer.

The group has released ten albums including the applauded All is One: Live in New York City, which was released by Knitting Factory Records. Their most recent releases are on Kufala Recordings. Slow Breath, Silent Mind (Kufala) captures this trio of virtuosos in an acoustic format. This release, which was recorded on their Fall 2003 acoustic tour, was produced and compiled by Mathis. The album is mainly comprised of tastefully selected cover songs from the likes of John Coltrane, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk and Wayne Shorter. This delicate album is a blend of emotion and melody. Their most recent release, Symbiosis Osmosis (Kufala), is an entire album of live electric free-improvisations, aside from a brief theme of their song “Son of Jah” played in the trio's own unique signature style, all the while displaying the essence of the band’s “Jazz Odyssey.” For more info on Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, go to www.jfjo.com.

Michael Case Kissel

Michael Case Kissel has toured, written songs for and recorded with artists ranging from Rod Stewart to the Pointer Sisters, George Clinton to Babatunde Olatunji. The most unexpected star he has worked with, though, is Arnold Schwarzenegger. Kissel co-directed, co-produced and wrote a song featured on Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Total Body Workout, a workout album that the newly elected Governor released in 1983 on Columbia Records. During the recording, Arnold had this to say about Kissel: “If you go on like this for the next ten years, you will someday have a body like Mike Kissel -- he is the king of kings, stud of studs.” The album was re-released by Sony/Legacy in late 2003. Kissel is also set to release his first solo album, Naked/Sacred, which includes guests Bobby Womack, Grover Washington, Jr. and George Clinton. Kissel is the owner of KMA: The Writer’s Studio in New York City, a studio built for songwriters and the complete songwriting process. For more on KMA, visit www.kmamusic.com.

Bill Chinook's Promised Land

Maine-by-way-of-the-Jersey shore rocker Bill Chinook is back with an excellent new album, Livin in the Promised Land (East Coast Records). Songwriter/guitarist Chinook blends the best of American musical styles to create his own sound, one that is both timeless and fresh. Chinook's themes in such songs as “Kings of the Highway,” “How Great the Fire” and the title track give the common man's point of view a mythic and cinematic quality. Chinook recently performed in New York City at The Bitter End and stopped by ASCAP. Pictured (l-r) are ASCAP's Jim Steinblatt and Chinook.