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Live sessions are a growing part of the independent music scene, and CHIRP is happy to announce a partnership with a local group of enthusiasts producing this kind of recording.
Hidden in Chicago’s West Lakeview neighborhood, Coach House Sounds is a DIY analog recording studio set up in an actual coach house, and since late 2009 has been inviting local musicians to record an exclusive performance to be streamed online at coachhousesounds.com.
Matt Baron, curator of CHS, has a unique take on the live session – album oriented, spontaneous and anything goes, once the tape starts rolling there’s no going back. Literally, it’s tape. Doug Lienen, CHS’s sound engineer records the bands on a reel-to-reel, making overdubs and editing impossible.
Along with photographer Neal Morrison and Mike Mayer, CHS’s videographer, Coach House Sounds has built a substantial catalog of sessions from high profile local bands. Artists ranging from White Mystery, Kid Static, and Daniel Knox are just a few of Chicago artists already recorded, and the upcoming release schedule is full.
To be released on Tuesdays, the fall itinerary has a new CHS session launching every week, with artists like Tyler Jon Tyler, Rabble Rabble and Love of Everything. Sessions are stream-only, and things are still growing—newer sessions now regularly have an accompanying video recording.
Matt Baron hopes to increase the touring musicians coming through the coach house but wants to keep it Chicago-focused. “Most other session sites have the Pitchfork trickle-down artists,” he says. “Pitchfork approves them, and sooner or later they make it onto those sites. I want to keep it Chicago-centric and underground.”
Black Cab Sessions, iTunes and even Pitchfork TV produce their own exclusive live performances from the latest bands, and they are a small handful in a recent wave of companies making this type of content. Baron hopes to set Coach House Sounds apart by keeping it analog—the warmth of the sound matches the informal nature of the recordings. He loves it when a band has an early version of a new song or wants to re-start a song in the middle of the session. “It’s just like a concert, but it’s in my coach house.”
Adding to the DIY charm is the kind, professional attitude of the CHS staff and the casual business model. There is no money exchanged, and bands agree to the licensing of the performance through an electronic hand shake, more or less. CHIRP is proud to partner with Coach House Sounds! Listen for exclusive tracks from past and upcoming CHS releases on CHIRPradio.org as well as casual interviews with CHS performers on the CHIRP Blog.
CHIRP currently is experiencing connection problems with our stream provider, Live365. Because of this, we are running backup programming — this is why you’re not seeing current information in the playlist and “now playing” sections of CHIRPradio.org. We have informed Live365 of the problem, which is on their end, not ours, and hope they will remedy the issue very soon. We apologize for the inconvenience, and we appreciate your patience.
Exclusive for CHIRP listeners: Save 10% through the end of June on Insound’s entire stock of CDs, vinyl, MP3s, posters, tshirts and more—like the new vinyl reissue of Analphabetapolothology by Chicago indie favorites Cap’n Jazz. Best of all, proceeds from your purchase will come back to CHIRP to help keep independent radio and local music thriving.
Just click this link. com/index. php?from=27972 and enter promo code junebug10 at checkout to get your discount. (Expires 07/01/10.) Also, be sure to check out the other new discounts offered each week as part of Insound’s Summer of Vinyl.
As we head into spring, CHIRP Radio has been on the air for two months. We hope that you’re making the station a part of your life, tuning in to check out our wide-ranging mix of music, new and old, and our true commitment to the amazing, creative work being done right here in Chicago.
In fact, we know many of you are tuning in on a regular basis, because we’ve already seen listener numbers that are more than three times our pre-launch projections! We couldn’t be more pleased that our audience is bigger than we predicted, and growing every day. We appreciate your help in spreading the word, posting about CHIRP Radio on Facebook, Twitter, and via good old-fashioned email. However, when you’re a web-based station, that growing audience does have a cost — a very literal one.
CHIRP Radio pays per listener per hour for every person who tunes into the station. That means, with an audience three times the size we anticipated, our streaming fees are also three times the size of our estimates.
That’s why we’re inviting you to become a Year One member of CHIRP Radio today. You can join with a one-time gift, or you can become a sustaining member with a monthly contribution of as little as $5. And to show our appreciation, we have an array of limited-edition thank you gifts that will only be available until April 11th.
Just click here to join. Your support of CHIRP Radio is essential to keeping the station strong. We’re so happy you’ve found us; now we’re asking that you help us grow and strengthen the service by becoming a Year One member. We’ll always remember that you were here with us from the beginning!
After two-and-a-half years of work, CHIRP has launched its new radio station online at CHIRPradio.org!
CHIRPradio.org is up and running!
The station streams live from our North Center studios every day of the year. CHIRP hosts play a mix of independent, local, lesser-known, and underappreciated music from an array of genres and eras. We’re also in the process of developing some locally-focused news and talk programming.
You can interact with DJs via phone and IM, and you can offer feedback on individual songs, or on the station in general, on the front page of CHIRPradio.org.
We’re so grateful to all of the people who have worked so hard to make CHIRP Radio a reality! Thanks to the bands who have sent us their music, the supporters who have made donations, lent us their venues, or purchased CHIRP gear, and the volunteers who have built the station from the ground up. It’s been an amazing ride, and it’s only beginning!