aaamusic | On 10, Mar 2011

Sire Records Founders Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer have signed their first UK band, Scoundrels, to the recently revived Blue Horizon. The label, which has been dormant since its late 60’s heyday, will be a perfect home to the blues influenced Scoundrels.

At the end of 2009 the band received funding from Shamrock Solutions and spent 2010 recording their debut with Steve Albini (whose long list of credits include Nirvana, The Pixies, The Stooges and Jarvis Cocker) in Chicago and at the legendary Louisiana studios La Louisianne (the ‘Sun Records’ of Lafayette) and Studio in the Country (previously a second home to Stevie Wonder, Marilyn Manson, Willie Nelson).

The whole experience was captured by Wyatt Garfield (‘Director of The Execution of Solomon Harris’ – Official Selection Sundance Film Selection, 2008) in association with Pulse Films (‘No Distance Left To Run’, Blur: Live at Hyde Park) for a documentary entitled ‘Go Sell Your Soul’ which will be shown in six ten minute episodes on Babelgum.com in the weeks around the album release.

The new label will be the perfect home for this emerging band. Stein stated that initially Blue Horizon will be distributed via The Orchard, which Gottehrer founded back in 1997, and then have the possibility of being up-streamed to Warner Music Group.

Gottehrer stated that Blue Horizon will bring together a strong sense of tradition with a forward-looking business perspective. “Blue Horizon brings forward the experience and tradition that was the music business plus the ability that Warner has and we have acquired from our experience with The Orchard.”

“Blue Horizon is a respected trademark, something that people remember,” Stein said of the label that released albums from bands including Fleetwood Mac and Chicken Shack in the Sixties and early seventies, “Scoundrels are the kind of band Richard Gottehrer and I were working with back then. . . . . their sound is classic and timeless!”

A digital only EP will be released on March 21^st followed by Scoundrels self-titled debut album in May.

London based Scoundrels are George Elliot, Alex ‘Billy’ Hill, Joshua Martens and Ned Wyndham. Management: Tom O’Rourke and Paul Loasby at One Fifteen.

http://soundcloud.com/the-orchard/sets/scoundrels-sniff-it-up/s-XbYFc

12th March - Proud, London
17th March - Cuckoo Club, London
5th April - Ronnie Scott's, London