Music blooms in Azalea City
Takoma Park label markets local musicians
by Tisha Tryens
Eleven years ago, Takoma Park music engineer and producer and Grammy Award nominee Charlie Pilzer "had a dream," or so goes the Azalea City Recording mantra. His dream involved creating a marketing co-op where, according to musician Mary Sue Twohy, "Everyone has equal say and we run ourselves by consensus."
 | | Charlie Pilzer, creator of Azalea City Recordings |
She goes on to explain, "Many labels are after the bottom line: CD Sales. Our bottom line is quality music."
What Pilzer ultimately created was an artist's cooperative label based in Takoma Park that has been nominated for a Grammy and has won several Wammies, the Washington Area Music Association's local award.
Pilzer's inspiration to create this anomalous label stemmed from his own experience with recording. In 1996 he set out to release an album with other musicians and thought, " Do we put it out ourselves, or approach big labels?" He found himself in a quandary, weighing the benefits of big label marketing over his independence as an artist.
His solution? "Provide a label with some of the functions of a larger corporation, but retain artistic and financial rights." He called his solution the Azalea City Recording Company.
The company deviates from the norm in other ways as well, the most obvious being that the musicians produce their own music. They have no real office but "band together to advertise, showcase at national conferences, perform label-backed concerts and share in the best potluck dinner meetings," says Twohy.
The commitment to artistic integrity and collaborative spirit may explain why their album with a Scandinavian sound, "Hambo in the Snow," was nominated this year for a Grammy in the category of Best Traditional World Music.
The label is mainly comprised of folk artists but has diversified with the signing of bands like Ruthie and the Wranglers , whose style of music is best classified as "Americana Country." Ruthie Logsdon, at first apprehensive to join a label whose roots were slightly different than those of her own, became convinced that " there is a lot of camaraderie on this town between artists, and in great numbers you are able to create a strong unit."
Logsdon also feels that one of the benefits of Azalea City is that "we are able to help not only ourselves and also help the community through showcases with other local artists."
The musicians who created Azalea City all have a voice, not in the sense of soprano or tenor, but each of their opinions helps shape the voice of the cooperative. Twohy feels that the label is "a beacon for artists who draw from the legacy of our folk heritage to create music for the future."
"We are a hometown outfit with a strong connection to our hometown," Pilzer adds, " We started the label with the idea of making recordings we could control. But, beyond that, an intangible came about which I didn't expect — the aspect of fellow Takoma Park artists getting to know each other. That's the part that has really been fun."
You can check out the rest of Azalea City Recording's artists at www.azlaeacityrecordings.com.
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