UPB to release CD at party tonight

A plethora of talent exists at James Madison University, and the University Program Board project harnessed it on a single compact disc. Eighty One Records created a 16-track compilation featuring eight different JMU bands and solo artists, and is offering copies — for free.

The record release will occur at a party Thursday, April 29, from 9 p.m . to 1 a.m. at the Festival. There is no charge for admission, and compact discs will be given out along with a late-night breakfast provided by the University Health Center from 11 P.M. to 1 A.M.. T-shirts commemorating the event will be on sale during the party.

Of the eight performers on the CD, six will perform live during the release party including Vestige, Shapiro, Nathaniel Baker, Tejas Singh, Tragedy Letters and Ross Copperman. Two of Copperman's original songs, “Fly Away” and “Believe” are featured on the CD. Sean Branigan, UPB Director of Artists and Repertoire, said a main goal of the project was to include several “different kinds of bands.”

While the original concept for Eighty One Records was to promote and produce an album of a single JMU band, Branigan said the focus changed to “promote more [bands], and maximize exposure of the bands and the label itself.” This year's artists were selected in two ways — performers sent in demo CD's and by scouting through UPB, according to Branigan. After the label invited JMU artists to submit full albums for consideration, UPB members then took the initiative and requested contributions from several artists, Copperman included. Branigan called this year's project a “complete success” and has a positive outlook on the future of the project. Senior Matt Stuart, UPB director of label promotions, helped get the label running, but will graduate this year and has been replaced by Joel Mills. Branigan says the titles of the UPB members working on Eighty One Records are not important — all members work hand-in-hand, and there is little separation of duty.

Next year the label will focus more on scouting, though bands still will be free to submit their work. The future plan for the label, according to Branigan, will be to produce albums of single bands. Another reason behind this year's decision to create a compilation was the stress and trouble involved in creating a label from scratch. Now, with the organization up and running, and with the campus more aware of the label, the focus will return to its starting intent of recording albums for JMU artists. After each album is created, the band and record will be promoted at colleges all along Interstate 81.