NICHOLAS ALAN

Nicholas Alan is the son of an Atlanta jazz musician, he played in a few bands throughout his youth and grew up listening to a wide variety of pop, jazz and rock. Nicholas is a native of Hollywood, FL and was raised in Marietta, GA. In the summer of 2004, Nicholas set out to make his debut CD A World Like Ours with the help of his father’s band. Released in May of 2005, the album is a blend of jazz and pop with unique arrangements. Nicholas signed with independent label SideBMusic in September 2006.

NELSON BRAGG

Nelson Bragg is a drummer, percussionist, singer, songwriter, producer, and arranger who spends a lot of time in the studio, on tour and doing gigs in the Los Angeles area. His percussion and vocal work appear on Brian Wilson’s long-awaited album Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE. Bragg’s father, the late Nelson Bragg, Sr., was a DJ in the 1950s and hosted a hillbilly music program at WCOP Boston called The Hayloft Jamboree. But the Bragg musical legacy doesn’t stop there; Nelson’s grandfather was a vaudeville singer in the 1910s. Nelson began working on his debut solo album Day Into Night in 2003 several months before he got the call to join Brian Wilson on the road for the now-legendary Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE, which was performed before a live audience in London in February 2004. Bragg went back into the studio in September 2005 to finish Day Into Night. That same month, he donated his musical talents on Brian Wilson’s CD single, “Walking Down The Path Of Life/Love & Mercy”, the proceeds of which went to housing relief for the victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Bragg currently tours with Wilson as the percussionist in the band.

CHEWY MARBLE

Brian Kassan formed Chewy Marble in 1995 as a vehicle for his growing catalog of unrecorded material after a three-year stint as co-founder, bassist, session guitarist and co-songwriter/producer for the Wondermints. Joining Kassan were guitarist and lead vocalist Stuart Forman; bassist Derrick Anderson; and drummer Tammy Glover, who has since gone on to fame as the touring drummer/percussionist with Sparks. 1997 saw the release of Chewy Marble’s critically acclaimed self-titled debut on Permanent Press Recordings in the U.S. and on Nippon Columbia in Japan. In 2001, their sophomore effort Bowl of Surreal was released on the band’s own Furry Sidekick Recordings in the U.S. and on Philter Records in Japan. The band wowed crowds at many an International Pop Overthrow festival in Los Angeles as well as Poptopia, an early version of IPO. Over the next six years, Brian wrote songs for Modulations, the long-awaited third album. He enlisted the talents of several friends, engineers, co-producers and musicians, including drummer, guitarist and vocalist Nelson Bragg of Brian’s Wilson’s touring band and co-production, engineering and mixing from Steve Refling, who produced Bragg’s Day Into Night CD. Kassan’s more personal, introspective tunes take a turn or “modulate” from these Zombies/Jellyfish/Turtles/Squeeze/Fountains Of Wayne influenced tunes to the darker songs reminiscent of such artists as Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd, The Flaming Lips, Elliot Smith, and The Beatles’ White Album.

CHRIS ENGLISH

Chris English has opened shows for Hall and Oates, The Doobie Brothers, The Psychedelic Furs and The Smithereens. During his years at Virgin Records he worked with acts such as INXS, Don Was, The Clash’s Joe Strummer and Ziggy Marley. He has also had the opportunity to work with R.E.M. producer Don Dixon, David Bowie and Nine Inch Nails. A media Producer/Director by day, Chris has shot video for CNN, MTV and CMT and has worked on films with Reese Witherspoon, Beau Bridges, Helen Hunt and Diane Keaton. Chris plays the piano, guitar, bass, drums, banjo, mandolin and electric sitar. His debut CD Dreamtown was released in December 2008 on SideBMusic and features guitar-driven, melodic pop and haunting ballads with lushly-layered guitar arrangements reminiscent of early Genesis, Steely Dan and XTC. Chris composed, arranged, performed and mixed Dreamtown at his home studio in Charlotte, North Carolina. During his college years and as his cultural tastes evolved, Chirs discovered Todd Rundgren, a musician and producer with whom he shares a strong artistic connection. Rundgren’s influence can be heard on the Dreamtown track “I Can Take It”, a song that might also have fit snugly on XTC’s Rundgren-produced classic Skylarking album. Chris continues to strive for pop perfection without compromising at any level.

STRANGEFINGER

Jellyfish’s Chris Manning produced and mixed Strangefinger’s debut album Into The Blue. Taking over five months to record and mix in 2005, the record finally made its way to SideBMusic in 2009 after seeing a limited self-release by the band and being tied up with another label for a couple of years. In 2004, virtually homeless and with a budget of Absolute Zero, band leader and principle songwriter Freddie Lemke had to hawk his Yamaha CP-70 keyboard to pay for basic track recordings of an album he was doubtful would ever be heard. He set about writing and recording on a digital 16-track recorder acquired from an anonymous patron saint. Slowly but surely, Freddie formed a band with bass player Blake Engeldorf, guitarist Patrick Mercier and drummer Joaquin Spengemann. With fourteen tracks ready for mixing, the band was out of resources and feared that the album would die a stillbirth. But after an out of town show, the band was approached by Chris Manning, renowned Bay Area producer and former Jellyfish member. Chris and Freddie set out to record the lead vocals and finish the final mix. Within a few months, Into The Blue was complete. With a finished record, Freddie moved to Los Angeles to further pursue his musical aspirations. Into The Blue was remastered with a seamless new song sequence by SideBMusic and was released on July 28th, 2009.

RICHARD SNOW

Richard Snow is a singer-songwriter from Nottingham, UK who sings, plays guitar, keyboards, bass and percussion. His influences are The Beach Boys, The Byrds, The Beatles and R.E.M. A former member of the new wave/post-punk band Enellen and a couple of other bands, Snow has also worked as a recording engineer. It was during this time that he learned how to make top-notch, professional-quality recordings, an experience that would later become indispensible in making his own albums. Having made two solo albums, he is now working on a third with his new band The Inlaws. Those fortunate enough to have heard Snow’s music are no doubt aware of his amazing gift for beautifully crafted, catchy power pop backed with multi-layered, Beach Boys-style harmonies. Richard Snow was originally released in the UK in 2002 and was received warmly by the indie music press. One of the tracks, “Real”, was later included in the 2004 Brian and Dennis Wilson tribute CD Two Steps Forward. Snow’s second CD Tuesday Music was released in the UK in 2005 and received even higher praise than the debut CD. In August 2007, Snow signed with US indie label SideBMusic to re-issue Richard Snow. Jerry Boyd, the label’s co-founder, had produced the Two Steps Forward CD, collaborating with graphic designer and SideBMusic co-founder Brian Battles. For the re-issue, Richard remastered the CD and even remixed the album’s closing track, “The Sweetest”. Battles created new artwork for the CD and Richard Snow was released in the US in November 2007.

ROCKIN' THE MISTLETOE ARTISTS

Read about the 17 artists who participated in this exciting new Christmas holiday album.

This is the link