And so another year comes to an end, and another year begins. 
From all of us here at Oat Central in Nashville: May your 2010 
be a glorious year... and may all your oats be wild!

Oat Central is, of course, the headquarters of Wild Oats Records, 
known far and wide as Nashville's Renegade Record Label & The
Home Of The Three-Hour Lunch. We've been doin' what we do
for more than 20 years now,

Well, having gotten the introductions and self-promotion out of 
the way, let the newsletter begin!

2010 looks like it'll be yet another year filled with excitement --
and great music -- for all the members of Team Oat. We've got a
bunch of fine new CD releases on the schedule... and, as always, 
our label's artists will be performing here, there and everywhere.

2009, of course, saw brand-new, truly excellent CDs from three
of our favorite Oat artists: Steve Haggard (Love Conquers All), 
Glenn French (Snowblind) and Mark Brine (Live In A Field Of
Bluegrass). If you haven't heard 'em/bought 'em, please do so!

We'll be kicking off the new year with two stellar releases: First,
the Wild Oats Records debut of Michael Jay Cresswell. MJC is
really good English singer, songwriter and keyboard player who 
resides in France nowadays. Michael spent a month in Nashville 
not long ago, recording his new CD with producer Steve Haggard
and engineers Andrew Hooker and Sean Miller.

On the heels of the Cresswell CD will be the new 12-song album
by that extremely talented singer &songwriter from New Jersey,
Kenny Mc George. Having recorded as part of our Oat Singer/
Songwriter Series awhile back, Kenny returned to Music City in
late 2009 to cut a dozen new songs with Steve Haggard producing
and Andrew Hooker engineering. It's great stuff!

Planning to visit Nashville in the near future? Well, why not take
your dear friends at Team Oat out for Happy Hour? (Don't forget
to bring that credit card!!) We guarantee that everyone in what we
like to call the "slightly dysfunctional Wild Oats Records family"
will be very glad to see ya!!

Garry Jackson, who's been touring overseas regularly for the past
few years, will be off to England and Northern Ireland in February.
His current Oat CD is the superb Something's Got A Hold On Me,
and he and producer Steve Haggard are now working on Garry's
next album, which is scheduled for release in early Summer 2010.

Also on the touring front, Joel Alan Lehman, Steve Haggard and
Kimberly King joined forces for two European trips in 2009. They
performed at festivals in Germany & Latvia, and will be returning
to Europe in 2010. (For a video of show in Lithuania, click here.)

And speaking of Kimberly King, she has finally gotten back in the 
studio after a long layoff caused by an auto accident... we hope to
have her new Wild Oats Records CD, which she's workin' on with 
producer Steve Haggard, ready for release by May 2010.

Our Winter Sampler CD is now available, and being mailed out to 
radio and press. It contains 16 fine tracks from an assortment of 
our "regular" Wild Oats Records artists, along with newcomers 
like Luke Knight and Rhonda Russell.

Steve Haggard & Kimberly King are goin' strong with their weekly
radio show, "The Haggard & King Radio Hour", which has been on 
the air since May of 2008. You can hear this truly excellent program
every Tuesday afternoon from 4:00-5:00 PM (that's Central Time) 
on Radio Free Nashville (107.1 FM). Or you can listen to the show
live, in streaming audio, at www.radiofreenashville.org. 

And our monthly Oat Songwriter Showcase, which we began back in
2004, is still goin' strong. It takes place on the second Wednesday of
every month at the Commodore Grille (on West End Avenue) here in
Nashville. Debi Champion hosts, and there's always a bunch of good
music and some first-class hangin' out.So come on by!

Some good news from Minnesota: Dotty Peterson, who had 90% of
her new CD completed when she was forced to undergo surgery on
her vocal cords back in 2008, is almost ready to hit the studio again.
She'll be returning to Nashville in June 2010 to finish up her vocals 
with producer Steve Haggard. Look for the CD in September 2010.

Congratulations to our pal from out in Arkansas, Ferrel James. 
His excellent article about the late rockabilly legend  -- and Wild
Oats Records artist -- Frank "Andy" Starr appears in the Winter 
issue of that great magazine, the Oxford American. 

Another Oat CD planned for 2010 is Anthology, which will mark 
the triumphant return of The King of Crock... Teddy Glenn. Also 
known as The Twangin' Tedster, he's one talented, original, kinda
elusive, kinda reclusive fellow, and it's been quite awhile now since 
he last favored us with a new release. So be on the lookout for it.

Well, as always, the no-longer-functioning clock on the wall here 
at the Chateau d'Oat says that it's 12:14 -- it's been 12:14 here for
several years now -- and that means it's time to wrap this thang up.
And so, friends, until we meet once more, May all your oats be wild,
and may all your dreams come true.

Blah, blah, blah....                      -- Team Oat

Greetings once again, ladies and gentleman, and welcome to the 
latest newsletter from the fabled Chateau d'Oat in Nashville; the 
the home of Wild Oats Records, also called Nashville's Renegade
Record Label & Home Of The Three-Hour Lunch.

Last summer marked our label's 20th Anniversary. This summer, 
we'll celebrate the 20th Anniversary of our move to Nashville... 
during our first year in business, 1988, we were based in L.A. 

And amazingly -- like Ol' Man River -- we just keep rollin' along.
It seems as if things get more interesting each year. Which is just
fine with us, as we like things to be interesting. 

Okay, enough small talk... let's get down to bid'ness!

First, as we spring into summer -- get it? -- we've got three new 
Oat CD releases, and we're extremely proud of all of 'em:

1) Steve Haggard: Love Conquers All ***********************
Ah, the new CD by Steve Haggard has finally been released, and 
it's getting been well-deserved rave reviews.Love Conquers All, 
which is Steve's sixth Oat CD, includes 10 excellent new originals, 
plus two fine covers. Steve produced the project, naturally, while
Randall Merryman engineered. 

2) Glenn  French: Snowblind ******************************* 
We're very happy -- but not surprised -- to report that the brand-new Glenn French CD, Snowblind, is a truly worthy successor to Glenn's
previous Wild Oats Records CD, Timeless. The new one is filled with fine songs & excellent performances. It was recorded at Oat Central
with producer Steve Haggard and engineer Randall Merryman.

3) Mark Brine: Live In A Field Of Bluegrass ***************** 
One of the true originals -- both as a musician and a person -- is our
ol' pal Mark Brine. On his new CD (recorded live at performances
in Kentucky, Washington, D.C., and Massachusetts), Mark focuses
on the bluegrass side of things... and delivers another fine album. 

Garry Jackson spent the month of May touring in England. Garry's
current Oat CD is the superb Something's Got A Hold On Me. He is 
already workin' on his next CD with producer Steve Haggard. Garry 
will be spending the whole summer here in Nashville, and we plan to
his new album ready for release in the Spring of 2010.

And speaking of overseas tours, Joel Alan Lehman, Steve Haggard
and Kimberly King will be joining forces for two European trips this summer. Among other things, they'll be performing at festivals in  Germany & Latvia. For a video of show in Lithuania, click here.

And while several of our Oat artists are crossing the Atlantic in one direction, the newest addition to our label's roster recently came the
other way. That would be none other than Michael Jay Cresswell. A really talented singer, songwriter and keyboard player, Michael is English, but lives in France these days. He spent all of April here in
Nashville, working on his Wild Oats Records debut CD -- scheduled 
for November release -- with producer Steve Haggard and engineers Andrew Hooker and Sean Miller. "MJC" can also more than hold 
his own at Happy Hour... so he's a perfect fit for Team Oat!

Meanwhile, Kimberly King, should be back in the studio very shortly,
continuing work on her new Wild Oats Records CD. Those sessions
were interrupted by an auto accident last Fall, but she's rarin' to go. 
Steve Haggard is producing the project, set for early 2010 release.

Being big civic boosters and goodwill ambassadors for Nashville, we
always like to make sure that visitors here have a great time... and
what better way to guarantee yourself a great time during your stay
in Music City than by calling your friends at Team Oat, and taking
us out for a few drinks? So call now... operators are standing by! 

Another current project that we're very excited about is our upcoming Summer Sampler CD. This release, due in late August, will feature a
bunch of our established Oat artists -- Steve Haggard, GarryJackson,
Kimberly King and Teddy Glenn among them -- plus some new faces, including singer/songwriters Luke Knight and Rhonda Russell.

Steve Haggard & Kimberly King celebrated the 1st Anniversary of
their weekly radio program, "The Haggard & King Radio Hour" on 
May 19th. The show is great -- it's what radio ought to be -- and airs
every Tuesday afternoon from 4:00-5:00 PM (that's Central Time) 
on Radio Free Nashville (98.9 FM). You can also listen to the show
live, in streaming audio, at www.radiofreenashville.org. 

If you ever find yourself in Music City on the second Wednesday of
any given month, drop by our Oat Songwriter Showcase. We're now 
in our sixth year of doin' this monthly event at the Commodore Grille
on West End Avenue. Debi Champion hosts, and there are always a
bunch of Oat artists and friends playin' some music and hangin' out. 

Among those who've performed at the Oat showcase thus far in 2009:  Steve Haggard, Kimberly King, Garry Jackson, , Joel Alan Lehman,
Mike Oakley, Walter Egan, Michael Jay Cresswell, David R. Smith
and Ben Rait. 

The 2AOBTGBF&GP -- that is, The 2nd Annual Oat Badminton Tournament, Grillathon, Beveragestravaganza & Guitar Pull -- is
set for early August at a secret location... so secret, in fact, that 
even we don't know where it'll be!

Rumor has it that The King of Crock himself, Teddy Glenn, will 
emerge from semi-retirement "sometime in 2010" with his first
new release in quite awhile. The tentative title: Anthology. We'll
keep you posted....

Well, the ol' clock on the wall here at the Chateau d'Oat says it's
time to go. (Actually, it says that it's 12:14... and it's been saying
that for a few years now. Gotta get it fixed one day!) Be that as it
may, it is time to go. So until next time, ladies and gentleman of 
the jury, May all your oats be wild, may all your dreams come true.

And don't forget to buy a t-shirt.... -- Team Oat

Greetings once again from Oat Central in Nashville, Tennessee...
the home of Wild Oats Records; also called Nashville's Renegade
Record Label & Home Of The Three-Hour Lunch. Welcome to our
world, where things are rarely dull.

We'll turn 21 this summer -- amazing! -- and we're still goin' strong. 
(Our strange little record label and music production company was
founded in California in 1988, and we moved to Nashville in 1989.)

Since then, we've been involved in a whole lot of great music and all
sorts of "international intrigue". Our label's artists have done over
60 (!!) overseas tours, with at least four more already scheduled for
2009. Oat artists will be performing in France, Germany, England,
and Latvia this year. And possibly another country or two. 

In addition to the three-hour lunches mentioned above -- and please
don't forget Happy Hour! -- we believe in real music... made by real
people. And, first and foremost, we believe in quality and integrity. 

But enough of that. This is a newsletter, after all, so let's get to the 
news, and bring you up-to-date on all the latest here at Oat Central. 

And where better to begin than with Steve Haggard, who was our
very first Wild Oats Records artist, all those years ago, and who
has been helping to steer the Good Ship Oat ever since. There is
little the multi-talented Mr H. doesn't do... but let's start with:

His brand-new (long-awaited!) CD, Love Conquers All, which will
be officially released in February 2009. It'll include 10 of Steve's
excellent new originals, plus two fine covers... Steve produced the
CD, naturally; engineer Randall Merryman was at the console; 
and a world-class group of pickers lent their talents to the project. 

As you probably know already, Steve Haggard heads up our stellar
Team Oat production staff, and has produced several dozen artists
over the past decade. He has the talent and the experience, really
cares about the music, and knows how to get the job done right.

And in addition to Love Conquers All, the always-busy Steve is also
working on a live CD with fellow Oat artist Joel Alan Lehman and a
crew of top-notch musicians. Some great tracks were recorded here
in Nashville at a couple of gigs a little while ago, and the CD -- to be
titled Steve Haggard, Joel Alan Lehman & The Nashville All-Stars --
is scheduled for release in September 2009.

Steve and Joel have been teaming up in recent years to tour Europe
with their superb band... they've performed in five countries thus far,
and will be playing at festivals in Germany and Latvia (!) this summer. For a video of them rockin' onstage in Lithuania (!!), click here.

Another of our favorite Wild Oats Records artists is that excellent
singer/songwriter Garry Jackson, whose current Oat CD release is
Something's Got A Hold On Me. (Garry, who splits his time between
his native Canada and Tennessee, is already workin' on his next CD
with producer Steve Haggard.) He is yet another of our label's artists
who tours overseas regularly; Jackson performed in England, France
and Switzerland in 2008, and he'll return to Europe in Spring 2009. 

Meanwhile, Kimberly King, one of the finest of the many talented
artists introduced in our label's New Artist Series, made her debut
in Europe this past summer, doing a series of gigs in Germany with
Steve Haggard & Joel Alan Lehman. 

Work on Kimberly's new Wild Oats Records CD was interrupted by
an auto accident in October, but she's feelin' better, and will be back
in the studio before too long. Steve Haggard is producing the project. 

Another of our truly talented Oat friends/favorites is Glenn French.
Glenn's brand-new Snowblind CD will be released in May of 2009,
and it's a very worthy follow-up to his current (acclaimed!) Wild Oats Records CD, Timeless. Both albums were recorded at Oat Central
with producer Steve Haggard and engineer Randall Merryman.

Interestingly, Garry Jackson and Glenn French each made his Oat
debut in our label's Singer/Songwriter Series. 

We're pleased to report that our monthly Oat Songwriter Showcase
is still alive and well. We've been holding the "Oatcase" -- which we often refer to as a "Happy Hour with music" -- since 2004. It takes
place at Nashville's Commodore Grille on the second Wednesday of every month. (The Commodoreis located in the Holiday Inn Select 
Hotel on West End Avenue, across from the Parthenon.) Our friend
Debi Champion is the emcee and runs sound, and there are always a
couple of our Oat artists playin' some great songs. So come on by!

The fine singer and songwriter David R. Smith joined what we like
to call the "slightly dysfunctional Wild Oats Records family" back
in early 2008, when he recorded two excellent songs for one of our 
Oat Sampler CDs. 

Steve Haggard & Kimberly King are now co-hosting a weekly radio program, "The Haggard & King Radio Hour". The show airs every Tuesday from 4:00-5:00 PM, Central Time, on Radio Free Nashville
(98.9 FM). It can also be heard live, worldwide, in streaming audio at
www.radiofreenashville.org... (They play some great stuff!)

Here at Team Oat, we're not only known for our excellent music,
but for our legendary social events. Aside from our semi-regular 
Happy Hours, dinners, etc., there are two major Oat celebrations
on the calendar for 2009:

The 2AOBTGBF&GP (2nd Annual Oat Badminton Tournament, 
Grillathon, Beveragestravaganza, & Guitar Pull) in early August...

... and the 4AWORCTHFDC&JS (4th Annual Wild Oats Records Croquet Tournament, Horseshoes Fest, Drinkathon, Cookout & 
Jam Session) in mid-October. 

If you haven't already, give a listen to our newest Mark Brine CD, 
Out On Luke's Highway. As always, this wonderful and very original artist delivers the goods.

And last, but definitely not least, we welcome our newest artist to
the Wild Oats Records roster: the talented Michael Jay Cresswell.
Michael is an Englishman who lives in France these days, and he's
a fine singer, songwriter & keyboard player. He'll be spending the
entire month of April here in Nashville, recording his Oat debut CD
with producer Steve Haggard. The CD is set for September release.

OK, so we said "last, but definitely not least"... but we're simply not
finished yet. Like the Temptations, we ain't too proud to beg; and this
just wouldn't be a genuine Oat newsletter if we didn't beg you to buy a
stylish Wild Oats Records t-shirts. So please, please, please -- wait a minute, that was James Brown, not the Temptations -- buy a stylish
Wild Oats Records t-shirt. (Thanks in advance!) 

Well, we're pretty sure that if the clock here at Oat Central actually
worked, it'd be telling us that it's time to wrap up this spectacular and
informative Early 2009 Newsletter... so until we meet again, ladies
and gentlemen, May all your oats be wild, may all your dreams come
true, and may you visit Nashville and pick up our Happy Hour tab!!!

Blah, blah, blah.... -- Team Oat

Greetings once again, ladies and gentlemen, from scenic Oat Central, headquarters of Nashville's Renegade Record Label & Home Of The Three-Hour Lunch... in other words, Wild Oats Records.

It's almost hard to believe -- for a lot of reasons! -- but July 2008 will mark the 20th Anniversary (!!!) of our strange little record label and music production company. We may not be the biggest or best-known, but we're proud of what we've accomplished since we began in 1988.
Our philosophy hasn't changed: never sacrifice quality; always show integrity; and always go the extra mile for your artists and clients...
and always have a good time in the process!!)

Ah, what better way to start this edition of the Newsletter than with a
mention of our two brand-new Wild Oats Records releases? Both are
by acts making their debuts on our Oat label: OldScool is a very good,
very interesting, and very rockin' band out of Delaware, led by a truly
distinctive singer/songwriter/guitarist, Lionel DeBernard. Their fine
new CD is entitled Save Me From Myself. 

While from just outside of Cool, California -- yes, it's an actual town --
comes Mike Goroll, an extremely talented and very eclectic singer,
songwriter and musician. (Goroll plays nine instruments.) Mike's first
Wild Oats Records release is called (what else?) Beyond Cool.

Both of these first-class CDs were produced by Steve Haggard and
engineered by Randall  Merryman. As you probably know already,
Steve & Randall head our stellar Team Oat production staff, and
they're responsible for a whole lot of great music!! They've got the
talent and the experience, and know how to get the job done right.

Record your next project in Nashville with our Wild Oats Records production team!!

Speaking of Steve Haggard, his brand-new (and long-awaited) CD,
entitled Love Conquers All, is almost finished and will be available
in September. It includes 10 of Steve's excellent new originals, plus
two fine covers... and is a very worthy successor to Mr. Haggard's
much-acclaimed Mysterious Ways CD.

And in addition to Love Conquers All, the always-busy Steve is also
working on a live CD with fellow Oat artist Joel Alan Lehman and a
cast of world-class musicians. Some great tracks were recorded here
in Nashville at the Cadillac Ranch not long ago, and a second gig will
be recorded later this year. Their live CD - Steve Haggard, Joel Alan
Lehman & The Nashville All-Stars - is due for early 2009 release.

The 2nd Annual Wild Oats Records Croquet Tournament, Horseshoes
Fest, Drinkathon, Cookout & Jam Session, held on the grounds of the
Chateau d'Oat in October 2007, was a great success, and an excellent
time was had by all. (Some people, in fact, had too good a time!!) View
some photos of the 2AWORCTHFDC&JS by clicking here ... and we
hope to see y'all at the 2008 event.

One of the mainstays of our Oat roster is that fine singer/songwriter
Garry Jackson. (His current Wild Oats Records CD is Something's
Got A Hold On Me, but he's already workin' on his next release with
producer Steve Haggard.) Garry, who relocated to the Nashville area
in 2007 -- to be close to our Oat Happy Hours?? -- is once again doing
some overseas touring in 2008. February saw him playing in France &
Northern Ireland, and he'll be back in Europe later in the year. 

Meanwhile, another of our Oat friends and favorites, Glenn French --
his current release is the superb Timeless-- is also preparing his next
Wild Oats Records CD. Final sessions for the new album are set for
late Spring with the Haggard/Merryman studio crew, and Glenn's CD
should be available sometime in very early 2009.

Interestingly, Garry Jackson and Glenn French each made his Oat
debut in our label's Singer/Songwriter Series. 

As you might already know -- or at least have guessed! -- we're a very
social bunch here at ol' Oat Central. In fact, we're famous (infamous?)
for our lively Happy Hours, our three-hour lunches, our monthly Oat Songwriter Showcase, and other excuses to socialize. Well, this April
will see the start of a new tradition: the First Annual Oat Badminton
Tournament, Grillfest, Beveragestravaganza & Guitar Pull. 

Oats & Ends: A special mention of our friend Randy McDonald, who
does a spectacular job designing our Wild Oats Records CDs. (Randy
also does some fine video work... Steve Haggard hard at work on his
upcoming book, which should be finished "before too long"... Country
artist Dotty Peterson returned to the Oat Central studio late in 2007
to work on her new CD, due in Fall 2008... Kimberly King, one of the
finest of the many artists introduced in our label's New Artist Series,
has begun work on her next Oat recording project... Finally, to view
some cool video of Steve Haggard & Joel Alan Lehman performing
in Lithuania, just click here. 

The talented New York-based singer, songwriter and keyboard player Virginia Rao, is an artist we've really enjoyed working with during the past few years. Virginia has recorded various projects with Team Oat,
including a performance video here in Nashville. So we're pleased to
announce that her excellent debut CD, Virginia Rao, is now available.

And speaking of fine CDs, we're extremely pleased to have the new
Mark Brine release, Out On Luke's Highway, on Wild Oats Records.
Mark is a true original, and can always be counted on for great music!
Look for his CD in  the next few months.

A special thanks to those Oat artists and friends who each donated a
song, royalty-free, for use on the Singin' For A Reason CD. 100% of
the proceeds from this album go to cover expenses for Bill Thomas
(www.neighborbill.com), and it is truly a worthy cause. Thank you in
particular to Kimberly King, who spearheads this excellent project.

Our stylish Wild Oats Records t-shirts have been described as the
"best-looking t-shirts in the entire universe". (Okay, we admit it...
it was us who described them that way!!) In any case, now you can
WIN ONE of your very own. Just email us a photo of yourself in
your favorite t-shirt. The 11th photo we receive will be the winner!!

Welcome aboard to our newest Wild Oats Records artist: the fine singer/songwriter David R. Smith, from Franklin, TN. David is now working on his first Oat recordings with Steve, Randall & company.

And last -- but certainly not least! -- we'd like to congratulate our own
Steve Haggard, who has been re-elected to the Board of Directors of
Sister Cities of Nashville, a great non-profit organization here in town
(our mayor Karl Dean is honorary board chairman) devoted to cultural,
educational & commercial exchange between Nashville and its various
sister cities around the world. Steve heads the SCN Music Committee. 

Well, that's about it for now. It's time to find the official Team Oat 
corkscrew, bring out the wineglasses, open up a bottle of our finest
vintage Chateau d'Oat... and have a "staff meeting".

Until next time, May all your oats be wild. -- Team Oat

Greetings once again from the center of the civilized universe; in other
words, Oat Central here in Nashville, Tennessee... the headquarters of
Wild Oats Records, also known as Nashville's Renegade Record Label
& Home Of The Three-Hour Lunch.

Well, we've survived what was one of the hottest summers in memory
here in Music City, and we're ready for a great Autumn and Winter.
As usual, we've got all sorts of interesting plans for the next several
months, with some excellent Oat events in the works and a bunch of
truly first-class CD releases on the ol' release schedule. 

But before we discuss upcoming Oat CDs, let us mention our label's
two most recent releases: Garry Jackson / Something's Got A Hold
On Me; and Glenn French / Timeless. Garry and Glenn both made 
their debuts in our Wild Oats Records Singer/Songwriter Series, 
and both of these very talented, original artists have now delivered
first-rate new CDs of their own. Both projects were produced here
at Oat Central by Steve Haggard and his stellar production team.

Oats Abroad: Speaking of Steve Haggard, he teamed up with fellow
Wild Oats Records artist Joel Alan Lehman for two separate tours in
Europe in recent months. Backed by their stellar band, the Nashville
All-Stars, Steve and Joel did a series of successful gigs in Germany
in late May and early June; they then returned to Europe in August
for their first-ever appearances in Lithuania, highlighted by a great
performance before 24,000 at the Visagino Festival.

Joel Alan Lehman also toured in England this summer, and another
of our favorite Wild Oats Records artists, Garry Jackson, will be performing in France in September for the second straight year. 

Want to win a stylish Wild Oats Records t-shirt and be the envy of
your friends (and enemies)?? Enter our newest contest: Just come
up with a catchy slogan for Team Oat, e-mail it to us before October
31st (yes, 2007), and you might win the t-shirt of your dreams!

Now, back to those upcoming Oat CD releases. We've got two of
'em slated for later in 2007, both by acts who are brand-new to the
Wild Oats Records label: OldScool is a very interesting, rockin' band
out of Delaware, led by a truly distinctive singer/songwriter/guitarist,
Lionel DeBernard. While from just outside of Cool, California -- yes,
it's an actual town -- comes Mike Goroll, a talented and very eclectic
singer, songwriter and musician. (He plays nine instruments.) Mike's
CD will be called (what else?) Beyond Cool, while OldScool's album
will be entitled Save Me From Myself. Why not buy them both??

Like just about all of our label's releases, the Goroll and OldScool
CDs were produced by our own Steve Haggard, who is not only one
of the finest producers on the planet -- we hear that there's a guy on
Jupiter who is even better, but his travel expenses make hiring him impractical -- but one of the Founding Fathers of  Wild Oats Records,
a world traveler of renown (he has done more than 50 overseas tours
now), a mainstay of our legendary Oat Happy Hours and lunches, and
an excellent singer/songwriter/musician in his own right. So we're very
pleased to announce that Steve's long-awaited new CD (still untitled
at the moment) will be released early in 2008. 

Karo is an exciting singer from Finland with a big, soulful voice. His
debut Wild Oats Records two-song single, recorded here in Nashville
earlier this year with producer Steve Haggard and recording engineer
extraordinaire Randall Merryman, is now available. Give it a listen!

After taking two years off from the music biz for health reasons,
Minnesota country singer Dotty Peterson is feelin' fine again, and
we're very pleased to report that she'll be here at Oat Central in
November to complete her new Oat CD. Welcome back, Dotty!

This & That: While in Nashville recording his CD, Mike Goroll did
a video shoot with the acclaimed Oat Video Division, which is led by
Todd Elgin and Anita Moffatt. Goroll also traveled to Lithuania to
play bass with Haggard, Lehman and the Nashville All-Stars.

This & That, Part 2: Kimberly King, one of our favorite artists from
the Wild Oats Records New Artist Series, will be back in the studio
this Autumn working on some new Oat recordings; Steve Lehman,
Joel's brother, was guest artist on some Nashville All-Stars gigs in
Germany; Garry Jackson has finally made the big move, relocating
from Canada to the Nashville Area. Welcome to Tennessee, Garry!;
Steve Haggard is hard at work on his first book, due in June 2009.

Special thanks to the following for their help with our Oat overseas
tours in 2007: Dieter Geske, Reiner & Christiane Züll, David Rehm,
Elena & Ruta Cekiene, Jürgen Schmidt, Michael & Magda Lonstar,
Steve Lehman, Jon Keys, Peter Dula, Nils Tuxen, Frantisek Jano, Zurida, Mike Goroll, Roger Humphries, John Heinrich, Tom Hachen.

In keeping with the general logic (or lack of it) here at Oat Central,
the event called the Annual Wild Oats Records Croquet Tournament,
Horseshoes Fest, Drinkathon, Cookout & Jam Session isn't actually
held every year. However, the AWORCTHFDC&JS will take place
this year... in October 2007, to be exact. See you there!!

As our record label & production company nears its 20th Anniversary,
we're proud of all the really good music we've recorded and released,
and proud of the fact that so many talented artists and bands continue
to make the journey here to Nashville to work with our ultra-talented
production team led by producer Steve Haggard & recording engineer
Randall Merryman. (In 2007 alone, we've had acts from Tennessee,
England, Virginia, Finland, New York, Georgia, Delaware,California,
and Texas; with artists from Germany, Minnesota and Kansas still to
come before the year is out.)

We've already mentioned the brand-new Steve Haggard CD, which is
due for release in early 2008. Well, the always-busy Steve will also be
teaming up with Joel Alan Lehman and a cast of world-class musicians
here in Nashville on Thursday, October 18th, 2007 to record a live CD,
Steve Haggard, Joel Alan Lehman & The Nashville All-Stars.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the time has come. (No, don't panic, it's
not the end of the world... merely the end of this edition of the famed
Oat Newsletter! Until we meet again, May all your oats be wild, and
may all your dreams come true!! And if you happen to find yourself
here in Music City, come on out to a Wild Oats Records Happy Hour,
or to our monthly Oat Songwriter Showcase; or better yet, grab some cash or a credit card and take us out for lunch!!

Until next time....  -- Team Oat

Greetings again from the Chateau d'Oat in Nashville, Tennesee. We
hope that 2007 has started well for everyone. While it's not technically
Spring yet -- we're writing this on Sunday, March 11th -- it sure feels
like Spring here... and it won't be very long now until the redbuds are
bloomin', the warblers are warblin' and the kudzu is growin wild!

The new, earlier Daylight Savings Time began this morning, and in
keeping with the usual Oat way, we did things a little bit differently;
rather than set our clocks ahead one hour, we set 'em back 23 hours!

Anyway, here at Oat Central -- secret headquarters of "Nashville's
Renegade Record Label & Home Of The Three-Hour Lunch"-- the
year is off to a flying start. 2006 was another busy, productive (and
never-dull!) year, and it's lookin' as if 2007 will provide even more
in the way of thrills, chills and excitement.

Starting things off in style is the release of three superb new Oat CDs:
Garry Jackson / Something's Got A Hold On Me (due on June 15th);
Glenn French / Timeless(due on May 19th); and Roads Less Traveled,
the fourth CD in our label's acclaimed Singer/Songwriter Series. The
latter release is now available, and features some top-notch original
talent: New  Jersey's Kenny McGeorge; Mark Mitten from out in
East Tennessee; the English duo Tudor Lodge (Lynne Whiteland &
John Stannard); and Californian Eric Richardson.

We're always pleased by the fact that artists and bands continue to
travel from far and wide to record with our great production team --
producer Steve Haggard, engineer Randall Merryman, and a line-up
of world-class sessions musicians -- here at Oat Central in Nashville.
The 2007 schedule includes artists and bands from Germany, Texas,
Finland, Virginia, England, New York, Georgia, Delaware, California,
Minnesota, and (of course) Tennessee. Steve and the Team Oat crew
definitely must be doin' something right!

One of the many things we do well here at Oat Central is come up with
dumb slogans. Our newest: The day after tomorrow is the third day of
the rest of your life! Pretty inspirational, don't you think?? (Look for
it on coffee mugs and barbecue aprons soon!)

As usual, our own Steve Haggard is just about the busiest guy around.
In addition to producing nearly every one of our Wild Oats Records
CD projects -- and doing a terrific job of it! -- as well as overseeing
countless Happy Hours and Oat social events, Steve is hard at work
on his own brand-new CD, due for release "sometime" in 2008; he'll 
be doing his annual touring in Europe (both in late May and August);
and he's even begun writing his long-awaited book!

Speaking of overseas tours, Oat artists Joel Alan Lehman, Garry
Jackson, Gail Lloyd and Steve Haggard all performed in Europe
in 2006. Joel, Garry and Steve will all return to Europe in 2007.

As most of you know, Gail Lloyd was a important member of the
Wild Oats Records family for 15 years. Among other things, she
built the lion's share of the Oat website, and as a talented artist
recorded some excellent music for us. Gail has now moved on to
ventures of her own, and we wish her success. (But you can still
buy her Wild Oats Records CDs on our site's merchandise page.)

As we mentioned earlier, the new Garry Jackson CD, "Something's
Got A Hold On Me" will be released on June 15th. Garry is one of the
mainstays of our label, having made his debut a few years back on our
first Singer/Songwriter Series CD. He then cut his first full-length Oat
CD ("Songs Your Mother Never Sang"), and in the past year or two,
he has performed in the USA, Canada, France and Northern Ireland.
Garry lives in Ontario, but will be movin' to Nashville later this year.

Another graduate of our Singer/Songwriter Series,Glenn French has
his first full-length Oat CD-- the excellent Timeless -- due next month.

And David James is back! The talented singer and songwriter from
Texas appeared in our New Artist Series several years back, but was
then sidelined by serious health problems. Well, he's feelin' fine now,
and was here in Nashville last month recording a brand-new Wild Oats
Records CD with producer Steve Haggard and the Oat crew. Due for
release in August, the CD will be called simply David James. (While in
town, David filmed a fine video with our Oat Video Division, which is
headed up by Todd Elgin & Anita Moffatt.)

On a sad note: David Schnaufer -- dulcimer player extraordinaire, a
truly nice guy, and a session musician on several Wild Oats Records
projects -- passed away back in August 2006. During the course of his
career, David recorded with the likes of Johnny Cash, Mark Knopfler
and Chet Atkins. R.I.P., Schnaufman.

The rockin' Gail & The Tricksters played a number of memorable
gigs in 2006... but the most memorable had to be the one that the
band played at the outdoor amphitheatre at Mt. Rushmore, in the
Black Hills of South Dakota. The performance was part of the U.S.
Parks Department's "Roots of American Music" series, and as a
special extra, band members Gail Lloyd, Steve Haggard and Tony
Garcia got to hike to the top of George Washington's head! (Really!)

Some excellent new additions to the Wild Oats Record artist roster:

1) From Delaware comes the hard-rockin' band OldScool, whose Oat
CD (produced by Steve Haggard, engineered by Randall Merryman)
will be recorded later this month and released in September 2007.

2) Mike Goroll a fine singer/songwriter (and an all-around interesting
artist) will be cutting his debut CD for Team Oat here in Nashville in
April and May. Mike, who hails from California, is well worth hearing.

3) Buck & Duke, a great country duo from Georgia, finished up their
Oat debut project (co-produced by Steve Haggardand Bob Saporiti)
just yesterday. They're playin' all over the southeast, and you'll be
hearing much more from/about them soon.

4) Last but not least, Karo comes all  the way from Finland, and has
a big voice and a whole lot of soul. Yet another example of Wild Oats
Records being a truly international label... we don't care what it is, or
where it comes from, as long as it's really real and really good!!

A great opportunity!! People often write in to say that they'd love to
attend one of our famous three-hour lunches or Oat Happy Hours...
but aren't able to, due to geography, scheduling, etc. So here's our
plan: send us your credit card, we'll go out to lunch or Happy Hour
on you, and we'll send you a video of the whole event. It'll be just like
you were there, but without all the expense of traveling to Nashville...
and without the hangover!!

"Dyin' To Come Home", the debut single by Reckless Johnny Wales,
has been receiving a lot of attention and a lot of radio airplay. It's one
powerful song, and you really need to hear it!!

Virginia Rao, a fine pop singer/songwriter from New York, was back
in town in January 2007 to record two new songs, and to shoot a video
with our Oat Video team. Virginia does some excellent stuff, and we
all look forward to working with her again before too long.

Well, friends and Oataphiles, that's it for now. Until we meet again,
May all your oats be wild, and may all your dreams come true!!
                        -- Team Oat

Greetings from Oat Central, the headquarters of Nashville's Renegade Record Label & Home Of The Three-Hour Lunch. As we head into our 
19th year (!) -- Wild Oats Records was founded in the summer of 1988
-- we'd like to begin this newsletter by saying Happy Birthday to us!!

It seems as if every year is busier and more interesting than the last here at the scenic Chateau d'Oat... which is just the way we like it. 
And thus far, 2006 has been no exception: lots of recording sessions, 
plenty of excellent new CD releases, a bunch of tours in the USA and Europe, and more Happy Hours than we can count. (Or remember !).

Let's start in the studio, where our Team Oat production staff headed 
by producer Steve Haggard and engineer Randall Merryman has kept very busy. Just since our last Newsletter, they've worked with artists  from Canada, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia, New York, Kansas and -- of course -- Tennessee. (And it looks as if the studio at
ol' Oat Central will be hoppin' all summer, too.)

New releases!! There are three new Wild Oats Records CDs available, and we're very proud of all of 'em: 

First, a new Gail Lloyd CD, Circles. Recorded without her great band
The Tricksters this time around, and co-produced by Gail, the new CD
shows a slightly different musical side to this artist... a side we think
you'll enjoy.

Another exciting release is the debut EP by the young New Hampshire  trio Rozaline. This rockin' indie-emo band all have talent well beyond
their years, and their Oat debut is an impressive one.

Last but not least, there's Edge Of Town, one of the strongest releases yet in our label's New Artist Series... if we do say so ourselves! The CD introduces three fine up-and-coming artists: Chris Seversfrom Virginia; Kristie Crook from Kansas; and Michael Archer from Minnesota.
with our ace production staff led by producer Steve Haggard.

In case you haven't noticed, our beloved Oat website is undergoing a facelift. (Thanks to Randy McDonald for all of his help with this.) The 
homepage already reflects the new look... as does the Oat Video page, which happens to introduce our brand-new Video Division!!

Here,There and Everywhere Dept.: Steve Haggard did a 13-day tour in
Scotland and England in May, and along with Gail Lloyd and Joel Alan Lehman, he'll be on tour in Germany in September. Garry Jackson will be in Europe in September, too, performing in France.

Naturally, the Oat Songwriter Showcase is still goin' strong. This event, which we call Happy Hour with music, is held at the Commodore Grille here in Nashville on the second Wednesday of every month, and always features a first-class line-up of our Wild Oats Records artists & special guests. So stop by the OSS for great music & some serious socializing, and meet our "slightly dysfunctional Wild Oats Records family".

As you may know, one of our main goals here at the Chateau d'Oat is, simply put, to take over the world. (Don't laugh, dear reader... we're a 
whole lot closer than you might think!!) Anyway, a devoted Oataphile from Alabama recently wrote in and asked us: "Do y'all have a target date?". The answer is Yes!! The tentative date is June 28th, 2008.

Steve Haggard has a brand-new song out in Scandinavia. An original
called "The Roof Fell In", Steve recorded it in Sweden while on tour
in that country. It's on the Bonnier Music label. Meanwhile, back in Nashville, Steve is working (very slowly!) on his long-awaited new CD, tentatively scheduled for release sometime in 2007.

As we mentioned earlier, there's been a lot of studio activity here at
Oat Central during the first half of 2006. Among the many CD projects:
Garry Jackson, down from Canada once again to continue working on
his next Oat release; and Glenn French working on his brand-new Wild
Oats Records CD. (Garry's and Glenn's CDs will be released early in
2007.) Also in: Kristie Crook, Mark Mitten, The Scarecrows, Virginia
Rao, Chris Severs, and Ginger Harvey.

Work is also being completed on the fourth CD release in our acclaimed
Singer/Songwriter Series. Still untitled as of this writing, it's due late in
August. It'll feature a stellar line-up of original talents: the English duo
Tudor Lodge (Lynne Whiteland and John Stannard); California artist
Eric Richardson; East Tennessee singer/songwriter Mark Mitten; and
New Jersey's Kenny McGeorge.

Gail & The Tricksters played at memorable gig at Mount Rushmore in
late June, and band members had the rare privilege of hiking to the top
of... George Washington's head!! (Really.) Our special thanks to Park Ranger Nichole Andler for arranging this... and to Tony Garcia, Dave Kramer and Rich Copeland for their help with the gig.

It just wouldn't be an Oat Newsletter without one of our dumb contests
... so here goes. Visit our new Video page, be the 10th person to e-mail us with the names of the two people running the Oat Video Division,
and you'll be the proud winner of a stylish Wild Oats Records t-shirt.

Well, the old Oat sundial says that it's time to wrap up this edition of 
our award-winnning newsletter (okay, it's never really won an award),
so we'll ride off into the sunset -- towards the nearest Happy Hour --
and leave you with these immortal words: May all your oats be wild!! 

Look for our next newsletter around Labor Day - Team Oat

And so, yet another year comes to a close here at Wild Oats Records,
known to millions (well, thousands) as "Nashville's Renegade Record Label & Home Of The Three-Hour Lunch". And what an interesting,
hectic, productive and downright enjoyable year it's been.

As always, Team Oat has been busy with plenty of recording sessions, many -- perhaps too many ?? -- Happy Hours, a bunch of excellent new
CD releases, and several overseas tours. So let's fill you in on what's been happenin' here at the Chateau d'Oat since our last newsletter.

First of all, we're extremely pleased to report that talented singers, songwriters, bands and musicians from far and wide continue to flock here to Nashville's semi-legendary Oat Central to record. Just in the
past few months, we've had two acts from England, two from Canada,
one from Minnesota, and one from Connecticut in the studio, working  with our ace production staff led by producer Steve Haggard. 

Record your next CD project in Nashville with our Wild Oats Records production team !

Brand-new !!: Reflections In The Stream, the third and latest CD in our acclaimed Wild Oats Records Singer/Songwriter Series. It features Jay Brandt, Van Almen, Pete Lampron and Elliott Frisby. And Flyin' High,
(the latest in our New Artist Series), featuring Joey, Ashley Matzeder,
Charla Michelle Hines and One58. There's a lot of really good music
on these two new Oat CDs... so please give 'em a listen.

Here, There & Everywhere Dept.: Steve Haggard headlined Norway's
Lofoten Festival in September -- this event, which takes place above
the Arctic Circle (!) was sold out (!!) -- backed by an all-star band that
included Gail Lloyd (Gail & The Tricksters), Nils Tuxen, Walter Egan, Gary Rudd and 'Damo' Waters. Later that month, Joel Alan Lehman  (whose current Oat CD is Pure Texan) joined forces with Gail & Steve
for a series of shows in France and Germany.

By the way, that "Happy Hour with music" known to one and all as 
the Oat Songwriter Showcase is goin' strong. The OSS is held on the  second Wednesday of every month at Nashville's Commodore Grille, 
and always features a world-class line-up of Wild Oats Records artists and selected special guests. Bryon Russell, Joel Alan Lehman, Tudor Lodge, Gail Lloyd, Steve Haggard and Garry Jackson have all played  the OSS recently. So come on by, hear some great music, and meet the
"slightly dysfunctional Wild Oats Records family" !! 

And speaking of the OSS, we have a winner in our most recent wacky  contest... in which we invited y'all to vote on whether the Commodore Grille's illustrious bartender Howard Brown should keep or shave his newly-grown beard. (See photos on our Oat Showcase page.) "Keep" won by a hair -- pardon the expression ! -- and AntonioThompson of
Owensboro, KY is the winner of a stylish Wild Oats Records t-shirt.

Welcome to the newest member of Team Oat, Randy McDonald. A
very talented graphic artist/designer/photographer and Happy Hour conversationalist (and no relation to Ronald McDonald), Randy will
be designing CD covers and engaging in various artistic pursuits for
the Oat Empire. He may even fix up the ol' Oat website....

Glenn French was in Nashville in October, workin' hard on a new Wild Oats Records CD due for 2006 release. And Garry Jackson hit town in November to continue work on his next Oat CD. (Glenn and Garry are
both veterans of our Singer/Songwriter Series)...The duo Tudor Lodge (Lynne Whiteland and John Stannard) flew in from England to record four songs for our next Singer/Songwriter Series CD... Country artist
Mike Archer was in, cutting tracks for an upcoming New Artist Series
release. Steve Haggard was producer on all four projects.

Team Oat is always looking for a great new artist or band...  if that's you, e-mail us !!

Late November and December at Oat Central saw the young, rockin'
New Hampshire trio difference88 recording their Wild Oats Records debut; Gail Lloyd (sans Tricksters) cutting her new CD; Mark Brine working on a new album; and Steve Haggard (slowly) continuing work
on his long-overdue next CD. 2006 at the studio will kick with off with
sessions for our newest Oat artist, Eric Richardson, in early January.

Having concluded the should-Howard-keep-his-beard? competition, we now have a new dumb Oat contest: send us a photo of yourself holding 
a sign that reads "May all your oats be wild", and you just might win a
truly incredible prize or two. 

Assorted Oatabilia: Ben Rait (give his excellent Oat CD No Regrets
a listen) has become a partner in his very own music club, Kimbro's, 
in Franklin, TN; Oat artists Steven Hammontree and Dotty Peterson teamed up for a Minnesota gig. (Dotty is recovering from nodes on the vocal cords, by the way, but will be just fine); Bryon Russell is keeping
busy on the Alabama club circuit; Bradley C. Williams has been doing West Coast gigs with the likes of Jason Aldean and Deanna Carter;  Joey did a fine showcase at Tootsie's here in Nashville; etc., etc.

Buy a Wild Oats Records CD or t-shirt... it's cheaper than buying us lunch !!

Well, friends and Oataphiles, the sands in the ol' hourglass have run 
out -- we really need to get our clock fixed ! -- so that'll be it for this
edition of the fascinating, thrill-packed Newsletter. See you soon...
and may all your oats be wild... Team Oat

Greetings once again from scenic Oat Central ! With another summer  upon us, we'd like to start by wishing ourselves a Happy Anniversary !
It was back in June of 1988 that the huge, multi-national conglomerate  we know -- and love ! -- as Wild Oats Records was born. That was 17
years, many miles, a lot of music, and countless glasses of wine ago.

Having gotten that little bit of shameless self-congratulation and self-
promotion out of the way, let's move on to the real purpose of our Oat
newsletter... namely, more self-congratulation and self-promotion !

Yes, as usual, things have been hoppin' here at the old Chateau d'Oat,
with several fine new CDs just released or on the horizon; our artists
performing far and wide; and the studio going full-blast. We've been so busy, in fact, that we've even considered cutting our famous Wild Oats Records three-hour lunches down to two hours and fifty-five minutes !

Did someone mention new CDs ? Well, the first half of 2005 saw the
release of three of 'em: Gail & The Tricksters' Dare To Be Different,
Garry Jackson's Songs Your Mother Never Sang, and Billy F. Otis'
Sowin' Wild Otis. To learn more about all three of those CDs, and
to hear music clips from them, just visit our Featured Artists pages.

It just isn't summer without a Wild Oats Records t-shirt !! To buy yours, click here.

Before moving on to our Summer 2005 new releases, let's take a look 
at the international side of things. Several Wild Oats Records artists have been zipping around the globe in recent months... Peter Adzima
(whose current Oat CD is Leave A Pearl) and Garry Jackson played
in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in February; Steve Haggard (with guest
artist Gail Lloyd, of Gail & The Tricksters) toured England/Germany
in May; and Joel Alan Lehman (whose current Oat CD is Pure Texan)
performed in Germany in early June.

Now, about those Summer 2005 CDs: Hot off the presses is the debut
CD -- entitled All Of This -- by Charla Michelle Hines, a very talented young country singer from north Texas. It was produced right here in Nashville in February 2005 by Steve Haggard, with Randall Merryman engineering. (Steve & Randall are the team responsible for 95% of our world-class productions at Oat Central... and are also experts when it comes to Happy Hour !)

Team Oat is always looking for a great new artist or band...  if that's you, e-mail us !!

Speaking of Happy Hour, we'd like to invite you to the monthly event that we like to call our "Happy Hour with music"; in other words, our
Oat Songwriter Showcase. The OSS is held at the Commodore Grille here in Nashville, usually on the first Wednesday of each month. It's
not only an excellent musical event, with a variety of Oat artists and
special guests performing, but also a perfect excuse to hang out and
socialize with the "slightly dysfunctional Wild Oats Records family" 
... click here to learn more.

And while visiting our OSS page, enter our latest wacky contest !
Just find the two photos of our favorite bartender, Howard, and
let us know if you think he looks better with or without a beard.
The winning entry will receive a stylish Wild Oats Records t-shirt.

Two more fine new Oat CD releases coming soon: Flyin' High (the
latest in our New Artist Series), featuring One58, Ashley Matzeder,
Charla Michelle Hines and Joey; and the latest CD in our acclaimed Singer/Songwriter Series, Reflections In The Stream, which features
Jay Brandt, Van Almen, Pete Lampron and Elliott Frisby. You'll find
a whole lot of really good music on these two new Oat CDs.

 Who's been recording here at Oat Central thus far in 2005 ? Bob Lee (California), Julie Trombley (Florida), Joey (Kansas), Pete Lampron (New Hampshire), Karalyn Batchelor (California), Charla Michelle Hines (Texas), Garry Jackson (Ontario, Canada), Scott Foremaster (California), Ashley Matzeder (Kansas), and The Tavson Brothers  (Alberta, Canada). Among those set for Summer 2005: Elliott Frisby  (the UK), Dotty Peterson (Minnesota), Mark Brine (Maryland), and  (again) The Tavson Brothers, and Garry Jackson .

We don't usually get involved in politics, but wouldn't it be an excellent
solution to two vexing problems if we simply relocated all the prisoners from Guantanamo to Neverland Ranch ??

Record your next CD project in Nashville with our Wild Oats Records production team !

One of the mainstays of Team Oat, Steve Haggard, continues to keep busy with all sorts of projects. He toured in England and Germany in 
May 2005; will return to Europe for another tour in early September; produces just about all of our Wild Oats Records CDs; and has begun work on a new, long-awaited CD project of his own. (It'll be completed 
"one of these years", according to Mr. Haggard.) 

On top of all that, Steve was recently elected to the Board of Directors of Sister Cities of Nashville, a fine non-profit organization here in town that is devoted to cultural, commercial and educational exchange. 

Meanwhile, Gail & The Tricksters continue to pick up radio airplay
and great reviews with their current Oat CD, Dare To Be Different.
(Marji Chess of Shake! magazine wrote:"lively ear-catching fare...
her best work to date... things are hopping on this record from the get-go".) In early June, Gail and the band opened for and backed
rock 'n' roll legend Wanda Jackson at a memorable show here in
Nashville.

You'll find clips by many of our Wild Oats Records artists in our Music Room !!

Oat Odds and Ends: As you've probably figured out, the crew here at
scenic Oat Central does a lot of socializing... our latest venture along
those lines is the just-formed Oat Riding Club. More details next time,
possibly including some photos of people falling off horses; Watch for
our Wild Oats Records 2005 Sampler CD -- the first in a new annual
series -- coming in late Summer; Steve Haggard and Gail Lloyd have
formed a new duo as a side-project, tentatively called The Scarecrows.
They've been performing around town and have begun recording some excellent new material.

That's it for now.  We've got to go put something on our chigger bites.
(It wouldn't be summer in Tennessee without chigger bites !) So until next time... may all your dreams come true, may all your lunches be 
long, and -- above all -- may all your oats be wild !! Team Oat

Well, ladies and gentlemen, 2005 is here, so we'd like to start off by
wishing everyone a very Happy New Year. May all your oats be wild,
and may all your dreams come true.

While we're always extremely busy here at scenic Oat Central -- after
all, we not only work 25 hours a day, eight days a week, but we also fit
in our famous three-hour lunches, regular Happy Hours, and a whole
host of assorted Oat social and musical events -- this time we outdid
ourselves. We were so busy we forgot to do our Fall 2004 Newsletter.

So this New Year 2005 Newsletter will be jam-packed with even more
exciting (?), amusing (??),  fascinating (???) and spell-binding (????) 
Oat info than ever. So pull up a chair and thrill to the latest news from
that center of world culture, Nashville's legendary Chateau d'Oat.

Let's start with one of our excellent new Oat CD releases for 2005:
Dare To Be Different, the brand-new CD by that swingin' roots-rock,
jump blues and rockabilly combo, Gail & The Tricksters. The new disc
features 12 tracks (seven of them written by band leader Gail Lloyd),
and is filled with great music courtesy of Gail and her all-star line-up.
Steve Haggard produced the CD. If you're in Nashville on January 
25th, you can catch the CD release party for Dare To Be Different
at the Mercy Lounge. 

Speaking of musical/social events, we've begun a new monthly series 
called the Oat Songwriter Showcase. Best described as Happy Hour
with music, the showcase is held at Nashville's Commodore Grille,
and each month features four Wild Oats Records artists (along with 
the occasional special guest). For more about the OSS,click here.

Now back to those new Wild Oats Records CD releases... First of all,
there's Signs Of The Times, which is the second volume in our label's
Singer/Songwriter Series. A worthy successor to the excellent first CD  in the series (Mighty Above All Things), Signs introduces four really
talented singer/songwriters: Bryon Russell, Adrianna Larkin, James
Bizzieri and Glenn French. 

And then there's the latest release in our New Artist Series: a fine CD
entitled Breakin' Loose, which showcases three up-and-coming country artists (Steven Hammontree, Dotty Peterson and Bradley C. Williams),
all of whom are well worth hearing.

Want (or need) to buy a Wild Oats Records CD and/or t-shirt ?? Then just click here !!

As you probably know already, our favorite record label (Editor's note: that's Wild Oats Records, of course !) has been active in the overseas music market since way back in 1991... but 2004 was very possibly our most international year yet. In addition to organizing several European tours -- more on those later -- we had artists journey all the way from
England (Van Almen, Elliott Frisby), Sweden (One58), Canada (Garry Jackson, The Tavson Bros.) and Norway (The Tubesnakes) to record here at Nashville's Oat Central with our stellar production team headed by producer Steve Haggard and recording engineer Randall Merryman.

And American artists came from far and wide, too; including Adrianna
Larkin (Illinois), Glenn French (Connecticut), Jay Brandt (California),  Gail & The Tricksters (Tennessee), Steven Hammontree (Missouri), Billy F. Otis (Virginia) and Dotty Peterson (Minnesota).

Time for another of those (in)famous Oat contests. Just e-mail us with
the punch line to that joke where the guy sends his dog out for cigars,
and win your choice of any Wild Oats Records CD or an Oat t-shirt !

Back to "serious" business for a moment. We have two CDs about to
be released in early 2005 of which we're especially proud. Both artists
started out on one of our multi-artist CDs, both have become valued members of our slightly dysfunctional Wild Oats Records family, and now both will have full Oat CDs of their own. So be on the lookout for 
Garry Jackson's Songs Your Mother Never Sang (due in early 2005)
and Billy F. Otis's Sowin' Wild Otis (due in Spring 2005).

Listen to clips by many of our Wild Oats Records artists on our Music Room page !!

Steve Haggard and his band toured Sweden again this past summer,
doing 10 gigs over 12 days. Highlights included shows in Stockholm, 
Uppsala, Gostas and way up north in Umea. Steve and the band also found time to record a song (Forever Young) for a Bob Dylan tribute
CD to be released in Scandinavia in 2006. 

And speaking of touring, Gail Lloyd & Steve Haggard spent nine days 
in France in September 2004, performing at La Foire Internationale in Caen, Normandie. Gail & Steve were chosen by Sister Cities Nashville to represent Nashville at this great event, which drew a total of 500,000 visitors from as far away as Morocco, Thailand, Senegal and Bolivia.

Strange but true: A bunch of Wild Oats Records CDs will be on view 
in a jukebox during a scene in the upcoming Warner Brothers movie
"The Dukes Of Hazzard", starring Willie Nelson and Burt Reynolds.

We're always glad to welcome new artists to what is sometimes called Nashville's renegade record label, so here's a warm greeting to the two
newest members of Team Oat: Joey Glenn, a talented young country 
singer from Kansas; and Pete Lampron, a fine singer/songwriter from
New Hampshire. Both will be recording at Oat Central in January 2005.

At some point in every Newsletter, we grovel at your feet and beg you 
to buy Wild Oats Records, t-shirts and other Oatabilia. Well, it's that
time again... so please buy something !! Anything!!

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, it's back to important Oat
news. Some items of interest: Garry Jackson and Peter Adzima will be
performing in Northern Ireland in February 2005; Julie Trombley will
be recording at Oat Central in January; Steve Haggard and his band
(including Gail Lloyd) will tour in England and Germany in May 2005;
and we've added a bunch of new photos to the ever-popular Oat Photo
Gallery. Click here to view 'em ! And click here for new Testimonials.

A sad note: One of the earliest friends and supporters of Wild Oats Records, Danish DJ Knud Nielsen, passed away in December 2004.
Knud helped Steve Haggard arrange some of his earliest European
gigs back in 1992, often played Oat artists on his Copenhagen-based radio show, and introduced us to a potent - and truly awful - alcoholic concoction called Sort Svin ("Black Pig"). Rest in peace, Knud....

Well, that's it for another Newsletter. We'll see you in the Spring; and
if you're in Nashville in the meantime, why not take us out for lunch ??
Happy New Year, Team Oat

P.S. There's absolutely no truth to the rumor that Condoleezza Rice
will be the centerfold in the inaugural issue of Oatboy Magazine.*
*This is what passes for a joke around here, by the way. 

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