An early pirate 8 track mixtape from 1974

The compact audio cassette

A mixtape or mixed-tape is the generic name given to any compilation of songs recorded onto a Compact Cassette, CD, music file, or any other audio format^[1].

A mixtape, which usually reflects the musical tastes of its compiler, can range from a casually selected list of favorite songs, to a conceptual mix of songs linked by a theme or mood, to a highly personal statement tailored to the tape's intended recipient. Essayist Geoffrey O'Brien has called the personal mix tape "the most widely practiced American art form",^[2] and many^[who?] mix tape enthusiasts believe that by carefully selecting and ordering the tracks in a mix, an artistic statement can be created that is greater than the sum of its individual songs.

With the advent of affordable, consumer-level digital audio, creating and distributing mixes in the form of compact disc or MP3 playlists has become the contemporary method of choice, but the term mix tape is still commonly used, even for mixes in different media (for example, CD, MP3, MiniDisc, audio cassette 8 track).^{[citation needed]} Video mixtapes have emerged as well.

History[link]

The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page. (December 2010)

The most common early mix tapes were bootleg 8 track tapes that were sold at flea markets and truck stops in the late 1960s through the early 1980s, with names like "Super 73", "Country Chart Toppers" or "Top Pops 1977".

Homemade mix tapes became common in the 1980s. Although the compact audio cassette by Philips appeared at the 1963 Berlin Radio Show,^[3] the sound quality of cassettes was not good enough to be seriously considered for music recording until further advances in tape formulations, including the advent of chrome and metal tape. Before the introduction of the audio cassette, the creation of a pop music compilation required specialized or cumbersome equipment, such as a reel-to-reel or 8 track recorder, that was often inaccessible to the casual music fan. As cassette tapes and recorders grew in popularity and portability, these technological hurdles were lowered to the point where the only resources required to create a mix were a handful of cassettes and a cassette recorder connected to a source of prerecorded music, such as a radio or LP player. The 8-track tape cartridge was more popular for music recording during much of the 1960s, as the cassette was originally only mono and intended for vocal recordings only, such as in office dictation machines. But improvements in fidelity finally allowed the cassette to become a major player. The ready availability of the cassette and higher quality home recording decks to serve the home casual user allowed the cassette to become the dominant tape format, to the point that the 8 track tape nearly disappeared shortly after the turn of the 1980s. The growth of the mixtape was also encouraged by improved quality and increased popularity of audio cassette players in car entertainment systems, and by the introduction of the Sony Walkman in 1979.

A distinction should be drawn between a private mixtape, which is usually intended for a specific listener or private social event, and a public mixtape, or "party tape", usually consisting of a recording of a club performance by a DJ and intended to be sold to multiple individuals. In the 1970s, such DJs as Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Afrika Bambaataa and the Soulsonic Force, Kool Herc and the Herculoids, DJ Breakout, the Funky Four, and DJ Hollywood would often distribute recordings of their club performances via audio cassette, as well as customized recordings (often prepared at exorbitant prices) for individual tape purchasers. These recordings tended to be of higher technical ability than home-made mixtapes and incorporated techniques such as beatmatching and scratching. One 12 October 1974 article in Billboard Magazine reported, "Tapes were originally dubbed by jockeys to serve as standbys for times when they did not have disco turntables to hand. The tapes represent each jockey's concept of programming, placing, and sequencing of record sides. The music is heard without interruption. One- to three-hour programs bring anywhere from $30 to $75 per tape, mostly reel-to-reel, but increasingly on cartridge and cassette." Club proprietors, as well as DJs, would often prepare such tapes for sale.

The CD-R disc is currently the most common medium for homemade mixes

Throughout the 1980s, mixtapes were a highly visible element of youth culture. However, the increased availability of CD burners and MP3 players and the gradual disappearance of cassette players in cars and households have led to a decline in the popularity of the compact audio cassette as a medium for homemade mixes. The high point of traditional mixtape culture was arguably the publication of Nick Hornby's novel High Fidelity in 1995. Since then, mixtapes have largely been replaced by mix CDs and shared MP3 playlists, which are more durable, can hold more songs, and require minutes (rather than hours) to prepare. While some mixtape enthusiasts bemoan the obsolescence of the cassette tape, others concede that the greater convenience offered by the mix CD has expanded the possibilities and accessibility of the medium, as indicated by the recent resurgence of mix-swapping clubs that trade mix CDs by regular mail. Some mix enthusiasts also appreciate the potential of the mix CD for extended, continuous mixes and creative album art.

Today, websites concerned with electronic music provide mixes in a digital format.^[4][5][6] These usually consist of recorded DJ sets of live, beat-matched mixes of songs, which are used by DJs seeking to demonstrate their mixing skills to an online audience. Some radio shows worldwide specialize in mix series, including The Breezeblock on BBC Radio 1, The Solid Steel Show (formerly on KISS-FM), Eddy Temple-Morris/The Remix on Xfm and The BTTB Show.

Additionally, DJs such as Grandmaster Flash, DJ QBert, DJ Spooky, DJ Z-Trip or DJ Shadow, The Avalanches, and Rjd2 have gained fame for creating new songs by combining fragments of existing songs (which need not necessarily belong to the same genre). The resulting remix or mash-up can be seen as an evolution of the mixtape, in that it appropriates existing songs to give them new meanings through their juxtaposition, but does so in a quicker, more integrated style. This practice is heavily derived from the use of song loops as musical backdrops for an MC's rhymes in hip hop music, which is also related to turntablism.

Mixtapes vs. compilations[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Many commercially available compilations of pop music initially seem to share certain important characteristics with mixtapes. Like many private mixes, a significant number of the earliest pop LPs were essentially collections of popular singles, and such compilation albums have often taken cues from underground mixes of the same era. One example is Disco Par-r-r-ty, the first nonstop dancing LP record, which was released by Spring Records in October 1974. Consisting of a continuous mix of songs by such artists as James Brown, Mandrill, and Barry White, it was clearly inspired by the bootleg DJ mixes that were becoming popular at the same time. However, the relative anonymity of the compilers of such albums is arguably inconsistent with the rationale behind most mixtapes, which typically reflect the musical tastes of a single compiler. While the editors of such compilations do exercise a certain amount of discretion over song order and selection, the term mixtape is generally restricted to a compilation where the identity of the compiler is clearly associated with the album itself. For example, Starbucks, the coffee chain, sells a compilation CD series called Artist's Choice, which consists of mixes based on selections by such artists as Johnny Cash, Tony Bennett, and Sheryl Crow. Similarly, Apple Computer's iTunes Store features Celebrity Playlists, downloadable mixtapes in AAC-compatible form, selected by such artists as Moby, Barry Manilow, and Andrew W.K. The Late Night Tales series has seen artists such as Four Tet and Turin Brakes make their own compilations that are distributed in mainstream record shops such as HMV.

The presence of an identifiable compiler whose tastes are reflected in song selection and arrangement allow retail mix CDs to be distinguished from other types of compilations. The distinction can be rather subtle. For example, while most "greatest hits" compilations of individual recording artists consist of a collection of singles in chronological order, others include album tracks, new songs, or obscure selections in addition to established hits, and sometimes reorder the songs for optimal listening. As such, these compilations can be seen as "artist-specific" mixes selected and arranged by the artists themselves.

One could also argue that the modern movie soundtrack, which often consists of selected pop music tracks (rather than the traditional orchestral score) is a mixtape with songs selected by the film's director or music supervisor.

Legal issues in the United States[link]

An important distinction between homemade mixes and retail compilations of pop music is that the latter generally obtain permissions for the use of copyrighted songs, while the former do not. As a result, mixtapes, such as those produced and sold by club DJs in the 1970s, are illegal. Most^[who?] mixtape enthusiasts assume that private mixtapes are inoffensive from a fair use standpoint, but this is far from clear. Frank Creighton, a director of anti-copyright infringement efforts for the Recording Industry Association of America, was quoted in New York Times as saying that "money did not have to be involved for copying to be illegal."^[7] While mixes on cassette tapes may not have inspired the wrath of the record industry in the past, Mr. Creighton said, "digital mixes have better sound quality". And given the proliferation of CD burning for friends and relatives, "it would be naïve of us to say that we should allow that type of activity".

Aesthetics[link]

While the process of recording a mix onto an audio cassette from LPs or compact discs is technically straightforward, many music fans who create more than one mixtape are eventually compelled to confront some of the practical and aesthetic challenges involved in the mixtape format. From a practical standpoint, such issues as avoiding an excessive amount of blank tape at the end of one side (which requires careful planning of the length of each side of the mix) and reducing the audible click between songs (which requires mastery of the pause button on the cassette recorder) have been identified as part of the shared experience of mixtape aficionados. From an aesthetic point of view, many enthusiasts believe that because a tape player, unlike a CD player, lacks the ability to skip from song to song, the mixtape needs to be considered in its entirety. This requires the mixtape creator to consider the transitions between songs, the effects caused by juxtaposing a soft song with a loud song, and the overall "narrative arc" of the entire tape. One notable listing of such aesthetic "rules" can be found in a paragraph from Nick Hornby's High Fidelity:

Many enthusiasts also devote substantial attention to the packaging of a mix tape intended as a gift, sometimes going so far as to create cover art and customized liner notes. The cover of the original McSweeney's edition of 31 Songs, a 2003 essay collection by Nick Hornby, was intended to suggest the packaging of a homemade mix CD. It also came with an actual CD featuring ten of the songs discussed in the text. Indeed, the look of mix tapes, featuring hand-written notes on the recording medium manufacturer's supplied labels, has become one of the aesthetic conventions of modern design, a distinct style that designers may attempt to copy or cite. Many have been so widely distributed that the CDDB has logged and can identify ID3 tags when a disc mix tape is inserted into a PC.

From an artistic point of view, many creators of mix tapes seem to regard them as a form of emotional self-expression, although whether a mix tape retains the same web of emotional associations when passed from its creator to the recipient is, at best, debatable. Some argue that in selecting, juxtaposing, or even editing originally unrelated tracks of pop music into a new work of art, the "author" of a mix tape moves from passive listener to archivist, editor, and finally active participant in the process of musical creation. (Some legitimacy for this viewpoint was provided by Cassette Stories, a 2003 exhibition at the Museum of Communication in Hamburg, Germany, which featured stories and submissions from eighty mix tape enthusiasts.) However, this perception of the mix tape as a work of art has been criticized as resulting in a sort of elitism, with creators becoming more concerned with finding arcane and surprising combinations of tracks than with creating a tape that is listenable, enjoyable, or appropriate to its intended recipient. (In High Fidelity, for example, the narrator's girlfriend complains that his mix tapes are too didactic.) On a very basic level, the creation of a mix tape can be seen as an expression of the individual compiler's taste in music, often put forward for the implicit approval of the tape's recipient, and in many cases as a tentative step towards building the compiler's personal canon of pop music.

Types of Mix Tapes[link]

Although a "comprehensive" list of the different genres or categories of mixtapes could be extended indefinitely, creating a taxonomy of mix tapes is a project that many mix tape enthusiasts have intuitively attempted.^{[citation needed]} The different types of mix tapes identified on community sites, such as FoundTrack and Art of the Mix (which lists over two hundred genres), indicate the variety of potential categories. Beyond basic genres as the simple taping of an entire album, the collection of favorite songs, and the "snapshot"^{[clarification needed]} mix of recent favorites, some of the more commonly cited categories include the driving mix, the workout mix, the party mix, the krazy mix (eclectic selections of obscure, rare or otherwise unconventional tracks), the didactic mix (intended to educate the recipient as to the essential works of a particular artist or genre), the concept / theme mix (a mix of Christmas songs, songs about cars, or covers of songs by a particular artist or similar), and the mood mix (simply a mix of songs intended to sustain a specific mood, stated or unstated — notable sub genres include the romantic mix and the break-up mix). Mixtapes eventually made their way onto television screens by video mix DJs (i.e., Jordan Laws 'Fit to Fill Video Mixtape' DJ SWB^{[Full citation needed]}).

Mixtapes in hip hop[link]

In hip hop's earliest days, the music only existed in live form, and the music was spread via tapes of parties and shows.^[8] Hip hop mixtapes first appeared in the mid-1970s in New York City, featuring artists such as Kool Herc and Afrika Bambaata.^[8] As more tapes became available, they began to be collected and traded by fans. In the mid-1980s, DJs, such as Brucie B, began recording their live music and selling their own mixtapes, which was soon followed by other DJs such as Kid Capri and Doo Wop.^[8] Ron G moved the mixtape forward in the early 1990s by blending R&B a cappellas with hip hop beats (known as "blends").^[8] Blend tapes became increasingly popular by the mid-1990s^{[citation needed]}, and fans increasingly looked for exclusive tracks and freestyles on the tapes. In the hip hop scene, mix tape is often displayed as a single term mixtape.

See also[link]

Music portal

• DJ mix
• Mix Tape: The Art of Cassette Culture
• MP3 CD

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Corn, Doron Porat (c2002). "History of Mixtapes" AllMixTapes.com
• Ellis, Bret Easton (1986). Less Than Zero. ISBN 0-679-78149-8
• Erdman, Sarah (2003). Nine Hills to Nambonkaha: Two Years in the Heart of An African Village. ISBN 0-8050-7381-7
• Gallagher, David (30 January 2003). For the mix tape, a digital upgrade and notoriety. The New York Times.
• Hornby, Nick (1995). High Fidelity. ISBN 1-57322-551-7
• Hornby, Nick (2003). Songbook. ISBN 1-57322-356-5
• Keller, Joel (22 January 2004). PCs killed the mix-tape star. Salon.com.
• Mobley, Max (5 December 2007). "Requiem for the Mixtape". Crawdaddy!.
• Moore, Thurston (2004). Mix Tape. ISBN 0-7893-1199-2
• McMahon, Andrew (2005): "The Mixed Tape", Everything In Transit — Jack's Mannequin
• O'Brien, Geoffrey (2004). Sonata for Jukebox. ISBN 1-58243-192-2
• Paul, James (26 September 2003). Last night a mix tape saved my life. The Guardian.
• Sante, Luc (13 May 2004). Disco Dreams. The New York Review of Books. (This review of Songbook and Sonata for Jukebox describes the mix tape as "one part Victorian flower album, one part commonplace book, one part collage, and one part recital.")
• Stuever, Hank (29 October 2002). Unspooled: In the digital age, the quaint cassette is sent reeling into history's dustbin. Washington Post.
• Vowell, Sarah (2001). Take the Cannoli: Stories from the New World. ISBN 0-7432-0540-5
• Warner, Alan (1995). Morvern Callar. ISBN 0-385-48741-X

This article may contain wording that merely promotes the subject without imparting verifiable information. Please remove or replace such wording, unless you can cite independent sources that support the characterization. (May 2010)

Butch Walker
Butch Walker playing at Lollapalooza in 2008
Background information
Birth name	Bradley Glenn Walker
Born	(1969-11-14) November 14, 1969 (age 42) Rome, Georgia, U.S.[1]
Genres	Glam metal (early), Pop punk[2], Post-grunge[2], Rock, Pop rock, Hard rock[3]
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, musician, producer
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano, bass, percussion, Hammond organ, mandolin-banjo
Years active	1985–present
Labels	Original Signal[4] Dangerbird Records[5] Lojinx[6]
Associated acts	Marvelous 3, SouthGang Floyds Funk Revival, Floyds
Website	ButchWalker.com

Butch Walker (born Bradley Glenn Walker on November 14, 1969) is an American recording artist, songwriter, and record producer. He was the lead guitarist for the metal band SouthGang from the late 80s to early 90s as well as the lead vocalist and guitarist for rock band Marvelous 3 from 1997 until 2001.

Career[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (May 2010)

Walker grew up in Cartersville, Georgia, working as a guitarist and performer in several rock bands in the 1980s, including Badd Boyz and Byte the Bullet. In 1988, he took Byte the Bullet to Los Angeles and they were signed to Virgin Records within the year. The band then changed their name to SouthGang and released two albums, Tainted Angel in 1991 and Group Therapy in 1992. SouthGang was one of the first bands to tour China in the early 1990s. Southgang disbanded when Walker lost interest in continuing, but he remained on good terms with all the other members of the band.^[7]

After Southgang, Walker formed a new band with ex-SouthGang members Jayce Fincher and Mitch McLee (aka: Doug Mitchell), calling themselves Floyd's Funk Revival after Walker's birthplace Floyd County, Georgia.^[7] Walker shared lead vocals in the band with Fincher's wife, Chrystina Lloree. They released one full length album, Creamy. The album contained thirteen original tracks with Lloree taking a large share of the lead vocals and heavy reliance on guitar. The band then shortened their name to The Floyds. They released one self-titled album on the Deep South label, which contained ten original tracks along with a humorous intro piece. Bonus tracks included a cover of Duran Duran's "Rio", and a live rendition of the Shasta soda jingle from the late seventies. The style of both these albums was guitar-oriented, mainstream rock with mild funk influences, and was a forerunner to the more basic guitar-oriented rock approach Walker took later with Marvelous 3. Although the albums are highly regarded among the people who discovered them, they failed to sell many copies, and both albums are now quite rare. They are highly coveted by fans of Butch Walker, and the few copies that surface in the used CD market today command very high prices.

In 1997, Walker, Fincher, and McLee transformed themselves again, scaling back to a trio with Walker handling all the lead vocals. They also decided to streamline their sound to more of a "power pop" type of band. Calling themselves Marvelous 3, they released the album Math and Other Problems on Deep South Records in 1997. They followed this in 1999 with Hey! Album on Elektra Records and had a minor hit with the song "Freak of the Week." The next year, they released their final album, ReadySexGo, also on Elektra. That album failed to continue the momentum created by the prior release, however, and perceiving a lack of support from their record label, they disbanded in 2001. Their final concert was on August 3, 2001 at Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park in front of their hometown fans.^[8]

Butch Walker then began a solo career, releasing the albums Left of Self-Centered in 2002, Letters in 2004 and The Rise and Fall of Butch Walker and the Let's-Go-Out-Tonites in 2006. In 2005 he played over 200 live shows across both the U.S. and Japan, and he released his first DVD, Live at Budokan. At the end of 2005 he was named as Rolling Stone's producer of the year. Butch Walker was featured as a headlining artist on the MySpace-promoted Inaugural Hotel Cafe tour, supporting independent artists from the Los Angeles venue of the same name.

Butch Walker began 2008 by setting out many dates for new songs, DVDs, new albums both with the band 1969, which he is the bassist and lead singer for, and also a solo record titled Sycamore Meadows. He stated that he was planning to release something on every major holiday in 2008. On February 14, 2008, an audio release of Walker's live performance in his hometown of Atlanta, GA, was released. A DVD of this show followed on March 17, 2008. The DVD and audio are titled Leavin' the Game on Luckie Street (Luckie Street is the road the venue at which the show was played, the Tabernacle in Atlanta, GA). Then working with Michael Chislett of The Academy Is... and Darren Dodd of The Let's Go Out Tonites under the name 1969 released a full-length debut album titled Maya on April 1, 2008.^[9] Sycamore Meadows was originally slated for a holiday release in the summer of 2008, but was postponed due to personal reasons until November 11, according to his MySpace blog. The first single from Sycamore Meadows was the first track, titled "The Weight of Her". The video for "Ships in a Bottle" documents Walker walking on the grounds of his home on Sycamore Meadows Drive in Southern California after it was destroyed by the wildfires of November 2007. Both Maya and Sycamore Meadows were released on a limited run of vinyl.

Walker played a series of sold-out live shows with just acoustic guitar and vocals beginning in fall 2009, accompanied at various times by Pink, actor Jeremy Piven, Jim Bianco, the Chapin Sisters and doctor Stephen Patt on steel guitar. Out of the shows came a cover of Taylor Swift's single "You Belong with Me" on banjolin, which was later recorded as a video and audio version in his studio. Swift blogged about the video and then invited Walker to appear with her at the winter 2010 Grammy Awards.^[10]

Walker began work on his next album in 2009, and ultimately released I Liked It Better When You Had No Heart on February 23, 2010 under the band name Butch Walker & the Black Widows. Recording sessions were held at RubyRed Productions in Santa Monica, California. Walker support of the record included touring with Train beginning March, 2010, a headlining tour of the US, and opening for Pink in Europe on her Stadium Festival Tour.

On August 30, 2011 Butch Walker released his second album with the Black Widows entitled The Spade.^[11][12] On October 25, 2011 Walker released his first book, an autobiography entitled Drinking with Strangers: Music Lessons from a Teenage Bullet Belt.^[13]

Productions and collaborations[link]

In July 2009, Butch Walker worked with Weezer on their album Raditude. Walker mentioned working with the band during a radio interview with 99X. He was being interviewed via phone along with Cee-lo from Gnarls Barkley who was in the actual studio. Walker co-wrote and produced several songs on Raditude, including the first single, "If You're Wondering if I Want You To... (I Want You To)", which hit number two on the Modern Rock Chart.

In 2007, Walker provided guest vocals on Fall Out Boy's third record Infinity on High, on the track "You're Crashing, but You're No Wave", and co-produced the track "Don't You Know Who I Think I Am?" with singer Patrick Stump. He also made a brief cameo in the video for "This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race".

Walker also appears in The Academy Is... videos for "Slow Down" and "We've Got a Big Mess on Our Hands" as well as the video for "So What" by Pink. He also co-wrote the songs "Breaking" and "Younglife", both of which are performed and co-written by Anberlin.

Walker also joined the 9th annual Independent Music Awards judging panel to assist independent musicians' careers.^[14] He was also a judge for the 8th annual Independent Music Awards.^[15] In 2008 Walker signed on to judge a competition called Spin's Hot Pursuit to find an unsigned band for Epic Records/Original Signal hosted on Music Nation.^[16] He had previously served as a guest judge for the CBS reality television show Rock Star: Supernova and produced the band's first album.^[17]

In January 2009, post-hardcore band Saosin tapped Walker to produce their second album for Capitol Records.

In March 2009, the song "Open Happiness" debuted, a new business venture by Coca-Cola, written by Walker, and featuring Cee Lo Green, Travis McCoy, Janelle Monáe, Patrick Stump and Brendon Urie. This song has a Cantonese cover version by Joey Yung on her new album, A Time For Us, and she is also filming advertisements for Coca Cola in Chinese.

Many of his songs have been hits for other artists, including Avril Lavigne, Sevendust, Injected, The Donnas, Hot Hot Heat, American Hi-Fi, Default, Gob, Midtown, Puffy AmiYumi, Pete Yorn, Fall Out Boy, Quietdrive, The All-American Rejects, SR-71, The Academy Is... and recently The Cab, Saosin, Never Shout Never, Weezer, Dashboard Confessional and All Time Low.

Personal life[link]

As a child, Walker struggled with undiagnosed dyslexia.^[18] He also had weight problems. When he graduated high school, he says that he weighed 215 lbs but subsequently dropped to 165 lbs.^[19] In November 2007, Walker and his family lost all of their possessions, including the masters to every song he had ever recorded, when the Malibu home he was renting from Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers burned down as a result of a wildfire in Southern California.^[20] He titled his next album Sycamore Meadows after the street the house was on.

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Live albums[link]

• This Is Me... Justified and Stripped (2004)
• Leavin' the Game on Luckie Street (2008)

EPs[link]

• Heartwork (2004)
• Cover Me Badd (2005)
• Live at Lollapalooza 2008 (2008)
• Here Comes The... EP (2009)

DVDs[link]

• Live at Budokan (2005)
• Leavin' the Game on Luckie Street (2008)

Featured In[link]

• "You're Crashing, But You're No Wave" By Fall Out Boy (2007)
• "Christmas All Over Again" by Butch Walker and Taryn Manning (2008)
• "Good Times" By Tommy Lee (2005)

As a producer[link]

• Marvelous 3 - Math And Other Problems (1997)
• Marvelous 3 - Hey! Album (1998)
• Marvelous 3 - Ready, Sex, Go (2000)
• Injected - Burn It Black (2002)
• Bowling for Soup - Drunk Enough to Dance (2002)
• SR-71 - Tomorrow (2002)
• Pete Yorn - Day I Forgot (2003)
• Shawn Mars - Red Means Go (2003)
• Gob - Foot in Mouth Disease (2003)
• Default - Elocation (2003)
• Sevendust - Seasons (2003)
• Avril Lavigne - Under My Skin (2004)
• Simple Plan - Still Not Getting Any... (2004)
• Midtown - Forget What You Know (2004)
• The Donnas - Gold Medal (2004)
• American Hi-Fi - Hearts on Parade (2005)
• Lindsay Lohan - A Little More Personal (Raw) (2005)
• Wakefield - Which Side Are You On? (2005)
• Pink - I'm Not Dead (2006)
• PUFFY - Splurge (2006)
• Family Force 5 - Business Up Front/Party in the Back (2006)
• Pete Yorn - Nightcrawler (2006)
• Quietdrive - When All That's Left Is You (2006)
• Rock Star Supernova - Rock Star Supernova (2006)
• Bowling for Soup - The Great Burrito Extortion Case (2006)
• Avril Lavigne - The Best Damn Thing (2007)
• The Academy Is... - Santi (2007)
• The Honorary Title - Scream & Light Up the Sky (2007)
• Hot Hot Heat - Happiness Ltd. (2007)
• PUFFY - Honeycreeper (2007)
• The Automatic - This Is a Fix (2008)
• Katy Perry - One of the Boys (2008)
• Pink - Funhouse (2008)
• The Films - Oh, Scorpio! (2009)
• Secondhand Serenade - A Twist in My Story (2009)
• PUFFY - Bring It! (2009)
• All Time Low - Nothing Personal (2009)
• Weezer - Raditude (2009)
• Saosin - In Search Of Solid Ground (2009)
• Plastiscines - About Love (2009)
• Dashboard Confessional - Alter the Ending (2009)
• The Rocket Summer - Of Men and Angels (2010)
• Never Shout Never - What Is Love (2010)
• The Maine (band) - Black & White (The Maine album) (2010)
• Avril Lavigne - Goodbye Lullaby (2011)
• Panic! at the Disco - Vices & Virtues (2011)
• The Wombats- This Modern Glitch (2011)
• Gavin DeGraw- Sweeter (2011)
• Ida Maria- Katla (2011)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Butch Walker - Dangerbird Records
• Butch Walker on Facebook
• Butch Walker on Twitter
• Butch Walker on Myspace
• Butch Walker on Last.fm
• Butch Walker on DeliRadio
• 2009 Interview Podcast with Butch Walker on BackstageMusician.Com
• Interview from 2002 from PlugInMusic.com
• Butch Walker's Top 10 Albums of 2008
• Butch Walker Production Credit List (Discography) - beatbuggy.com

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2008)

Harold Hunter
in Times Square, New York City (1989) photo by Charlie Samuels
Born	Harold Atkins Hunter (1974-04-02)April 2, 1974 New York City, New York, , U.S.
Died	February 17, 2006(2006-02-17) (aged 31) New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Professional skateboarder, actor

Harold Atkins Hunter (April 2, 1974 – February 17, 2006) was an American professional skateboarder and actor. He was best known on screen for his part in Larry Clark's 1995 film Kids, playing the role of Harold.

Hunter was born in New York City and grew up in the East Village. He became associated with a local skate crew that hung out near Tompkins Square Park and was first sponsored by local skate shop "Skate NYC". Hunter first came to public attention in 1989 in a Thrasher magazine photo essay photographed by Charlie Samuels about the New York City skateboard scene. A goofy-footed skateboarder, Hunter was sponsored most notably by Zoo York.^[1] Later on he started Rock Star Bearings Co.

Hunter also appeared on an episode of the popular TV series "Miami Ink". In the episode he received a tattoo from Chris Garver which commemorated his New York roots and his connections from his youth with the World Trade Centre. The tattoo was on his upper arm and depicted the towers with a skateboarder jumping in front of them, with the words "New York City" above, and "Sk-8 or Die" below. This tattoo is also revisited in another episode of Miami Ink that focuses of Chris Garver's tattoos.

On February 17, 2006, Hunter was found dead from a cocaine-induced heart attack in his Lower East Side apartment.^[2][3] The Harold Hunter Foundation was founded in his memory to support city kids interested in skateboarding.

Filmography[link]

• Kids (1995)
• Mind Games (1996)
• Hand on the Pump (1998)
• Kung Faux (2003)
• Man Under Wire (2005)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Harold Hunter Foundation website
• Harold Hunter at the Internet Movie Database
• Harold Hunter on Myspace
• Threeayedee Art Gallery created by Roya Butler in memory of Harold Hunter

Wiz Khalifa
Wiz Khalifa in Brooklyn, New York in August 2009.
Background information
Birth name	Cameron Jibril Thomaz
Born	(1987-09-08) September 8, 1987 (age 24) Minot, North Dakota, United States
Genres	Hip hop
Occupations	Rapper, singer, songwriter, actor
Years active	2005–present
Labels	Rostrum, Taylor Gang, Warner Bros., Atlantic
Associated acts	Snoop Dogg, Rick Ross, Curren$y, Big Sean, Chevy Woods, Mac Miller, Juicy J, Tinie Tempah, Yelawolf, Maroon 5, Big K.R.I.T.
Website	wizkhalifa.com

Cameron Jibril Thomaz (born September 8, 1987), better known by the stage name Wiz Khalifa, is an American rapper. He released his debut album, Show and Prove, in 2006, and signed to Warner Bros. Records in 2007. His Eurodance-influenced single, "Say Yeah", received urban radio airplay, charting on the Rhythmic Top 40 and Hot Rap Tracks charts in 2008.^[1] Khalifa parted with Warner Bros. and released his second album, Deal or No Deal, in November 2009. He released the mixtape Kush and Orange Juice as a free download in April 2010; he then signed with Atlantic Records.^[2] He is also well known for his debut single for Atlantic, "Black and Yellow", which peaked at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. His debut album for the label, Rolling Papers, was released on March 29, 2011.^[3]

Early life[link]

Khalifa was born on September 8, 1987 to a mother and a father serving in the military.^[1][4] His parents divorced when Khalifa was about three years old. His parents' military service caused him to move regularly: Khalifa lived in Germany, the United Kingdom, and Japan before settling in Pittsburgh where he attended Taylor Allderdice High School.^[1][4]

His stage name is derived from khalifa, an Arabic word meaning "successor", and wisdom, which was shortened to Wiz when Khalifa was a young boy .^[5] Khalifa stated to spinner.com that the name also came from being called "young Wiz 'cause I was good at everything I did, and my granddad is Muslim, so he gave me that name; he felt like that's what I was doing with my music." He got his stage name tattooed on his 17th birthday.^[6][7] He includes Jimi Hendrix, Camp Lo, The Notorious B.I.G. and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony among his influences.^[8]

Career[link]

[edit] 2005–08: Early mixtapes and Show and Prove

Rostrum Records president Benjy Grinberg first heard about Wiz Khalifa in 2004 when the rapper's contribution to a mixtape of various new Pittsburgh artists attracted his interest.^[9] When Grinberg finally met the 16-year-old artist, he immediately decided he wanted to work with him, later telling HitQuarters: "Even though he wasn’t all the way developed you could just tell that he was a diamond in the rough, and that with some polishing, guidance and backing he could become something special."^[9] Khalifa signed to the label shortly after and began a seven year period of artist development.^[9]

Khalifa released his first mixtape, Prince of the City: Welcome to Pistolvania, in 2005. The mixtape paved the way for his first full length album entitled Show and Prove in 2006. Khalifa was declared an "artist to watch" that year in Rolling Stone magazine.^[10][11]

In 2007, Khalifa signed to Warner Bros. Records and released two mixtapes through Rostrum Records: Grow Season, hosted by DJ Green Lantern and released on July 4, 2007, and Prince of the City 2, released on November 20, 2007. His debut Warner Bros. single "Say Yeah" reached number 25 on the Billboard Rhythmic Top 40 music chart and number 20 on Billboard's Hot Rap Tracks. The song samples "Better Off Alone" by Alice Deejay. Khalifa's vocals from "Say Yeah" appear near the end of Pittsburgh mash up producer Girl Talk's 2008 album, Feed the Animals, over music from Underworld's "Born Slippy", Usher's "Love in This Club", and the Cure's "In Between Days".^[12] Khalifa appeared with The Game, David Banner and Play-n-Skillz at U92's Summer Jam at the USANA Amphitheatre in West Valley City, Utah on August 2, 2008.^[13] Khalifa released the mixtapes Star Power in September 2008, and Flight School in April 2009 on Rostrum Records.

Khalifa parted ways with Warner Bros. Records in July 2009 after numerous delays in releasing his planned debut album for the label, First Flight. Khalifa stated to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that, "I learned a lot during my time there and matured as an artist during the process. I'm happy to be moving on with all of my material and having the chance to be in control of my next moves".^[14] Khalifa appeared with Girl Talk, Modey Lemon, Donora, Grand Buffet, and Don Caballero at the Amphitheatre at Station Square in Pittsburgh on July 31, 2009, where he announced that his relationship with Warner Bros. was over.^[15]

Wiz Khalifa performing at Columbia University in New York City in April 2010.

[edit] 2009–10: Deal or No Deal

Continuing his association with Rostrum Records, Khalifa released the single "Teach U to Fly", and the mixtape How Fly, a collaboration with New Orleans rapper Curren$y, on August 9, 2009.^[14] Khalifa introduced a more melodic style on the mixtape, alternating between singing and rapping. He opened for Wu-Tang Clan member U-God at the 2009 CMJ Music Marathon in New York City.^[16] Khalifa released the mixtape Burn After Rolling on November 2, 2009, where he raps over familiar beats from other artists, including the songs "If I Were A Boy" and "Diva" by Beyoncé, "Walking on a Dream" by Empire of the Sun, "Luchini AKA This Is It" by Camp Lo, and "Best I Ever Had" by Drake.^[17] Khalifa released his second album, Deal or No Deal, on November 24, 2009.^[18]

Khalifa performed at Emo's in Austin, Texas in March 2010 as part of the 2010 South by Southwest Music Festival.^[19] He appeared on the cover of XXL magazine that same month, for the magazine's annual list of Top 10 Freshman, which included Donnis, J. Cole, Pill, Freddie Gibbs, and Fashawn. Wiz Khalifa was named 2010 "Rookie Of The Year" by "The Source", with alongside Rick Ross, "The Man Of The Year".^[20] He toured with rapper Yelawolf on a 20-date tour, the Deal Or No Deal Tour.^[21] Khalifa released the free mixtape Kush and Orange Juice for download on April 14, 2010. Due to Khalifa's devoted grassroots fan base, the mixtape became the No. 1 trending topic on Twitter with the hash tag #kushandorangejuice, and "Kush and Orange Juice download” ranked No. 1 on Google’s hot search trends.^[22]

2010: Signing with Atlantic Records[link]

Citing music industry insiders, New York magazine wrote that Khalifa signed with Atlantic Records in April 2010, although the rapper did not confirm it.^[23] He stated to AllHipHop in June 2010 that he was working on a new album, but was weighing his options and had not yet decided on a label to distribute it.^[24] Khalifa confirmed to MTV on July 30 that he was signing an Atlantic Records deal.^[25]

Wiz Khalifa on stage in Boston in August 2010.

Khalifa was featured in a remix and video for the 2010 Rick Ross single "Super High", alongside Curren$y.^[26] He guested on the mixtape Grey Goose, Head Phones, and Thirsty Women by St. Louis rapper M.C,^[27] and was featured on the track "The Breeze (Cool)" on rapper Wale's August 2010 mixtape More About Nothing.^[28] Khalifa was named MTV's Hottest Breakthrough MC of 2010, winning with nearly 70,000 votes, and beating out finalists Nicki Minaj, J. Cole, Travis Porter, and Diggy Simmons.^[29]

Khalifa appeared at the Soundset 2010 festival in May 2010 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, alongside Method Man & Redman, Del the Funky Homosapien and Hieroglyphics, Atmosphere, Murs, Cage, and others.^[30] He also performed at the 2010 Rock the Bells festival, along with hip hop veterans Wu-Tang Clan, Snoop Dogg, Lauryn Hill, A Tribe Called Quest, Rakim, KRS-One, Jedi Mind Tricks and Slick Rick.^[31] Khalifa declined an invitation to tour with rapper Drake and launched his own "Waken Baken" tour, a 50-city national tour with rapper Yelawolf. The tour, scheduled to last from September to November 2010, has, as of October, sold out every venue.^[8] On November 2010, during his "Waken Baken" tour at East Carolina University, Wiz Khalifa was arrested for possession and trafficking of marijuana. He was then released the next morning after a $300K bail, and resumed his tour. Khalifa performed in a cypher during the 2010 BET Hip-Hop Awards. He recited his verse from the song, "The Check Point", from his mixtape with Curren$y, How Fly.^[32]

[edit] 2010–11: Mainstream success and Rolling Papers

Wiz Khalifa at SXSW in 2010

Khalifa released "Black and Yellow", his first single for Rostrum/Atlantic, produced by Stargate, which has received radio airplay.^[8][33] The single was peaked at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100; the title of the song refers to the colours of the City of Pittsburgh.^[34] Khalifa released his debut album with Atlantic Records in 2011.^[35] He appeared with Curren$y on the track "Scaling the Building" on producer Ski Beatz' 2010 album, 24 Hour Karate School.^[36] Khalifa's record label is Taylor Gang Records, named after his love of Chuck Taylor All-Stars^[8], and Taylor Allderdice High School in Pittsburgh, PA, where he graduated from.

On March 29, 2011, Khalifa released his first studio album, Rolling Papers. The album debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 197,000 copies in the United States.^[37] Shortly afterward on March 31, 2011 Wiz Khalifa performed at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia as part of the school's annual Dooley's Weekend.^[38] On June 26, 2011, Khalifa was nominated and won Best New Artist at the BET Awards of 2011.^[39] Khalifa collaborated with British rapper Tinie Tempah whom Tinie announced in an interview with Rolling Stone that his next single is to be called "Till I'm Gone" and would feature Wiz Khalifa and is to be produced by Stargate.^[40][41] The single and the video song were released at the end of June 2011.^[42]

Personal life[link]

Thomaz proposed to model Amber Rose on March 1, 2012 showing off the ring on Twitter.^[43] He is personal friends with Snoop Dogg, Juicy J, Yelawolf, and fellow Pittsburgh rapper Mac Miller.^[44]

In March 2012, Thomaz purchased a 2.8 private wooded acres with a 3,891-square-foot residence in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, a small community southwest of Pittsburgh. The residence includes 5-bedroom, 4-bath eco-friendly, Brazilian Koa floors, stainless steel appliances, a separate guest house, and a lavish master suite with high ceilings.^[45] He currently resides there with his fiancée Amber Rose.

Discography[link]

Studio albums

• 2006: Show and Prove
• 2009: Deal or No Deal
• 2011: Rolling Papers
• 2012: O.N.I.F.C. ^[11][46][47]

Collaborative albums

• 2011: Mac & Devin Go to High School (with Snoop Dogg)
• 2012: TBA (with Taylor Gang)

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Wiz Khalifa

• Official website
• Wiz Khalifa on Facebook
• Wiz Khalifa on Myspace
• Wiz Khalifa on Twitter
• Wiz Khalifa at MTV
• Non-commercial Wiz Khalifa mixtapes

Tift Merritt
Merritt performing on October 9, 2005 at the Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival, North Carolina
Background information
Birth name	Catherine Tift Merritt[1]
Born	(1975-01-08) January 8, 1975 (age 37) Houston, Texas
Origin	Raleigh, North Carolina, United States
Genres	Folk Rock Alternative country
Occupations	Musician Songwriter
Instruments	Vocals Guitar Keyboards Piano Harmonica
Years active	1998–present
Labels	Lost Highway, Fantasy
Associated acts	The Two Dollar Pistols with Tift Merritt
Website	www.tiftmerritt.com

Catherine Tift Merritt (born January 8, 1975) is an American singer-songwriter, musician and North Carolina native. With her longtime band, she has built what has been called a "unique" and critically acclaimed body of work of "sonic short stories and poignant performances."^[2] She has been compared to songwriters like Joni Mitchell^[3] and Emmylou Harris.^[4]

Merritt has released two studio albums for Lost Highway Records and two for Fantasy Records. Her live albums so far are Home Is Loud released in 2005 and Buckingham Solo released in 2009.

Biography[link]

Early years[link]

Merritt was born in Houston but her family moved to Raleigh, North Carolina soon after. Her father taught her guitar chords and how to play piano by ear to Percy Sledge and Bob Dylan songs, and she sang harmonies with him as a child.^[5] His eclectic record collection of soul, folk, R&B, rock, and country music records influenced her both then and later; she credits his "genreless" taste with influencing her to write and perform without regard to genre herself.^[6]

In her early twenties, though she had performed solo in public, Merritt has said she decided she was better suited for writing short stories. She enrolled at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to study creative writing. There, she met Zeke Hutchins, whose band had just taken a hiatus and who had decided instead to become a school teacher. "With his encouragement and a big box of LPs from the 1970s," Merritt and Hutchins agreed to form a band.^[7] Hutchins set up his drum kit in the kitchen of the farmhouse where Merritt lived, and they practiced songs at her piano.

Career[link]

Merritt began her professional career with her band The Carbines playing small clubs in Chapel Hill and Raleigh such as The Cave, Cat's Cradle, and the front porch of the General Store in Bynum, NC.^[8] In 1998, The Carbines released a 7-inch single "Jukejoint Girl" b/w "Cowboy". In 1999, Merritt made a guest appearance on a seven-song EP on the by Yep Roc label with the Two Dollar Pistols, led by John Howie, Jr. The record was called The Two Dollar Pistols with Tift Merritt. The EP featured two original tunes and five cover songs.^[9] In 2000, she won MerleFest's Chris Austin Songwriting Contest,^[10] found a manager, and signed a contract with Lost Highway Records.

In 2002, Merritt released her debut album, Bramble Rose, containing eleven original songs recorded with her long-time band and produced by Ethan Johns. The record landed on the top ten lists for both Time and the The New Yorker, and was called the best debut of the year in any genre by the Associated Press.^[11] A song from the album, "Trouble Over Me", was featured in writer Nick Hornby's 31 Songs.^[12] While touring to promote Bramble Rose, Merritt opened for fellow North Carolinian Ryan Adams, who had helped her secure her first management and record contracts.^[13]

Her follow-up release, 2004's Tambourine, was produced by George Drakoulias and featured backing by Benmont Tench, Mike Campbell (of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers), Neal Casal and Don Heffington (of Emmylou Harris's Hot Band and Lone Justice). Tambourine was honored with a 2004 Grammy Award for Best Country Album nomination, though its sound was frequently described in quite different terms, such as "rock-soul throwdown".^[14] In 2005, Merritt and Tambourine were also nominated for three Americana Music Awards by the Americana Music Association: Album of the Year, Artist of the Year, and Song of the Year for "Good Hearted Man".^[15] During the tour to promote Tambourine, Merritt opened for Elvis Costello and recorded Austin City Limits—a performance later released as a DVD by New West Records.^[16] The sold-out homecoming concert for the tour—at the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, North Carolina—was recorded for a live album release; Home Is Loud was released in 2005 and re-released by the German label Blue Rose Records with bonus tracks in November 2009.^[17]

After extensive touring behind Tambourine, Merritt rented an apartment in Paris, where she wrote the songs that would become 2008's Another Country album.^[18] Before signing with a new label and making that record, Merritt performed Dylan's "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" at the I'm Not There tribute concert at New York City's Beacon Theater on November 7, 2007, with guitarist Joe Henry. According to the New York Times review, Merritt had "the night's purest voice."^[19]

Released on Fantasy Records in 2008, Another Country featured the core of Merritt's long-time band, along with guitarist Charlie Sexton (Bob Dylan), and again with Drakoulias at the helm. Another Country continued the trend of high-profile favorable press for Merritt's releases. Emmylou Harris said, "I first heard Tift Merritt some years ago during a writers' night at a small club. She stood out like a diamond in a coal patch and everyone there knew she carried a promise of great things to come. She has more than fulfilled that promise with Another Country." Paste magazine gave the album a four-star review, calling Merritt "a force to be reckoned with in any genre she approaches."^[20] The song "Broken" from Another Country was nominated for an Americana Music Award for Song of the Year.^[21] The Another Country tour played the Newport Folk Festival, Bonaroo, and in 2009, the Edmonton Folk Music Festival,^[22] and MerleFest. On the Another Country tour, Merritt made runs in both the US and the UK with fellow singer-songwriter Teddy Thompson.^[23]

Buckingham Solo, recorded in England, is an intimate acoustic solo concert recording made during the Another Country touring, and released on the Fantasy label in April 2009.^[24]

Merritt at Tractor Tavern, Seattle, November 11, 2010 Photo: Kirk Stauffer

Please Break the Silence of the Middle of the Night, an iTunes EP, was released later in 2008.^[25] The EP contains two alternate versions of songs from Another Country, a cover of George Harrisons "I Live For You", an outtake from the Another Country sessions, "Last To Know", and "Wayward And Weary," recorded for the film Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson.

Performance highlights of the later Another Country tour and immediately after it included opening an outdoor show in Santa Monica, California for folk singer Joan Baez,^[26] opening the Pine Cone Winter Music Festival in her hometown of Raleigh for Kris Kristofferson,^[27] and singing the "The Star-Spangled Banner" for then-Senator Barack Obama at his last campaign rally in Charlotte, North Carolina before winning the 2008 US Presidential election.^[28]

Merritt recorded the follow-up to 2008's Another Country ^[29] in Durham with producer Tucker Martine. The album, See You On The Moon, was released June 1, 2010 on Fantasy Records. My Morning Jacket frontman Yim Yames (Jim James) is featured on the track "Feel of the World".^[30] Again, a review in The New Yorker specified moments on the record to other singers, including Emmylou Harris, Judy Collins, and additionally U2;^[4] and The Wall Street Journal included her in a weekend feature on singer-songwriters, placing her "in the tradition of Joni Mitchell, James Taylor and Leonard Cohen.^[3]

Touring for Moon began in June 2010 and continueed for over a year in North America, Europe, and the UK. In addition to headlining dates in North America and the UK, Merritt has supported Emmylou Harris, Elvis Costello, Amos Lee, Josh Ritter, Patty Griffin, Mary Chapin Carpenter, David Gray, Ray LaMontagne, Iron & Wine, and Gregg Allman.

Merritt is also a photographer; her first gallery exhibition, Other Countries, ran at The Mahler Gallery in Raleigh, North Carolina in May 2009. She also hosts an artist-to-artist interview radio show called The Spark with Tift Merritt which is produced by KRTS in Marfa, Texas, and whose guests have included Nick Hornby, Kiki Smith, and poet C. K. Williams among others.^[31] Episodes of The Spark stream on the show's website and are available as a free podcast.

In 2009, Merritt married Zeke Hutchins, her band's drummer and her long-time partner, in New York City, where they currently reside.^[32]

Film and television[link]

In addition to Austin City Limits, Merritt has appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and the Late Show with David Letterman. Her music has appeared in The L Word, Men In Trees, United States of Tara and the film New in Town. She has also written two songs for the upcoming animated film Dorothy of Oz, starring Lea Michele and Dan Aykroyd, set for release in early 2012.

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Live albums[link]

Extended plays[link]

Singles[link]

Music videos[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]