[Dixielandjazz] Article about Porto Franco Records - very OKOM friendly small label

[David M Richoux]

Saw this in the paper this morning - a family record label that  
produces all sorts of interesting music, including old-time jazz/jug  
band.

Dave Richoux
======================

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/08/PK3H1BBDP4.DTL
> Porto Franco Records an investment in S.F. music
> Aidin Vaziri, Chronicle Pop Music Critic
>
> Sunday, January 10, 2010
>
>
> When Peter Varshavsky and his father, Sergei, decided to start a new  
> music label in San Francisco last year they had no idea what they  
> were doing. Having come from stuffy academic backgrounds, the  
> Russian transplants just knew they wanted to do something to promote  
> all the great local music they were hearing in clubs. So they picked  
> up a couple of outdated books about the music industry and studied  
> them carefully.
>
> "We built our business model on breaking almost every rule those  
> books were giving us," says Peter, 27.
>
> In November, the Mission District Porto Franco Records put out its  
> first six releases, immediately going against the grain by  
> introducing an eclectic collection of music that runs the gamut from  
> Gaucho's moody Gypsy jazz to Mark Matos and Os Beaches' twangy  
> psychedelic rock.
>
>
> "The way we were reading about music marketing, we were told to find  
> a niche and stick with it," Peter says. "But the way we like music  
> is one day you go to an old-time jazz band, the next day you go to  
> an indie rock concert. We were seeing a lot of the same people in  
> the audience."
>
> In a move that would probably make EMI shareholders blow coffee out  
> of their noses, the home-grown label then determined to skew  
> everything in the artists' favor. This means not only do the  
> musicians get high royalties and full access to the accounting  
> files, but they also have no contractual obligation to stay with  
> Porto Franco - Italian for free port.
>
> "We only want artists to work with us if they want to," Peter says.
>
>
> Just starting a music label seems counterintuitive in this economic  
> climate, when even the majors are having trouble keeping afloat.
>
> "The running joke is we needed somewhere to invest our money," Peter  
> says.
>
> To date, the father-and-son team has invested close to $200,000 in  
> Porto Franco acts and has seen very little - if any - of it returned.
>
> Having moved here three years ago to finish his master's degree in  
> mathematics at San Francisco State, Peter became increasingly  
> distracted by the vibrant live music scene in the city's small  
> venues. His enthusiasm was infectious. Sergei, 50, sold his clinical  
> research company in Eastern Europe, relocated to San Francisco and  
> started helping local musicians with finances, press and promotion.  
> The Varshavskys figured that providing their favorite bands with a  
> label would make things even easier, so Peter put his studies on  
> hold and made this a full-time job.
>
>
> "We're working with artists who are not huge sellers," he says. "But  
> over the past half a year we've been more astute to the changes in  
> the industry. A lot of what we do is help the artists know what they  
> need to do to be up to date, to become efficient self-promoters. We  
> can help a lot of musicians do things they wouldn't be able to do  
> without a label."
>
> Peter's mother, Irina, meanwhile, has been instrumental in starting  
> Porto Franco Art Parlor, a gallery at 953 Valencia St. that  
> showcases work by local artists and doubles as the label's hub.
>
> "We're really working to be a community label," Peter says. "We want  
> to establish San Francisco as a cool music destination, which I  
> think it hasn't been for a while. We want people to come here to see  
> local music as much as they want to see the Golden Gate Bridge and  
> Fisherman's Wharf." {sbox}
>
>
> To hear music by Porto Franco Records, go to www.
>
> portofrancorecords.com.
>
>
> The porto franco records catalog, so far
>
> Gaucho, "Deep Night"
>
> Gypsy jazz quartet inspired by Django Reinhardt, featuring Tom Waits  
> sideman Ralph Carney.
>
> Devine's Jug Band, "Terrible Operation Blues"
>
> A powerhouse Americana ensemble led by former Bo Grumpus member Pete  
> Devine.
>
> The Nice Guy Trio, "Here Comes the Nice Guy Trio"
>
> A jazz combo that veers into everything from klezmer to Bhangra.
>
> Mark Matos and Os Beaches, "Words of the Knife"
>
> Sleepy psychedelic rock steeped in pedal steel guitars and slow- 
> galloping rhythms.
>
> Umka and Bro, "Closer Sessions"
>
> New recordings of previously released material by a post-Soviet  
> underground band.
>
> Mark Growden, "Saint Judas"
>
> The first studio album in eight years by revered composer and multi- 
> instrumentalist Growden.
>