Resolution

All is well with the bad blood. After a few e-mails back and forth explaining our positions on the matter, we reached a resolution. Basically, I will not sell any of the CDs and I will post the songs for free download on a website (http://www.stage.fm/srr04_21_2007). It was one of the most relieving feelings I've ever had when it was over.

New policies of ShamRockin' Records because of this incident:
-No more verbal agreements
-Have artists sign a 3x5 card with a checklist of what they do and do not want to happen from recordings
-No more "out-of-the-goodness-of-my-heart" recording sessions with people I don't know personally

This was probably the most stressful thing I've faced in all of my experiences with recording. I was afraid of legal action and the loss of a good reputation in a musical community.


On another front, my debt problems are nearly over. I was given $5,000 from my grandmother to make it possible and rather easy for me to eliminate my debt. She has explained her gift as an educational expense in the area of credit cards. I have learned to never charge something I cannot pay in that billing cycle. I've also learned the danger of maxing out cards. It is impossible to make any progress making minimum payments on a card. It also choked up most of my income just paying the intrest. I will not be purchasing anything to improve the suitcase studio until both of my cards are at a $0.00 balance. I am contemplating a couple things that I would get done with this money before that point, they are as follows: incorperate ShamRockin' Records and purchase a portable record player in order to transfer vinyl to digital formats. The latter is because I have been planning on doing that to some old records my grandfather cut in his college frat. barbershop quartet group.


I will be meeting a new contact sometime next week. His name is Irwin Steinberg. He used to be the CEO of Polygram Records. One of my father's teachers, Michel Moyese, knows him personally and recommended to both Irwin and myself that we meet. He is interested in talking about a paid internship at some point and I also have a boatload of questions I'm preparing for the meeting.