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Article: Indie challenge: Gourd Records' success turns on creative thinking.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service
- Article date:
- March 13, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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SANTA CRUZ, Calif. _ His Gourd record label specializes in subtle sounds of Celtic and Americana music _ but Neal Hellman's biggest seller is an album that features "Jingle Bells" played on chain saws and power drills.
The idea for "A Toolbox Christmas," which has sold 110,000 copies, was a stroke of marketing genius.
It was the kind of out-of-the-box thinking needed to keep an independent record label alive, particularly one that wants to create quality original music in a highly competitive sea of mass-marketed teeny bopper bands, free downloads and chain record stores that charge as much $4,000 to display one album.
Hellman, 52, was at a ...