Citypaper.net EXCLUSIVE: The Cellar is Closed

Neil Drucker's label goes out with a bang.

by A.D. Amorosi

	print	email	reply	rss feed

Published: Jan 24, 2007

In the '90s, looking for indie rock to love in this town was often like looking for a virgin in a whorehouse: a fruitless but fun exercise.

Neil Drucker's twangy Record Cellar label made the hunt for the good stuff — at least the earnest stuff — easier. Because Drucker was earnest and easy. The vinyl collector turned record store owner put his money where his ears were when he decided to release local music.

His ears, along with the rest of Drucker, grew up in the Northeast listening to AM pop, California rock and free-form Philly radio, and came to love music that was sincere and neatly harmony-filled.

"WIBG, WFIL and Gene Shay's folk shows were a big influence," says Drucker.

That sound was a big influence on the local bands that hung around the Record Cellar — the music store Drucker co-owned with Craig Satinsky — bitching that they couldn't get gigs or record deals. Starting in 1989, Drucker's label (named after the store) became a one-stop shopping mall (21 CDs worth) for Philly roots-y rock and pop.

The label was filled with music and lyrics written by the likes of Richard Kaufmann (Rolling Hayseeds), Mike "Slo-Mo" Brenner (Low Road), Jon Houlon (John Train) and Frank Brown (Flight of Mavis), produced by Al Fichera, George Manney, Adam Lasus and Pete Donnelly. And albums like 1989's sky-blue Flight of Mavis CD; the pink kiddie-lettered sleeve for 1996's Plaything from Buzz Zeemer; the campy packaging of 1999's swim-suited No Place Like Home from Rolling Hayseeds; and 1994's lawn-chair-lined Musical Chairs from Napalm Sunday.

Now Drucker's closing the mall with CD No. 22, Town and Country: 1989-2006 — a three-CD comp of old and new songs from the label's warhorses.

"I think the first Flight of Mavis album and our first Frog Holler from 1999, Adams Hotel Road, were truly important records," says Drucker from the basement of his Bala Cynwyd home. He loves all his records, "but those two albums elicited a tremendous artist-audience connection. People would play them over and over at home, then come to shows and sing along. As a label? That's a huge deal, that connection."

"[The Flight of Mavis CD] got major airplay on college radio, great reviews in the press, sold really well and helped them establish an audience for their live shows. It gave the label confidence and a running start. It made us actually think we could be successful at the label thing."

Mavis toured with Sinead O'Connor and signed to Frontier Booking — home to REM and Squeeze. By 1999, Drucker was working on three CD releases at once: Buzz Zeemer CD, John Train and the No Electric Guitars comp. The label had national distribution.

"And don't forget Rolling Hayseeds' Tangled Up In You," says Drucker of the 1996 release. "They were 'alt-country' before there was a genre called alt-country. I think with what we were doing with Frog Holler John Train and the Hayseeds and what Marah, Jim and Jenny, She Haw and One Star Hotel were doing, Philadelphia was getting a profile as an unusual place to find worthwhile country-influenced rock bands."

Play Town and Country and you realize how sweet the label was, how consistent each artist was. But question whether that consistency can ever stagnate an artist, and Drucker suddenly doesn't sound like a guy shutting down his label. More like one just getting started.

"I think that the artists on the label are trading in songs. They're trading in substance over style. Those songs hold up over repeated listens. There is nothing stagnant about that."

(a_amorosi@citypaper.net)

Record Cellar CD Release Party/Label Finale, Sat., Jan. 27, 7 p.m., $10, with Darren Schlappich, Jon Houlon, Rich Kaufmann and Steve Yutzy-Burkey, Tin Angel, 20 S. Second St., 215-928-0978, tinangel.com.

 

All reader comments are subject to our Terms of Use. By clicking Post Comment, you acknowledge that you have reviewed and agree to these Terms.

Name	please enter your name
Email (will not be published)	please enter a valid email
Comment	please enter a comment
Enter the security code on the right in the textbox below.
Security Code	please enter the code
	Join the City Paper Mailing List

Rawk Revival
New Standards
The Story So Far
Iron Maiden
Soundadvice
Erin McKeown
Tempesta di Mare