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Green Bay Backers Cruise to #1 on the Billboard Country Charts Via Artist Revolution
Artist
Revolution (AR), the publishing and artist development company headed by Green Bay native Sam Brooker, found firm pavement for their current success with the Florida Georgia Line (FGL) single Cruise rooted in hometown connections. Cruise, co-written by AR flagship writer Jesse Rice, plants a mile marker in the three year journey serving as the first cut by a major label client when it was released on Republic Nashville. Cruise sits at the top of the Billboard Country Charts this week and was recently certified Platinum by the RIAA.
“I
knew I had to turn beyond Nashville for the backing I needed to pursue developing a publishing company to benchmark rising talent on the music scene,” says Sam Brooker. “Never did I think an entire community would pull together; but, it was inspiring. We had more than 30 investors step forward and get behind my primary focus—the talented tunesmith Jesse Rice.” |
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The
idea for Artist Revolution was sparked in 2005 after several encounters with Sam (pictured right) and rising tunesmith Jesse Rice. Sam, who is one half of the independent folk-pop duo Sam & Ruby, had achieved success with breakthroughs on the Billboard charts and an “Album of the Year” nod from the Associated Press. However, he had always had an itch to see what the other side of the business would look like if he could launch a deserving singer-songwriter. “Jesse started coming over to the house to record demos and I was so impressed by his skills, motivation and discipline,” recalls Sam. “We took meetings with other publishers and people liked the songs, but I think he was just a head of his time. The traditional path wasn’t progressing fast enough, so that was the catalyst for starting this company.” |
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With
an unwavering faith in Jesse (pictured left), Sam started searching for funding and he turned to his hometown influences. “It just made sense for me to take this to Green Bay as it would be easier to get several people to make small investments instead of trying to find a single person or company to take a leap of faith,” explains Sam. After a few meetings, an investment board was assembled including Ed Thompson, consultant and Procter & Gamble business veteran, Judy Brooker, Jim Rivett, president and creative director of Arketype, Kurt Voss, CEO of AmeriLux International, and more than 25 others came on board. The final capital was enough to support a writer for three years and like everyone would expect, the biggest success would finally come three years later. |
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Throughout
the initial term of three years, AR has worked with Jesse and his team of writing partners which include Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard of FGL (now signed to Republic Nashville) and Chase Rice (currently being booked by leading agency CAA). AR also assisted Chase with his debut EP Country As Me. In addition, Jesse Rice launched his island themed project The Pirate Sessions, which included co-writing credits and vocal appearances by FGL and Chase. The Pirate Sessions album wrapped an interactive fan fly-away contest on August 31st and the winner was announced on Columbus Day. “We wanted to get fans connected to a physical product by incorporating a game into the packaging and this was an interesting way to reengage our core coed audience,” says Jesse. “Offer folks a trip to Cinnamon Bay and it will definitely spark some interest.”
As
the pigskin and holiday season falls into place, so does the final pieces of this latest Music City “overnight success.” “I have been in and out of this city since 1998 and Jesse has been strumming out tunes since his move from South Carolina in 2002,” says Sam. “It’s just ironic that it took an investment from Green Bay for us to really make this work. I look forward to many years of success with our unique team.”
Artist Revolution: www.facebook.com/
Jesse Rice: www.thepiratesessions.com
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- December 3, 2012
Green Bay Backers Cruise to #1 on the Billboard Country Charts Via Artist Revolution
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