Guerilla Marketing, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Turner Broadcasting, and Bona Fide Records

Of course, I reacted with shock when the city of Boston was shut down as a result of a so-called guerilla marketing campaign on behalf of Turner Broadcasting's Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Obviously, this resulted in a good bit of publicity as well as more than a little head scratching of all involved. The question is should we be relieved or threatened by the folks in the other cities who went about their daily business unfettered by the threat from ill-mannered refugees from a seemingly ancient Atari video game? Is there a chance we may be caught off guard by terrorists with a sense of humor? Or is this just terror hysteria gone too far? Have we lost our minds as well as common sense? Regardless of the answers, the debate is quite engaging and surely a sign of the times. It seems our Brave New World is just that, and our daily challenges continue to be, well, challenging. In order to survive, Bona Fide Records would never resort to guerilla marketing, instead using our best creative juices, we use gorilla marketing---i.e. we pick up a big stick and beat people over the head with it! Yeah, that's right, we shove it down your throat and we assault you with it!

There is no need to post lite brite boards of George Brigman flipping the bird. As anyone who has ever heard George Brigman will tell you, his music does just that to the shallow, overly image conscious "contemporary music" scene. Like the best artists, music is George's weapon and he does wield his guitar like an axe, capable of major damage at any time. Gimmicks may be fine for silly cartoons assuming you dont cause a city wide panic, but a good many artists, George included, would rather have their work judged on its merits. As a result, conventional avenues may be blocked or restricted (this is starting to sound political now) as others may want to dilute or alter his music to change it into a marketable product, a flavor of the month if you will. Well, we let George make his own CD, though I did throw my two cents in along the way. The result is Rags in Skull and it is George's first all new LP in over 25 years. Admittedly being an outsider and a non-conformist, doesnt make it easy to get attention, though now, 30 years later, George's exceptional recordings have finally found his audience and Bona Fide Records is extremely proud of his achievements, especially Rags in Skull !

We will try to reach George's audience through the conventional means as well as slightly newer ways like this blog, our my space page, and our CD Baby page. Our blog is ad-free as we dont want to dilute our message which is nothing so much as support the musicians, bands, labels and such that you love and dont rip them off, and dont be afraid to go out on a limb and take some chances. Life is too short to be terrorized by cartoon characters and bland music! Dont look at the charts, make your own. Later this month on the 20th, we will cross another bridge as Bona Fide releases its first ever all acoustic recording by Waitin On a Train--In the Path of Pain. Never have we released anything remotely like this disc by a hillbilly band that doesnt sound like one, but the sheer power and great songwriting makes it a winner in our book. Their bluegrass is blue, but its a far cry from the current bluegrass scene as Waitin On a Train's deep roots branch out into a sound all their own. Imagine the Blue Sky Boys crossed with the Ramones and you get an idea of the synergistic cross-cultural mash up that doesnt quite fit easily into any mold. Stay tuned for more exciting info on both the George Brigman and Waitin On A Train CDs due real soon. In the meantime look for no guerilla marketing here, as we are above such tactics! Instead, listen to our big stick---previews of our new CDs. Here are songs from the upcoming CDs! Listen to them and once again: you can feel safe--from bad music!

George Brigman--So This Is Life

Waitin On A Train--Boot Hill Bootleggers

Driftin Down can also be listened to on

the WOAT My Space!