By the end of the 70s, Mickey Gilley was already a chart-topping country music singer and musician, having a string of #1s and Top Tens. However, when the movie Urban Cowboy came out in 1980, Gilley was put on the map in country music, moving towards a more pop direction, which proved successful for Gilley that same year.
He was born to Mr. and Mrs. A.S. Gilley in Natchez, the seat of Adams County in western Mississippi. For many years, Gilley lived in the shadow of his cousin, Jerry Lee Lewis, the rock and roll singer and musician in the 1950s. The two as children grew up close by each other; Gilley lived just across the Mississippi River from Louisiana where Lewis grew up. Gilley, Lewis, and another cousin Jimmy Swaggart played piano together as children. This is when Gilley first learned to play the piano. Together, they all sang boogie-woogie and Gospel music, however, Gilley didn't consider himself a professional singer until Jerry Lee hit the top of the charts in the 1950s. Mickey cut a few singles on his own in late 1950s and played sessions in New Orleans with producer Huey Meaux. In 1958, he had a record "Call Me Shorty" on the Dot label and it sold well. In the 1960s, he played at many clubs and bars, getting a following at the Nesadel Club in Houston, Texas. In 1967, Paula Records released Gilley's first album called Down the Line and the following, he had a minor hit from the album called "Now I Can Live Again".
In 1970, Gilley opened up his first club in Pasadena, Texas, called Gilley's Club, replacing the club that was there called Shelley's Club. The club later became known as the "world's biggest honky tonk." He owned "Gilley's Club" with former owner of Shelley's Club named Sherwood Cryer, who asked Gilley to re-open the bar with him. The club portion of Gilley's burned in 1990, while the rodeo arena portion was razed in 2005 to make way for a school.
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Great store - Traditional Country - Steel Guitar CD's - Original Western Swing CD's
"click bannder below"
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Media Outlets, Magazines, Newsletters, Websites
ATTENTION" Media outlets - You will notice I have added a new feature to this Newsletter called "Getting To Know _________ " If you would like to reprint any of these mini-interviews there is no problem. Just make sure you leave the artist contact website intact and that you contact me with the name of your publication where it will appear so I can let the artist know. - Lonnie Ratliff NashvilleShowcase@comcast.net
1. Where were you raised up and where do you now work out of. Are you from a large city, small town or out in the country ?
I was raised up in a little island called Andorja, in the northertn part of
2. Have you recorded any CD's. If so what are the titles and where can someone buy them ?
In 2006 I recorded my debut album in
3. What is your main outlet for live performances ? Nightclubs, Festivals, Linedance Clubs,
Me and my band perrforms both in small clubs and bars, as well as festivals. This summer we are doing several major country festivals in
My favorite country artists are Alan Jackson, George Jones,
5. Who would you say are your favorite country artists ? Independent Label
It must be Erin Hay from
6. What is the highest profile "Gig" you have ever played ? Did you open for Garth or The Beatles ? Play for the Queen or at the White House ?
The highest profile gig I`ve done, is playing the largest festival in northern
7. What is the most personally satisfying "Gig" you have ever played ? Disaster benefit, Uncle Joe's 100 year birthday party, hospital, old folks home etc!
It was a gig we did in a little but very populare club called ”Rorbua” in Tromso. We played for three hours, and it was so crowded that it was not room for a hair more. And we had the eyes and the ears of everyone there from the first to the last song.
8. What is the most obscure CD sale and/or fan you have ever heard from ? Sold a CD in Russia or Got an E Mail from a soldier in Iraq Etc!
I got an order for 20 CD`s from a private club called “the lonely housewife tee club”.
9. What is your favorite 3 songs you have recorded and also your favorite 3 cover tunes you sing at gigs.
Pieces of my life, Hey Porter, Somebodys angel – they are in my album. Cover tunes – I love this bar, Margaritaville, Today I started loving you again.
10. What do you see on the horizon for your career in the next 12 months ? Recording a new CD or going on tour to Switzerland etc!
I will do a music video this summer, and I`m working on material to my next album – and I hope to be ready to record it next summer.
All the best from
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© 2009.
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Jack Blanchard & Misty Morgan...
Grammy Nominees... Billboard's Duet of the Year.
HOME PAGE: http://jackandmisty.com
BROWSE OUR CD CATALOG HERE: http://elvinsystems.com/jm/catalog.htm
BUY OUR CDs HERE: http://birdwalk1.tripod.com/jandmorder.htm
SoundClick: http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_music.cfm?bandID=69863
YouTube: http://youtube.com/jackandmisty
MySpace: http://myspace.com/jackandmisty
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Spotlight on 
"Click" PHOTOS below
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Getting To Know Change Of Key
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Affordable Internet Radio Promotion $150
Radio tracking of your airplay for 5 weeks
I send your song mp3 to 550 + internet radio station DJ's
Build you a YouTube SlideShow of your song
Please check out the slideshow below I just posted on YouTube for Stonewall Jackson who I am promoting.
If this sounds like something you would be interested in just contact me
Lonnie Ratliff (615) 742 0666
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Getting To Know Bill Littleton
http://www.unclewillamsplace.com/
1. Where were you raised up and where do you now work out of. Are you from a large city, small town or out in the country ?
I was born on my grandfather's fishing camp/family farm in Walker County, Alabama. At 18 months, I moved with my family to Middle Tenness and then South Georgia, where Dad was involved in military construction. Shortly after The War started (for America), we moved to Mobile, Alabama and Dad worked in the shipyard. We moved to South Carolina when I was in the second grade and a pattern that is important was established. My father never farmed for a living from the time we moved from "the camp," but we ALWAYS lived in the country and we always "farmed," some times as little as a tiny garden and a goat or a few rabbits, and sometimes a BIG garden with a lot of rabbits, a lot of goats, chickens, a cow, ducks, guineas, and whatever. From the age of eight, I was given responsibility for watering livestock. EVERY DAY. If I couldn't do it, I made arrangements for it to be done. By the time I was fourteen, all of the livestock care and a lot of the gardening was in my care. I know a lot about responsibility.
I had graduated from college before I ever lived inside the corporate limits of any city. Greenwood, S.C. and Nashville are the only cities I've ever lived in.
2. Have you recorded any CD's. If so what are the titles and where can someone buy them ?
In 2003, my first CD, "A Cupful Of Words," was released on a limited basis, in that we had a hundred copies duplicated (plus a few for promo purposes) and did cover copy on the computer in such a way to enable me to hand sketch an image relating to trees in some manner on the back of EACH copy available for sale. They were signed, numbered, and dated. We have a few left but not a lot. It just made sense to go small at first and do something really and truly out of the box.
3. What is your main outlet for live performances ? Nightclubs, Festivals, Linedance Clubs,
I don't play live much at this point, but I'm working on a concept for something that could do quite well. Once again, I'm not in the box, simply because I'm not as strong as the acts doing "normal" stuff at the stuff they do. They can't touch me on doing what I do, though, and we're letting the circumstances come together in a natural process.
4. Who would you say are your favorite country artists ? Major Label
Well, my heroes are basically everybody's heroes, with a focus on the stylists. Tom T. Hall is my personal guru and a long time mentor, but Johnny Cash and Luther Perkins are part of my consciousness, as well, along with George Jones, Connie Smith, Melba Montgomery, Laney Hicks, and a diversity of old heads -- Harry Belefonte was a major influence on me in high school and I'm sure I'll have at least one calypso tempo tune on ever album I ever do. "Green Bananas" is on "Cupful Of Words."
5. Who would you say are your favorite country artists ? Independent Label
It's hard for me to divide up what I like -- I don't differentiate between country and bluegrass or blues or gospel or whatever. Oh, I KNOW the differences, but they are not part of my perception. That being said, there are OODLES of really good acts today, including some of my heroes of yesteryear, who are not on major labels. So ALL of the older Opry acts, including Marty Stuart, who is a special hero, and a bunch of groups and singles I've found on the Internet and especially MySpace: Erin Hay epitomizes indie acts for me, plus Rachel Farley, Rachel Harrington, Joanie Sanders, Doug Lang, Billy Joe Shaver, Roxanne Beck, Mike Mosier, Linda Grimes, Jenny Lynn Young, Lisa Manning ... oh, on and on. I'm particularly impressed by the number of female instrumentalists today, many of which are fiddle players. There is wonderful talent in every direction today.
6. What is the highest profile "Gig" you have ever played ? Did you open for Garth or The Beatles ? Play for the Queen or at the White House ?
Nope. Maybe the coolest thing I've done is coming up -- in mid-May, I'm playing for a reunion dinner in the Carolina mill village where my sister Linda and I were in grade school. This is the building where I first played guitar in public. I first SANG in public in church, but the guitar joined the act in February or March of 1954 in a show our eighth grade produced to help fund the class trip to Chattanooga.
7. What is the most personally satisfying "Gig" you have ever played ? Disaster benefit, Uncle Joe's 100 year birthday party, hospital, old folks home etc!
I can think of an edition of The Nashville Folk Festival several years ago where, as they were tearing down after the show, I realized one of the stage crew guys was singing my song, "Hearts." I stood there kinda stunned; he noticed me and said, "That's an important song." "Thanks," I told him, "I think so, too."
8. What is the most obscure CD sale and/or fan you have ever heard from ? Sold a CD in Russia or Got an E Mail from a soldier in Iraq Etc!
I've been amazed by all of them to people I didn't already know. Wow, that danged Internet really works.
9. What is your favorite 3 songs you have recorded and also your favorite 3 cover tunes you sing at gigs.
Of my stuff, "Hearts," "Sweet Virginia Breeze" and "Green Bananas." I rarely perform other people's material on shows, but I try to work in Marshall Chapman's "Happy Childhood," and I LOVE doing "Sixteen Tons" and pickin' a huge list of stuff -- "Double Eagle," "Mockin' Bird," "Carter's Blues." ... I never learned a lot of verses when I played in cover acts because we always had other better singers. In the current group, the focus is on my songwriting, so it becomes a different deal.
10. What do you see on the horizon for your career in the next 12 months ? Recording a new CD or going on tour to Switzerland etc!
We've got at least one more CD recorded; next is to figure out what to do with that material and to keep on recording. My plan for this year includes pupblishing "The Bill Littleton Songbook," pairing lyrics and backstories, augmented by a live-one-shot recording of the material on a CD. Mixing is a big part of the cost of recording, so, for this project, we're gonna do voice and one guitar, but more like a private concert than like a demo. Trying to get my fingers built up to seeing how much I can do at one time!!
BONUS QUESTION BELOW - Use this space to ASK YOURSELF A QUESTION & THEN ANSWER IT. I probably forgot a good question that your fans would like to have the answer to so give it your best shot.
11. A question I used to ask performers when I interviewed them for magazines: Why do you do this?
MY answer is similar to many but different, too: It would be really easy to stash all these song lyrics back and let that part of my past lie at rest ... just let it go. Well, physically it would be easy because my body and circumstances are not conducive to doing much of what performing and recording require. But, EMOTIONALLY, I would be a wreck, always wondering if one more shot might have turned the tide, especially with the responses I get from my stuff on MySpace -- five thousand plays on "Sweet Virginia Breeze" may not seem significant for some, even for other indie acts, some of whom have THOUSANDS of friends and hundreds of visits a day. But I know that, by and large, those plays have come from folks who found me via the natural process and come back and play those songs again because there is something in them that is not available anywhere else. As long as evidence exists that I'm serving a purpose on any level, the only way to make me quit is to pull the damn trigger!!!
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WHP Announcement: DJ’S For DJ’S Comp CD
It’s been awhile since WHP put out a DJ’s for DJ’s Compilation CD so we are getting ready to do another one in May 2009. If you are a Radio DJ and have some songs recorded, new or old, you can email me a MP3 or just mail me a copy on a CD. If you email them to me they have to be ripped at 320 kpbs and in MP3 format. I also need the Writers information. There are 30 slots open and it is first come first serve. They will be distributed through Airplay Direct, http://www.airplaydirect.com/music/ to the entire Globe Free of charge. For those emailing them to me use this email, gbradshaw3@cox.net. Both terrestrial and Internet Radio Jocks are welcome. For snail mail use the address below this.
Gary Bradshaw
To register your Radio Station with Airplay Direct just go to the link below, check the circle called “Radio Station” and fill in the short registration form and then you will be able to download 1000’s of songs for free from artist from Dolly Parton to the newest beginning Artist. This is for Radio Stations ONLY. The rest of the World can listen but not download.
http://www.airplaydirect.com/register.html
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Demo  Click Photo to Play |
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Demo  Click Photo to Play |
Erin Hay / Duet  Click Photo |
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Lonnie's Featured Original Song
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"Click Banners Below"
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"Click" PHOTOS DOWNLOAD i-Tunes Legal .99 cent Erin Hay songs from all 4 CD's
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Click BANNERS below for more Erin Hay Websites and Information
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Click Banner ABOVE --- The Circle CD ___ The Collection CD___Bid on Erin CD's EBAY
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Lonnie Ratliff Original Songs I have spent a lot of time updating my SONGWRITER website so artists can find the original songs they are looking for much quicker. Hope you will take the time to check it out if you are looking for original songs for your next recording project. If you find a song you are interested in just E Mail me NashvilleShowcase@comcast.net or phone me at
(615) 742 0666 and I can issue you a Mechanical license (Cost is normally $45.50 or $91.00) to use + I have several (Music Tracks to these songs for lease for $250 where you can just add your vocal to my tracks). You can have original songs legally that you can perform live, use in contests, put on your CD or demo or sell downloads of on the internet. Keep your career legal and keep out of trouble. "Click Link Below" for 4 pages of Lonnie's original songs.
"click" to E Mail Lonnie below
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Country Music Fan from England visits Nashville
Hi Lonnie
I was sorry not to have been able to meet you while I was in Nashville
in February & March, but it was nice to be able to talk to you on the
phone. I am looking forward to seeing Travis Logan again and getting a
copy of the CD you produced for him. I should be seeing him in a couple
of weeks time and again at the end of May.
When I was telling you about my trip to the USA you asked me to write up
about it so that you could put it in your newsletter. I will try to keep
it brief ... difficult as I packed so much into my three week visit.
I flew from Manchester UK to Orlando on the 18th February before driving
up to Sanford in order to meet up with Jack Blanchard & Misty Morgan. I
had befriended them via e-mail in early 2005 after hearing their
Tennessee Birdwalk song on the radio. We had corresponded for two years
before I met them for the first time in April 2007 and this was my third
trip to visit them. Three days later I drove to Yulee FL to stay for two
nights with their ex-band leader and friend Mike Miller before heading
north towards the Smoky Mountains. I had hoped to hear Mike's band
playing again but the gig was cancelled at the last minute.
I stopped off overnight in Hendersonville NC before driving through the
mountains to Pigeon Forge. Snow had fallen two days earlier, but the
roads were all clear I am glad to say. I always book a rental car with
the 'NeverLost' GSP fitted so I had no trouble finding my way. The GSP
is a 'must have' for me as I travel alone so I have no one to navigate
for me ..... and anyway maps never give enough detail about road
junctions .... nor do they tell you which lane to get into.
I have two 'adopted sons', Joey and Paul, who live in the Smokies. Joey
had found me on MySpace in August 2006 and I had stayed at his home on
my 2007 trip and while there I met Paul who was living with him at the
time. I call them my 'adopted sons' as they are just a bit younger than
my own sons. Once in Pigeon Forge I located Paul's work place to pick up
his apartment keys as he was working late that day. I then went to
Joey's home for the afternoon. Later I found my way to Paul's apartment
making sure I arrived there before he got back from work as I had his
only set of keys.
The next day I set off for Nashville where I was staying for six days. I
had a lot of people to meet up with there again. They included Arlene
Faith (formerly Gidget Baird who I met through MySpace in 2006), Cowboy
Jack Clement, Chance Martin (a.k.a. Alamo Jones), Jim Ed Brown, Chip
Smith and Charlie Craig. Some of the other musicians I had met on
previous visits were not in town this time ..... but new friends made
this trip included Troy Cooke Jr. (and his parents and girlfriend), Hal
Willis and Irma Young. I also met Mike Mayo, Monte Good, Jesse Lee
Jones, Craig Bickhardt, Nathan Bell, Walter Forbes, Kenny Malone,
Sunday Sharpe, Cley Reynolds and Jamie Cutler Harper plus others at the
Hall of Fame Lounge. I also went to the Bluebird Cafe and the Blue Bar
as well as Legend's Corner, Robert's Western World and other Broadway
bars. Arlene took me to see the Opryland Hotel.
Next I headed south again, staying overnight in Cordele GA before going
to Ocklawaha Forest FL where I stayed three nights with Suzie and Bill
(Tall Timber Medicine Show). I first met them in July 2008 after
befriending them when I heard their music on the radio. Then back to
Sanford for my final four nights where I spent more time with Jack &
Misty again.
I drove a bit over 1700 miles in all and I had a wonderful time.
Everyone made me feel so welcome that I can hardly wait for my next
visit. I left the USA with mixed feelings wishing that I was able to be
in on both sides of the Atlantic at the same time.
Best wishes to you .... and maybe we will meet one day.
Moragh
www.myspace.com/musiclovermo
www.bird-walk.com
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Do these 7,823 people in the country music business know about you ?
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Here's the Artist Updates for this NEWSLETTER
Be sure to submit yours for the next one.
You can check out her website for more information and her CD’s are also available at www.allisonjanisse.com
Hey Lonnie,
I just posted the first song (lyrics and link can be found on my website) and will post the others as we wrap them up.
Let me know what you think!
Next project …. Coming to
P.S. If you are in the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex, come out and join me and Brazos Valley Boys of Texas (Hank Thompson’s Former Backing Band) for
a night of country music like it used to be! Our schedule can be found at www.leylafences.com!
Living the dream,
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Countryfolk Music Theatre opens its 10th consecutive season on Sunday, May 25, 2009, Memorial Day Weekend. (every Sunday thru Labor Day 12 noon-6PM / always free and for families)
Big plans are in the offing this year for the 10th year celebration including lots of traditional country music, folk and gospel and bluegrass.
Scheduled Jamborees, Christmas in July ( July 5th), youth music scholarship weekend, Banjos to Bagpipes & Old Maine Days celebration & Mountain Man Rendezvous, 4 days with 50+ musicians, dance and special guests ( July 23, 24, 25, 26) A Dick Curless Look-A-Like contest (Labor Day Weekend- 3 days of music), country dances, 50/50 and door prizes, Barefoot Country Girl (the movie, with cast members at Countryfolk), pot luck meals and loads of FUN.
We welcome new musicians every week and also have a Friday night campfire jam too from 5-9PM
Tent and RV Camping for musicians is always welcomed and free and we now have a free "Countryfolk Bunkhouse" for musicians.
We're always looking for NEW musicians to come and join us, so come along and have some fun with us. We're the "BIGGEST" backyard jam in Maine with 20-40 musicians each weekend and "special" events.
More info at 207-645-7531 or email mainebiz@roadrunner.com
or catch Larry "BUCK" Bisbee on the nearest streetcorner telling one of his "Wicked Good" Maine stories, singing his new "Mosquito" song or telling his whopping big ol' "Black Fly's of Maine" tale. No matter what ya do, get ahold of him soon.
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"Click" BANNER below
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Lonnie Ratliff ~ Record Production~ 5 Songs
1. Cost for 5 songs is $3,750 (Three Thousand Seven Hundred & Fifty Dollars). This includes Studio, Musicians, Etc! and you end up with a mixed CD of your project. There are not a lot of hidden costs that will be tacked on. The only additional costs I can think of would be $150 if you want us to Master it for you before it goes to your pressing plant. (Call me and I can explain Mastering to you) The other thing that could cost you later is that you might have to pay songwriter royalties if you have recorded someone elses songs and are gonna include it on your CD to sell. (Example = If you want to record a George Strait song or a Taylor Swift song then you will have to pay a royalty to use that song) I can help point you in the right direction to obtain a license from the Harry Fox Agency.
2. For those artist who are new at this, Production is just about getting your songs recorded and ready to be made into CD's that you can sell. I don't press up the 500 or 1000 CD's for you but I can recommend Karen Bruno at Amazon Audio who can take care of everything for you. I believe it costs about $1500 for a 1000 CD's. A lot of the artists I produce will cut a couple of 5 song sessions with me and then put them together and press up a CD they can sell and get their money back.
3. First thing we need to do is figure out if we can work together and come up with something we can both be proud of. You can listen to the artists I have produced (Click Here) and get an idea of what I do. If you are a decent singer and I believe we can make a respectable recording then I will probably be glad to work with you.
4. Deposits & Payments: The first thing required is a $200 deposit and once that is paid we can start putting together your session. I will help you find the songs if needed and will arrange them for you using any ideas you may have. Once we find the songs and have picked a date you send me the balance of $3,550 at least 2 weeks before the session date and I book your session at a studio on Music Row. I normally use Dixiana Studio. We will cut the basic tracks and overdubs there and then cut the final vocals, harmonies and mix at Smokehouse studio.
5. The Band normally will consist of Bass, Drums, Rhythm Guitar, Piano, Steel Guitar, Fiddle, Dobro, Electric Guitar & Mandolin. If I believe a particular song calls for a specialty instrument I will use it and there is no additional charge. I do not try to cut corners by taking short cuts on the musicians we use.
6. Original songs. I have about 200 songs in my Music Publishing Company that you are welcome to use (Royalty Free) if you are using them on any project I produce.
7. Time it will take to record. Figure that it will take about 3 days in the studio. If you are on a tight schedule you're part will be over in two days. First day we cut the tracks with a scratch vocal and the second day you will sing your final vocals. I figure you will have up to 45 minutes to sing each song.
8. Practice Guitar tracks if needed. If you think you may have trouble singing any of the songs you pick and do not play an instrument I can record and send you an acoustic guitar track of the song so you can practice it before you come to Nashville.
9. Final thoughts. Keep in mind that you are hiring me to make you sound good and I take my job very seriously. I will do my best to see that you have a good time in the studio. I work with some of the best studio musicians in Nashville and they will do everything in their power to make the best recording of your music as possible. Feel free to E Mail any of the artists I have worked with (Click Here) before and ask them any questions you may have about working with me. Once you have paid your deposit I am on your team and you can call (615) 742 0666 and ask me any questions you have and I will try my best to give you an answer. Probably half of the artist I work with are recording their first CD and have a lot of questions so don't be embarrassed to ask about anything you don't understand.
I look forward to working with you and hope I can be a part of your musical future.
Lonnie Ratliff
http://www.NashvilleCDStore.com
Artists release your songs worldwide on
Gary Bradshaw's WHP Compilation.
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Artists looking for someone to help you with your CD Cover artwork, printing and pressing your CD ? Check with Karen Bruno at Amazon Audio
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Nowadays I'm working with two CD's, hopefully it'll be out in the fall! Hope to see you on my sites -my main site is on Myspace, but I'm also on other sites too!
www.judywelden.com judywelden@bellsouth.net