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Cottage Industry
Music has long been dedicated to the creation of quality, original music.
To that end, the independent record label has just released a new CD entitled,
No Visible Means Of Support that marks yet a new pinnacle
in Martha Schuyler Thompson’s development as a writer, artist and
producer. Martha founded Cottage Industry Music well over a decade ago
after the birth of her son so that she could focus on her own songwriting,
arrangements and recording without inhibition, constraint or outside pressure
as both, a parent and artist. That small business afforded her the opportunity
to be a creative being as well as a positive influence on her family.
Says Martha, “It was important for me to build a business from the
ground up that was at once engaging, maddening, rewarding, and ultimately
meaningful — regardless of the amount of money I made — so that
I could set an example for my son. I wanted him to know that he, too,
should work all day at something he loved in order to attain fulfillment
and a sense of purpose in his own life.” Martha Schuyler Thompson appears to have flourished in an environment that offered her the freedom to create and document her artistic concerns. For more than a decade, Martha has written, arranged, recorded, produced and subsequently released seven full-length albums including, No Visible Means Of Support, Blame The Dog, Road Kill, The Sound Must Leave Your Throat, Conducting The Ocean, Better Than Watching and Finding The Way Home. Her CD’s have garnered both, nationwide airplay and favorable press here and abroad. Her business has grown from an obscure little cottage industry to a well-respected, independent label known for its commitment to the production of high-quality work. Basing the fledgling Cottage Industry Music label in Salem, Oregon (well outside the realm of any music industry center city) had its own unique challenges. Seemingly cut-off from the cultural milieu by the limited number of music venues, music publications and radio in the region, out of necessity, Martha Schuyler Thompson began touring outside the pacific northwest in support of her releases. While performing in other cities, she became aware of the way in which audience members came together when given the chance to form a community. Seeing how that community, in turn, readily supported the endeavors of visiting artists inspired Martha to return home and work toward creating opportunities for other contemporary singer/songwriters to play in her own hometown to an audience that had not been previously called upon as a community of listeners. She volunteered her time and energy to develop and subsequently coordinate “The Contemporary American Singer Songwriter Series” which had a dual mission: to bring in artists from various regional pockets of the country whose work possessed a distinctive voice that would challenge, enlighten or enrich the sum of our human experiences; and to create and foster a community in which audience members were encouraged to celebrate diversity rather than merely tolerate it. The series was so successful that Martha created another series with the same goals called, “Sing With The Fishes” in order to satisfy the community’s increased desire for live music. Martha’s commitment was so strong that, for years, she often arranged her tour schedule around these events so as to serve the audience she helped build for contemporary songwriters. Her volunteer work as a musician and promoter has had a positive and creative impact on her community. Nevertheless, an opportunity recently arose for Martha and her family to live abroad in Ireland. Although it meant taking a hiatus from the series’ she’d founded, it also meant that Martha could finally devote herself exclusively to her first love — writing — while immersing herself in another culture to tour there in support of her previous release. Martha, a seasoned traveler, has since returned to the states to live and work. No Visible Means Of Support is the product of that writing sabbatical. The CD release of No Visible Means Of Support is an occasion that finds Martha Schuyler Thompson, her immediate family and the community members in her region culturally richer than they were just over a decade ago (not to mention the radio audiences nationwide who have enjoyed hearing Martha’s work on the airwaves). Please join us in celebrating the artistic endeavors, creative fulfillment, and sense of purpose a little independent label can bring a community by supporting this company. Awards and Accomplishments: 2005-2006 Recipient - ASCAP Special Award (ASCAP Plu$ Awards Program). Martha proudly endorses John Pearse Strings, Santa Cruz Guitar Company and L.R. Baggs. |
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