Future Oak Record Co.

Lathe Cut Records and Artful Releases

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Tuesday night's show at the Acorn Alliance was an exceptional display of guitar mastery and the tenacious songwriting. Huge thanks to David Manchester, Handsome Dan, and Gabriel Slavitt for lending their talents to the evening and to all who came for sharing so many special moments with us. Stay tuned for our next house show, which will be a big one.

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Year in Review // Year in Preview

January first isn't always the best hallmark for forced nostalgia, but for Future Oak it couldn't fit any better. This last year has been huge for us; to say we've been staying busy would be an understatement. Not only have we accomplished a myriad of wonderful things on the imprint, we've also had the wonderful opportunity to be a part of so many talented musician's endeavors through short-run commission work.

It almost feels like yesterday, so much as it also feels like a decade ago, that I first sat down for coffee with Wild Kindness co-owner Jeff Betten about a conceptual 7" series with local legend Roger Harvey. It was my first commissioned work and I couldn't have asked for a better group of people to be involved in that landmark project. Not only has Jeff turned out to be our biggest ally in the upside-down world we call the music industry, but it was also my first time working with J Vega at The Wilderness Studio. Not only did I learn from J's brilliant mastering, but he, in turn, learned what sounds good on my lathe -- I always know a project is going to turn out amazing when it has come from J.

Since that initial meeting I've done records with all of the most incredible Pittsburgh musicians: we did a 7" for local sweetheart Andre Costello & the Cool Minors in support of his new record The Rattling Arcade. We had the privilege of providing limited lathe-cuts to the legendary Slim Forsythe's Kickstarter Campaign (one of which is now hanging in the American Old Time Country Music Hall of Fame); we're happy to report it exceeded it's goal. Another project I'm still excited about was Chet Vincent & the Big Bend's Dirty Money 7" they recorded for the 2014 RANT. More recently we had the chance to work with the local pop outfit Wreckloose on their vinyl debut.

Aside from rocking out, we've put the lathe to more unconventional purposes with the help of some of Pittsburgh's most compelling artists. We first worked with David Bernabo (musician/artist/dancer/film maker/renaissance man) on a soundtrack to a dance piece he was performing in. When the Pittsburgh Biennial rolled around we found our work in two galleries; first in the Miller Gallery as a four record set of spoken word/interview/ambient sound/music/poetry curated, once again, by Bernabo. Our second appearance was at the Mattress Factory as part of Danny Bracken's amazing installation (Which, as of now, is still on display and should be seen at least once if not often).

I would be remiss not to mention the incredible projects we've released through our own label. While doing commissioned work gives me the opportunity to work with an incredible breadth of talent, our Future Oak releases are an exercise in curated patience. We started our year out with Gabriel Slavitt's debut solo record Missouri Love Call on cassette tape, which we're so happy to have finally found on a physical format. Our second project, which is just the tip of a massive iceberg I would gladly sink myself on, was with our boys Adeline Hotel. Last Halloween we released a Normanoak 7" from Chris Barth of Bloomington, IN. As a long time fan of Chris's work, it was a dream to be able to release two brand new songs through Future Oak.

So where does that leave us for the year to come? Well, I'm not clairvoyant but there are enough exciting things within view of December 31st that I've been patiently waiting to reveal, as well as several changes to the commission process which should make it universally easier for people to get their music hand-cut in slick vinyl.

First off, we're happy to report that we'll be cutting 10" and 12" records on commission this year. 10" records were probably the most requested format of 2014, so we're happy to finally be able to offer them at either 33 or 45 rpm. Along with this we've restructured our pricing guide to a universal formula; no more need for individual quotes. As always, feel free to contact us with any questions if you're having difficulty determining your total cost or whether small-run vinyl is right for your project.

Aside from this, we have a plethora of other things to be excited about in early 2015, including another set of tour dates with Adeline Hotel in January, including a stop here at Future Oak. We're talking with our Providence crushes Roz & the Rice Cakes about doing a vinyl release this spring, and we expect to see them through at some point in the warmer seasons. Katie Ford has a solo show at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts opening February.

Furthermore, for those of you still reading, we're beyond excited to announce that we will be releasing records with Califone and Bonnie 'Prince' Billy this year. Both will be pressed limited edition vinyl with new material and we expect to see them sell out fast -- we'll be sure to keep everyone up to date as the release dates round the corner. Tim is giving us a Sin Ropas cover + new songs; Sweet William provided four cover songs recorded in Europe with The Cairo Gang. We've listened to it. Many. Times. We can't wait for you to listen to them, too.

We have a few more pokers in the fire, but we'll pull them out a little later. Lots of ambitious house shows and plans for expansion. We have so much to be thankful and excited for, and to tell it true it'd mean nothing if it wasn't for you good folks that stick by us as we take root and grow. We love yinz.

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Trick or Treat

Great news! We are thrilled to announce a new record from Bloomington luminary Normanoak will be available Friday, October 31 from Future Oak Record Co. This 7" record, limited to only 50 copies, features two exclusive lathe-cut tracks with a silk-screened sleeve printed on durable chipboard.

Chris Barth of the highly influential indie rock outfit The Impossible Shapes coaxes you into a unique world of psych folk with his solo act Normanoak. The two tracks featured on this release, Make Your Own Way and No More Timber read both as an Autumn greeting and simultaneously as a warning. Both sinister and sweet.

These records are extremely limited and will be available for purchase this Halloween afternoon.

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Slim Forsythe's Live Country Music TV Show -- FUNDED!

We're so happy to see that hometown hero Slim Forsythe has met his kickstarter goal. There's still 22 hours left if you'd like to chip in, any extra money will further ensure the success of Slim's project.

We donated 5 7" records featuring a song from Slim on one side, and a song from Molly Alphabet and Chet Vincent on the other. There are only 5 available, and you get one with the 'Mountain Lion Level' pledge -- it's not noted there, but trust us, you'll get one.

Either way, we're so proud of you Slim and can't wait to see what the future holds for you at Nied's Hotel. Congratulations!

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A few weeks ago we had the pleasure of cutting one of our most unique jobs for local renaissance man David Bernabo. The project, an 8-minute snippet of the score he composed for a dance piece entitled The Ubiquitous Mass of Us, will be for sale after the performance on June 14th at the New Hazlett Theater. You can get tickets and more information here.

We were elated, then, when David contracted us to cut another job for him, this time a double 7" record featuring tracks from the soundtrack to his film Ongoing Box about the creative process of some artists in Pittsburgh. David will be touring with the film, so if he's bringing it to your area make sure you check it out. You can learn more about Host Skull and the Ongoing Box project at David's blog.

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Katie Ford and I stayed up late last night printing the final piece of the Missouri Love Call cassette - the J-Card insert. The artwork was drawn by Gabriel Slavitt himself, and the layout was done by KT. Using polymer plates we printed this two-color design on thick stock from French Paper Company on a Vandercook printing press down at Sapling Press (thanks for letting us hijack your studio for the evening). Each and every card was scored on a C&P with a final crease done by hand, one at a time.

The cassettes themselves are a vivid blue with white lettering printed directly on the cassette. This marks the first release of a project that began in Philadelphia and has since spanned three states over the last three years. Future Oak Record Co. is proud to introduce you to Gabriel Slavitt and his music. You can pick up one of these bad-boys from the Future Oak store tomorrow for an easy $6. First run is a limited edition of 200; if it sells out we'll be doing a second run on a different colored shell.

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Providence band Roz & the Rice Cakes will be playing The Acorn Alliance July 8th. Potluck dinner at 7:00. BYOB. Music starts at 9. Bring your jukebox money. Email [email protected] for address. 

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Fresh Start!

Summer is knocking on our door, so it's been imperative to sort out all this computer nonsense before the sunshine finds me outside on my bike for a majority of my free hours. I've finally been able to find the proper mix of online solutions that enable me to have a semi-professional online presence. Who would have known that those years of self-taught HTML in high school would still be relevant or useful 15 years later.

But since we've established a foundation for our platforms, you can look forward to a few exciting features and a couple new ways to interact with us. The most exciting thing that will be premiering soon is the online store, which will open next week when we debut Gabriel Slavitt's 'Missouri Love Call' cassette. You'll also be able to pick up some remnants of our Kickstarter surplus. It'll be a good place to keep an eye on considering the limited nature of our releases.

This blog, too, will be a great resource moving forward. You'll have an inside window as to what we're working on, who we're working with, shows we're promoting, and things we're excited about. You should also feel free to connect with our twitter account and facebook page. They're there for you primarily. Heaven knows FB is the last thing I want to think about.

That being said, so long as all these internet things are functioning together (I'll know as soon as I post this) it might be as good a time as any to hit the trail for a quick ride. Have a good weekend, friends, and make sure you call your mom and thank her for making you exist this Sunday for Mother's Day.