Jitney
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Jitney

Chicago, Illinois, United States | INDIE

Chicago, Illinois, United States | INDIE
Band Rock Soul

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This band has not uploaded any videos
This band has not uploaded any videos

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Press


"Chicago Label Profile: Rock Proper"

In Chicago, there's at least one musician who is trying to navigate the future of the music industry, while cultivating a label-type community of artists. Casey Meehan, who performs under the name of Jitney, started the "netlabel" Rock Proper last November after realizing that he and his friends were putting lots of time and money into recording albums, but had few ways to get it the music out there. "[Rock Proper] started out as a connection of our friends' networks--we were in this lucky and unlucky place that we realized there were all these great records that professionally recorded and needed to be released," Meehan said.

[read the full article here: http://www.gapersblock.com/transmission/2009/10/22/chicago_label_profile_rock_proper/ - Gaper's Block [Chicago]


"NetAudio - Label It Yourself"

This was a prime time broadcast on the German equivalent of the BBC. Featuring Casey Meehan, Rock Proper and Jitney.

Listen to the rest here: http://wissen.dradio.de/index.40.de.html?dram:article_id=5174 - Duechlandradio Wissen [Berlin]


"The Anatomy of Evolution"

It was ultimately this frustration that led to the creation of Rock
Proper. Having many friends who were sitting on what he calls
“dead albums,” Meehan looked for a way to put the music out
there without having to endure the headache and cost of shopping
the albums to labels. “Traditionally there were two options: you
could produce copies and sell them at your shows or you could go
out and shop it to a label,” he said. “Both sort of have their pluses
and minuses. With self-release, you’re in complete control, but
you have a limited audience—sometimes really limited,” he said.
“With independent or major label release you have less control
but a larger potential audience—and I stress potential.” Meehan
strived to look beyond that system with the creation of Rock
Proper. release date,” he said. “The band will write ten songs and they’ll
put these ten songs on a record and then they try and do as much
as they can to get that cd in stores and selling in the very, very off
chance that it will be a hit and can remain on the shelves there for
longer than a month.” He expounds that, “keeping it on shelves
for longer than six months is even harder. But now we can look
at putting out a ten-minute song every two months, instead of a
record a year or every two years. So it really just frees the whole
creative process up.”
- Anti-Gravity [New Orleans]


Discography

Jitney - 86-300

http://rockproper.com/jitney/86-300.html

Casey Meehan - Violet

http://rockproper.com/jitney/violet.html

Photos

Bio

History - After a brief courtship by major labels, Casey Meehan moved from New Orleans to Chicago to release Violet (under his own name) on the Tense Forms label in 2003.

His new project is called Jitney and he is releasing an album titled “86-300” under this moniker on January 26, 2009.

The Writing Process - These songs were written while driving a taxi in Chicago. Meehan drove the night shift for two years to finance the record. The name of the album, 86-300, refers to Meehan’s Chauffeur’s license. He is the 86,300th cab driver to be licensed in Cook County; the Jitney moniker is also taken from taxicab terminology.

Other than the late-night, cityscape imagery of streetlights, gasoline and drifters, this album explores the element of chance. There were many setbacks for this musician in recent years, including nearly loosing his leg necessitating many difficult months of recovery. This material explores dealing with forces beyond ones control; the song “Fin” may be interpreted as a brief commentary on the struggling music industry.

The Recording Process - This album was recorded at Jay Bennett’s Pieholden Suite Sound on the same equipment used for Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.

This record, produced by Meehan’s long time friend Matt DeWine, was one of the first albums recorded at the studio after its transplant from Chicago’s West side to downstate Illinois. Meehan helped with the construction of this studio. Additional recording was done by Kris Poulin at Chicago’s Electrical Studios and Semaphore. The final recording session was held at Pieholden Suite Sound Thanksgiving Day 2008.

Accompanied by some of the finest, albeit under appreciated, drummers in the United States, Jim Duffy (Love Story in Blood Red), Kaanan Tupper (Jeremy Egnik), Mark Benson (Lying In States), Casey played all other instruments except, bass on Fin (supplied by Dave Vandervelde) and bass on Butterfly Knife (by Nick Meirs).

The Album Launch - This album will be available for free download on RockProper.com, January 26th 2009. Rock Proper is an online music distributor that Meehan founded in 2008. This website is built to take the place of the traditional record label and deliver music made with integrity directly to listeners around the world.

This record will not be issued in compact disc format but may be available on vinyl in the near future pending interest.

Jitney Live - Jitney has been playing the premier clubs around the midwest for the past few years.