Minnesota Rock: Gary Burger Album, Gypsy Film Available in Store

While you wait for news on the re-release of Podipto's second album, "Homemade," I have some exciting news to share. 

Gary Burger is well-known to Minnesotans, and by now, people around the world are familiar with the incredible resurgence of his 1960s band The Monks. I recently worked with Gary's wife, Cindy, and Mark Anderson in Bemidji to issue Gary Burger's "BurgerMONK 2010" album on CD via our Northwood Way Productions label. It's available now and is a must-own. You can check it out on the Music page of this site, but if you value our efforts to keep Minnesota music in print and available, please order a CD. We'd love to be able to help unearth more of the buried treasures in the Turtle Town Records archives!

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Cover of the newly released album by Gary Burger of Turtle River, Minn.

We are also carrying DVDs of a documentary film about the band Gypsy, titled "Gypsy: Rock & Roll Nomads." Some of you may recall that in the 1960s, The Underbeats became one of the most popular bands in the Twin Cities. When the band relocated to Los Angeles and changed their name to Gypsy in the late 60s, they had the good fortune of landing a house gig at the Whisky-A-Go Go on The Sunset Strip—one of the most important music clubs of the time. Local filmmaker Aaron Goodyear takes us on a trip of discovery of this underrated band and their adventures from the LA club scene to full-on arena rock.

And now for those of you looking for an update on the reissue of Podipto's 1974 LP, "Homemade," we're are hoping to launch a Kickstarter campaign in the coming months to fund the last of the music restoration work we have to do. I've uncovered lots of live recordings from this era, and would love to make as much of it available as we can. Watch our Facebook page for the latest!

First CD at the Presses

Preorder now, shipping begins March 3!

Podipto fans, you've been very patient. We've approved the final proofs of the artwork, and the album is being manufactured here in the Twin Cities, by a local company called Copycats Media. 

The discs will be in my hands March 2, and I will start shipping right away. You can preorder the CD now here at podipto.com. If you prefer to download your albums, you can also buy the digital version on the site. It can also be found on your favorite online music retailers, like iTunes, Amazon and CDBaby. But we recommend buying directly from podipto.com, where we don't give away a cut of the retail price.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, we still have a lot of music to get out there, including a two-disc set—The Woodcut Sessions/Live at Chateau Paulette—that will be available in just a few weeks. The second album will follow later this summer. There is no shortage of work for us to do!

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Mastering Almost Complete on Reissues

I've been working with Greg Reierson of Rare Form Mastering in Minneapolis on restoring the audio for the new releases, and I have to say, he is doing an excellent job. My initial plan was to restore them myself, but there is nothing like hiring a real professional to do the work. The music is so good, it deserves to be done the right way. You will all be thrilled with the final product, I have no doubt. 

This is taking a bit longer than planned, but after letting this project simmer for 15 years, what is another month or two? So we're looking at a January-February 2015 release for the first wave of new music.

All of the unreleased music comes from 1/4-inch reels that were sitting in boxes in my mom's basement, and wherever Jack had them stashed. Amazingly, they are in pretty good shape and the handwritten labeling is sort of hilarious. 

Stay tuned for more updates.