I am thrilled to announce the launch of my new company, Free Radical Productions! Free Radical offers bilingual music consulting that injects the energy and organization needed to effectively help independent artists propel their careers to the next level. After serving on the Womex 2012 jury curating the most unique new musical projects from all over the world, and living and working in the South American music scene, I’ve made it my mission to present the most cutting edge sounds coming out of South America to the world. First stop: Free Radical at the SXSW Music Conference and Festival in Austin, Texas in March.

The Free Radical client roster:

Big news! I've resigned from my management position at ZZK Records. It's been a difficult decision, as it's always hard to let go of things you love. However change is good, and following a successful trip to Colombia to present a Women of the World panel at the Mercado Cultural del Caribe, I’m back in Buenos Aires and on to my next project: Free Radical Productions.

Our host Ahmet arranged for nearly 30 Womexicans to take a 12 hour bus journey across the border from Istanbul to Thessaloniki, Greece. Appropriately dubbed “Babylon by Bus” (after Ahmet’s concert venue in Istanbul and the Bob Marley and the Wailers ’78 release) the bus took off from Istanbul at 6am with a groggy array of delegates from the US, France, Canada, Brazil, Turkey, and Germany. I quickly learned there was no point trying to nap to catch up on sleep, the bus was rocking! Views of the Greek countryside, drinking wine some of our French comrades picked up in the Duty Free at the border, watching a reggae concert DVD of an artist represented by one of the bookers on the bus, trading travel stories, stopping for lunch in the seaside town of Kavala: it was a great ride and a pleasure to get to know such a fun bunch of music loving people!

 Nothing like a giant new stack of CDs and lemon mint green tea from Turkey to cure a case of jet lag. As I mentioned in my last post, some of the Womex gang wanted to check out Istanbul on our way to Greece for the conference this year. The timing coincided with our friend and colleague Keith Terry’sInternational Body Music Festival, so eight Womexicans arrived in Istanbul to see what the body music was all about!

I’ve been preparing for the next whirlwind of a month! Two major music conferences in Buenos Aires, then a 3 week musical journey across continents, stopping in NYC, Turkey, and Greece!