Re: Sampler Question

David Grant (dgrant@eden.com)
Sun, 26 Apr 1998 18:17:53 -0400 (EDT)

Howdy.

>Do many of the people on this list actually go out and buy a CD by a new
>artist, just from hearing one or two songs on a sampler CD? Would it be
>enough to intrigue someone to attend a concert of someone they haven't
>>heard of except for the sampler cut?

Oh boy, this one applies to me --

I've bought probably a hundred (maybe more) CDs based almost solely on the
Christine-Lavin-produced samplers (ON A WINTER'S NIGHT, WHEN OCTOBER GOES,
BIG TIMES IN A SMALL TOWN, FOLLOW THAT ROAD, LAUGH TRACKS, etc.).

Based on the one or two tracks I had heard from each artist, I bought CDs
(or cassettes) by David Roth, Cheryl Wheeler, Pierce Pettis, David Wilcox,
John Gorka, Susan Werner, Megon McDonough, Sally Fingerett, Dave Mallett,
Red Grammer, Frank Christian, Ellis Paul, Patty Larkin, Hugh Blumenfeld,
Richard Shindell, Greg Greenway, Barbara Kessler, James Mee, Peter Nelson,
and a number of others.

My first and only exposure to these artists (before buying their own CDs)
was these samplers. Every time a new one would come out, I'd make a list
and head for the record store, coming home with a stack of new CDs. If I
couldn't find a CD at the record store, the samplers almost always listed
an address from which I could order the recordings!

Actually, I guess I could blame Christine Lavin for my financial woes --
brought about by my obsessive collecting of folk CDs. Before I discovered
Christine Lavin, the only folksingers I listened to were Nanci Griffith and
Sara Hickman...

David
dgrant@eden.com