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Cerreta has assembled a nice pub roster that includes Ray LaMontagne, Secret Machines, My Morning Jacket and, most recently, Canadian rockers Priestess.

WHEELS & DEALS: KIDS & GUNS

Two Buzz Bands Get Locked Up, While the Ultimate
Buzz Band Remains on the Loose

By Rodel Delfin

WINNING THE COLD WAR: For those of you following along, the weasel derby over the hugely buzzin’, Brett Williams-managed Cold War Kids has finally ended, as the band inks with Josh Deutsch’s Downtown label which goes through Atlantic and is home to Gnarls Barkley. With gigs stateside and in the U.K. generating buzz, numerous labels were jockeying to sign the band in recent months. Legal eagles Peter Lewit and David Rappaport mediated the weaseltude. The deal with Downtown is for the Americas only. And word on the street is that several U.K. labels are competing to sign the band for the rest of the world. Lewit also mediated the Shiny Toy Guns deal that recently went to Universal… And speaking of the Guns, the seven-figure signing with Universal was a split-territory deal as well, and apparently there was some drama that went down with U.K. label Polydor, which was courting the band in hopes to sign them for worldwide rights outside of the Americas and Japan. Apparently, Polydor had agreed to sign the band after the group performed at this year’s SXSW, but got cold feet and pulled out after a couple months of working on finalizing the contract. In the meantime, the band’s buzz grew bigger and bigger, including airplay on L.A. radio stations KROQ and Indie 103, while other U.K. labels got in the hunt. Ironically, Polydor sister label Mercury landed the act. That means the band is signed to labels within the Universal Music Group for split territories. Rumor has it that the A&R chap who pulled out of the deal had some ’splaining to do with the Uni heads… RADIOHEAD NEWS: For those of you who care, that little band from Oxford, England, is not only a free agent in the U.S. on the label side but also on the publishing tip. Meanwhile, Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke has signed a worldwide publishing deal with Kenny MacPherson and Chrysalis Music for his solo projects. MacPherson had a longstanding relationship with the band when they were signed to Warner/Chappell, where MacPherson was a senior exec prior to his current post. The Chrysalis deal with Yorke includes his current solo LP The Eraser. Stay tuned for more Radiohead label news… Speaking of Chrysalis, publishing hitter James Cerreta re-signs as Sr. Director Creative with Kenny Mac and crew at the pubco. Apparently, several label folks were circling around Cerreta when word spread that his deal was coming up. Cerreta has assembled a nice pub roster that includes Ray LaMontagne, Secret Machines, My Morning Jacket and, most recently, Canadian rockers Priestess. Nice job, Jamie—glad to see that you didn’t switch over to the dark side… On top of the recent news about the MAMA Group making an unsolicited “approach” to acquire the Sanctuary Group, there’s chatter that there may be further changes happening at the company stateside. Lots of chatter that star manager Carl Stubner will have an expanded role at the company… BABY WEASELS: Congrats go out to Ron and Erin Laffitte on the birth of baby boy Jack Marshall Laffitte. And kudos to Jason and Dinah Reynolds on the birth of their child Evan Harper Whidbee ReynoldsBUZZIN’: Wired All Wrong, Rebel Music Crew and A Kiss Could Be Deadly… Hit me up: [email protected]

Buzz/Gigs:
DE NOVO DAHL
Tues., Aug. 1, 7:00 p.m., Pianos, N.Y.
BMI PICK OF THE MONTH Tues., Aug. 8, 9:00 p.m., Key Club, L.A.
AMPLIFY MUSIC FESTIVAL Aug. 16-18, Various venues TBD, Las Vegas

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