Lost Cathedral

Little Steven Van Zandt has added another imprint to his rock and roll adventures with the launch of Lost Cathedral. The new label will focus on hard rock releases and debuted with the latest offering from internationally acclaimed rock band CROWN OF THORNS, titled "Faith". The disc marks CROWN OF THORNS' first domestic release in the United States ever in the band's career.

"Wicked Cool was formed as a garage rock label — traditional rock and roll — so when people see Wicked Cool they know what kind of music to expect," explains Little Steven Van Zandt. "Hard rock is garage rock's first cousin having come directly from THE ROLLING STONES, THE KINKS, THE YARDBIRDS, and THE WHO and we've been getting a lot of harder stuff sent to us lately, a lot of it quite good. With the opportunity to release the legendary CROWN OF THORNS new record, we decided it's time for a new label."

Lost Cathedral takes music fans out of the garage and into the arena where musicianship and bigger production is king. Lost Cathedral will be run by the same executive team responsible for sister label Wicked Cool Records led by Chairman and Founder Steven Van Zandt of HBO's "The Sopranos" and BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN AND THE E STREET BAND fame; Jean Beauvoir, CEO, Renegade Nation; John Luongo, Label Manager; and Scott Hueston, VP Sales & Marketing.

Beauvoir does double duty not only as a label executive but as a creative force as singer/songwriter/producer of CROWN OF THORNS' new release "Faith". The disc brings back the trademark CROWN OF THORNS sound that established the band as a rock powerhouse, still keeping intact all the elements of infectious guitar riffs, soaring hooklines, and great melodies. Beauvoir collaborated with Bob Clearmountain (BRYAN ADAMS, THE ROLLING STONES, BON JOVI, BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN AND THE E-STREET BAND) in the recording sessions for "Faith" as well as Mark Plati (DAVID BOWIE) for the mix — resulting in the best-sounding CROWN OF THORNS album yet.

Publishing

Renegade Nation has 2 of it's own music publishing divisions, where it represents works for its Wicked Cool artists and seeks to distribute their music through multiple channels including recordings by other artists, film scores and soundtracks, mobile ring-tones and ring-backs, videogames, and commercials.

Wicked Cool Records

Wicked Cool Records is the label arm of Renegade. Its goal is to sign quality up-and-coming acts, produce and release great records, and selectively acquire valuable back catalog. Renegade will utilize its various promotional channels including syndicated terrestrial radio, satellite radio, TV shows and tours to attain new levels of popular interest for its bands.

The distribution path chosen by Wicked Cool is a direct-to-retail partnership with a major retailer throughout all their retail outlets. Wicked Cool will release a minimum of 12 new artists albums and 4 “Coolest Song of the Week” compilations from Renegade’s Underground Garage program in the first year, with increased releases in the following years. There will be a prominent Underground Garage section in each retail outlet throughout the US and featuring all Wicked Cool titles complimented by online and innovative alternative distribution channels.

Drawing on the popularity of Garage Rock in general, Wicked Cool will also release select compilation albums from established and/or emerging artists as well as the “Coolest Song of the Week” compilations from its Underground Garage program.

Wicked Cool uses a unique 50/50 profit sharing mechanism with its bands and takes expenses off the top to assure the bands get a fair deal.

Crown Of Thorns

Actor and guitarist “Little” Steven Van Zandt’s rock ‘n’ roll empire is expanding yet again with a new record label, Lost Cathedral. The first project from the imprint, which will focus on hard rock, is Crown of Thorns’ “Faith,” due June 9. Lost Cathedral joins Van Zandt’s garage rock label, Wicked Cool, under the banner of parent company Renegade Nation. “We basically decided to keep Wicked Cool identifiable as a garage rock label, at least for now,” said Van Zandt, a founding member of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band. “In the last couple of years, we’ve gotten a lot of hard rock things submitted to us. A lot of it is quite good — a little bit punkier or harder rock than we do with Wicked Cool.” Starting with Crown of Thorns made sense too, because the band’s frontman, Jean Beauvoir, is also the CEO of Renegade Nation. “He does what he does every couple of years,” Van Zandt said. “I said, ‘You know what? It’s silly not to put it out.’” As with Wicked Cool, Lost Cathedral will focus on artist development, which Van Zandt feels is a lost art in the modern music business. “Once upon a time there was a great, collaborative effort involved in making careers,” he said. “Things have gone so far toward do-it-yourself — which frankly doesn’t work — it’s hard to be capable at all of those jobs, let alone good at them.”

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