Doc Kupka (l) and Steve Finch (r)
A message to Strokeland fans from Steve Finch, Strokeland's new Director of Operations::
September 21, 2006
Hi Strokeland fans,
I wanted to take up a little space here to introduce myself to those of you that I haven't had the pleasure of meeting yet.
I'm a guitarist, producer, recording engineer, and business owner in Virginia. Like many of you, I've been a Tower of Power fan since the early '70's. While Tower has certainly been my favorite over all those years, classic Soul and R&B in all varieties has been near and dear to my heart. I've been listening to, studying, and performing this music as long as I can remember. It literally has been the soundtrack to my life, with Tower of Power at the very center.
I won't go into all the details of the story here (maybe some other time), but I wound up meeting Mic Gillette, original lead trumpet for Tower of Power, when he filled in with my regional band for a show when Patti Fallon, our saxophonist, was battling cancer. To make a long story short, Mic and I wound up being the best of friends, and Mic stilll comes to Virginia several times a year to play some gigs with us. In 2004 and 2005, I co-produced Mic's debut solo CD, "Ear Candy" with him. (You should check out this CD if you haven't already. It features a reunion of the ORIGINAL Tower of Power horns! More on that another time too...) I owe Mic Gillette for all of the success that I've had in music for the last five years. You won't find a better musician or better friend than Mic.
Mic Gillette (l) and Steve Finch (r)
While recording "Ear Candy" and at Mic's CD Release Concert that I promoted here in Virginia last October, I got to know Doc Kupka better and he, apparently, gained some trust in me.
In May of this year, Doc asked me if I would be willing to take over the business management for Strokeland Records. Of course, that answer took me about a tenth of a second. Even though I definitely knew what I was getting myself into from a time and effort perspective, the chance to contribute in some small way to this music and this community that we all love was something that I couldn't possibly pass up.
Being asked to be Doc's partner in Strokeland is one of the greatest professional compliments I've ever been given and I want to thank Doc and his lovely and talented wife, Yvonne Depatis Kupka, for this opportunity.
I hope to grow Strokeland and make it mean even more to us all over the coming years. I'm coming in to Strokeland at one of the most exciting times in its history. The forthcoming release of "Doc Goes Hollywood" will, in my opinion, solidify Stephen 'Doc' Kupka's position as one of the great songwriters of our generation. Doc has had many, many great songs released over the years, but you've never gotten to hear him work in a genre like this where the song is really the thing.
I want to acknowledge Andy Ebon's years of hard work with Doc in creating Strokeland from nothing starting in 1998. Andy executive-produced several of the Strokeland releases and brought a number of our Artists to Strokeland, including our newest artist on Strokeland Jazz, the Chad Rager Groove.
I also want to thank Rich Powell, the incredibly talented graphic artist who designed the look of this website; Kate Faes, for her advice and encouragement; Bob "Burchie" Burchfield, for his knowledge and advice; Bruce Steinberg for his experience, help and advice; Cameron Perry for his technical help with the web programming; my musician friends Rick Milan, Elmer Coles, Josh Shilling, Ray Wilkes and all the Domino Band; and most of all, my family, who have spent a whole summer practically without their husband and Dad, while I worked on getting Strokeland going again.
Please let me know how I can make Strokeland a better experience for you. Let me know what you like and what you don't like. I can't promise I can fix everything, but I will listen and I will do my best to make you happy when you visit Strokeland.com or when you pop a Strokeland CD into your CD player and smile.
That's what it's all about.
Steve Finch
Director of Operations
Strokeland Records
steve@strokeland.com