ESTHER ROSE

Date Signed: Oct. 21, 2022

Label: New West Records

Type of Music: Indie / Folk / Americana

Management: tony@keeledscales.com

Booking: josh@crossovertouring.com; kate@crossovertouring.com

Legal: Kent Wolfenberger

Publicity: Brady Brock / New West Records, bradybrock@ newwestrecords.com

Web: estherrose.net

A&R: George Fontaine, Jr.

Esther Rose has always taken charge of her career. As part of the New Orleans indie scene, she recorded her debut album at Mashed Potato Studios on her own dime. That space is owned and operated by Sam Doores, a fellow Big Easy musician who plays guitars with Americana group The Deslondes. Rose has extensively toured with the likeminded act.

Once her introductory recording was complete, Rose uploaded the tracks to Bandcamp. It wasn’t long before Father/Daughter Records expressed interest in her talents. Albums two and three were subsequently released under their banner. But back when Rose’s initial platter was hitting eardrums, one of the first to purchase it was George Fontaine, Jr. of New West Records. Coincidentally, The Deslondes had already signed to the respected label. Spurred on by a spark of recognition, Rose emailed Fontaine to express thanks for the purchase, and the two began keeping in touch.

“Jonathan [has released] some of the more left-field, interesting metal that has come out in the last decade or so—Bosse-de-Nage, Botanist,” Meyer says. “We felt like it was a natural fit for us.”

What distinguishes Agriculture from other black-metal bands is their full embrace of joy. The emotion is so omnipresent in the band’s material that Meyer devised a name for their sound: “ecstatic black metal.”

The new band’s idiosyncratic tunes caught the ear of Ignat Frege, drummer-vocalist for Wreck and Reference, which shares rehearsal space with Agriculture. Coincidentally, Wreck and Reference previously issued material through Flenser.

Frege told Tuite he’d be wise to sign Agriculture, Meyer said. So did Alex Kent, guitarist/vocalist for Flenser band Sprain, which had toured with the newcomers.

Tuite signed Agriculture to a deal involving only a reasonable amount of touring—not enough to burn them out. That recommendation, combined with a guarantee of artistic autonomy, brought joy to Meyer and company. “We wanted someone who knew what we were doing,” Meyer says. “We didn’t care as much about nitty-gritty stuff like royalties.”

The Flenser deal includes two full-lengths, one of which the band completed before the signing. That, too, pleased Meyer, who has no idea what Agriculture’s second record will sound like. “We don’t want to have to go shopping again after this one,” he added. – Kurt Orzeck

“That was eight or nine years ago,” reveals the sagacious songwriter. The pandemic affected everything in those intervening years. “So much in my life had changed,” she muses. “My band had changed. My location had changed. And the music had changed.” Thus, switching labels made sense.

Rose sent her new material to Fontaine. Before long, he and everyone else at the label had fallen in love with her song “Chet Baker.” Rose likewise perceived the label to perfectly suit her needs.

Despite this confidence, Rose had her attorney review the contract before signing. “I moved pretty slowly, just thinking things over and making sure I was comfortable,” she tells. When she broke the news to Father/Daughter, they were entirely supportive. As the singer puts it, “They’re 100% artist-first people.”

In the end, Rose was comfortable signing with New West because of their enthusiasm. She recommends anyone picking between labels to select the one that expresses the most excitement. As she puts it, “Find the people that are genuinely stoked to work with you.” – Andy

Kaufmann