A Limewire Q&A with Paul Roper, General Manager of Dualtone:

What was the first release on Dualtone?

Paul: Jim Lauderdale, The Other Sessions. Given that we've put out about eight Jim Lauderdale records, this was a good one to start with.

Any band or artist you regret not signing?

There are a bunch. Old Crow Medicine Show, Avett Brothers, Los Lonely Boys. If we were samurai, we would have fallen on our swords several times over those.

Dualtone headquarters are in Nashville, a city with a pretty rich musical history. What's the current scene there like? Any Nashville bands we should check out?

Nashville has changed quite a bit since the label started up. Scott (the label president) always jokes about how they discussed getting a 212 or a 512 area code in the beginning so as not be too entrenched and positioned in the "country" bubble, but a lot of that mindset has changed these days. The indie-rock singer-songwriter scene has really developed here — you have bands like Hot Hot Heat, Paper Route, and The Pink Spiders getting signed from Nashville, and that really helps transform the identity and the culture. It's not all cowboy boots and hats anymore. Independent artists like the Hotpipes, Matthew Perryman Jones, and Katie Herzig are getting major film/TV placement on major networks. Jason Moon has done a tremendous job as well, in the development of the Next Big Nashville conference to focus on breaking bands that are a little left of center. At the same time, it's important not to forget where you came from. There are legends from the old school still in this town that we have been fortunate enough to work with: Cowboy Jack Clement, Guy Clark, and Bobby Bare, to name a few. There is an authenticity to the era of music in Nashville those artists represent that will never be duplicated, regardless of genre. As far as new bands from town, I'm really excited about this band The Trigger Code. The lead singer is a school teacher, but they made this phenomenal record, and hopefully he will be able to quit his day job soon. U2, The Rolling Stones, Coldplay: it's all there, but with a voice all its own. And also, of course, there's our boys in The Deep Vibration. No one rocks harder in Nashville (or the southeast) than they do.

Dualtone released the last recordings by the late June Carter Cash, including the Grammy-winning Press On. Dualtone sort of resurrected her career and introduced her to a lot of the younger alt-country audience — that must've been really satisfying. Can you talk about the experience of working with her?

Dualtone first got involved with the Cash family when we put out the Tribute to Johnny album. Scott has always had a great knack for finding diamonds in the rough. Press On was just sitting there on a little bankrupt label, underutilized and underdeveloped. The relationship was already there with the family and management through the Tribute record, and talks began about acquiring the masters and doing a record of new material. Johnny and June invited Scott and Dan out to their house for brunch on the back porch. After breakfast, they asked them to come into the living room, where June and Johnny played them tracks they wanted to record on the upcoming CD. I still get chills when I hear that story, and I wasn't even there. The new CD became Wildwood Flower, which went on to win two Grammys and had a hit video on CMT. The whole label was at the Grammys, and we were up against the big boys: Sony, Universal, etc....and we won. John Carter (June and Johnny's son) went on stage to accept. We were all crying like little babies. Definitely a highlight. June and Johnny had passed away recently, so it was especially powerful and emotional for everyone.

You've released tribute albums to some of country music's heavy hitters, including Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash. Any other country heavyweights deserving of a proper tribute?

The tribute records are great ways for us to bring to life and re-invent country icons. Who would have thought we would have Norah Jones, Henry Rollins, Johnny Cash, John Prine, and Emmylou Harris masters in our catalog because of these records? [It's] crazy. There are tons of artists that deserve homage, but we've definitely moved on from that time as a label.

One of your current projects is The Deep Vibration, who we're all pretty excited about here at LimeWire. How did you come to work with them?

One of our interns at the time was friends with them and played us some demos. I went to a show and was blown away. We were talking about a deal a few weeks later.

Ever had to post bail for one of your artists? Any weird road stories?

Last weekend I got hit in the face by The Deep Vibration's drummer's drum stick. They finished their encore, he threw the stick into the audience, and I got hit — [there was] blood everywhere.

If Dualtone had a mascot, what would it be?

Michael Scott (The Office) bobble head. Is that a mascot? Not sure.

Finally, what's on the horizon for Dualtone?

We want to continue to work with great music — whatever that looks like in the future. It could be management, it could be a fee-based a la carte service, it could be doing a combination of it all. We are trying to brand ourselves as an "Entertainment Company" — it's not about being known as a label anymore. Artists are always going to need some level of assistance and someone to invest finances and resources. Our goal remains the same as it's always been: to help artists move from one level to the next. That next level won't be the same for everyone and success won't be the same for everyone, but you know it when you feel it. Our artist Brett Dennen was playing book stores and coffee shops when we started working with him, and now he is selling out The Fillmore and doing shows at Madison Square Garden; that is definitely a success story. There is another artist we are working with that doesn't have much going on and we just got a track placed in One Tree Hill — definitely a success with tangible results that the artist can feel. Different levels, but the same goal.