Anne-Marie Jennings
Northern News Services

FORT SMITH (Aug 31/98) - Fort Smith may not be known as a place where up and coming artists can go to record their music, but Bill Wade he wants to change that perception.

As the owner of Shadowland Records, Wade makes it his business to find musicians who he thinks should be heard by a larger audience.

Wade is also looking into expanding the profile of Shadowland Records, and has plans to become better known across Canada and the world.

"I'm planning a trip to Toronto to meet with some music magazines, with music promoters, going to visit the record labels and music distribution companies to see what can be done to get wide-scale distribution of NWT artists," he said.

"I'm also going to Cannes, France in January to attend a world music trade show for people who are interested in getting into the European market."

Wade says there are a number of challenges he faces in trying to operate a recording studio, many of which are unique to the North. He says the risk of power outages is much higher, forcing Shadowland Records to ensure that they have a number of back-up systems in place.

Another challenge, according to Wade, is that "Few musicians up here have studio experience, so in many ways they are a tabula rasa -- an open book. Usually, a lot of developmental work has to be done."

But there are definite advantages to working at such a disadvantage, and Wade has learned to thrive under such conditions.

"We've had to learn to do everything in-house," Wade said. "We haven't had access to the same size network of studio musicians as other studios, but I now have a network through the Internet."

If Wade is looking for a certain instrument for a track on a recording project, he can now turn to a network of musicians from coast to coast. He can send them the track via cyberspace using RealAudio or MP3 sound program. The artists can listen, record and mix their own contributions to whatever track.

The advances in the communications industry -- largely due to available computer technology -- makes running a record label from Fort Smith much easier.

"I sold my first CD over the Internet last week," he said.