LV MUSIC: Fledgling firm used family ties to land national rapper for Valley show
A fledgling area record label and management company was able to land hot up-and-coming rapper Saigon for its first show in the Lehigh Valley because of family ties.
Saigon, who will perform at 8 p.m. today at The Firehouse in Bethlehem, is a cousin of Jersey City rapper Crusafix, who is represented by Track Masons, a Reading-based record label started by Dana Barrack.
Saigon will headline a show that also will include Crusafix and other Track Masons artists Bee Ez of Far Rockaway, Queens, N.Y., and Rukus of Wilkes-Barre.
Barrack says he got his start in the music business while a student at Wilkes College in Wilkes-Barre, from where he graduated in 2006. Barrack worked at college radio station WCLH-FM.
“I always welcomed any local talent that had a demo or music,” Barrack said. “That’s how it began.”
In 2006 he started Track Masons, looking to manage acts — booking shows for them, promoting them and seeking out record labels.
But after producing two compilation albums by having local artists recording over “mix-tape-style stuff,” Barrack met Bee Ez and deciding to work on a solo album with him.
Bee Ez introduced Barrack to Crusafix. Rukus contacted them after they had produced a few shows.
With three artists, Barrack’s focus turned to becoming a record label a year and a half ago.
Track Masons now is working with three producers — Chef Boy-R-Beatz (his original partner Juan Carlos), TooMuch and Def 22′z, and already has released five albums and an EP, with three more albums coming out in 2011, Barrack said.
Track Masons also began looking for opportunities to showcase its artists and began booking shows. That’s when Barrack said Crusafix told him to reach out to Saigon, who was finishing up his long-awaited disc “Greatest Story Never Told,” set for release Feb. 15.
Saigon is the first national act Track Masons has booked. The Lehigh Valley’s Solid Ground Entertainment is helping to produce the show.
“At this point, I’m trying to provide opportunities for these guys,” Barrack says of his artists. “Placement, shows, radio spins, whatever I can do to get them heard. We have talent on the roster.”
SAIGON, with Crusafix, Bee Ez , Rukus and others to be announced; 8 p.m. today, The Firehouse, 217 Broadway, Bethlehem. Tickets $15 at the door. Info: 484-821-0622
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