Stella

Music has always been an escape for me, and at times my salvation. My parents are to thank for that. They exposed me to great music at an early age. When it came to music there were never any rules or limitations. Maybe that is because my dad was a musician himself. He was a drummer with a Tampa Bay local band Jr & The Dimensions. Their band played all over Florida from high school on and recorded a 2-song 45lp in 1966. They released one single “I Heard That You Loved Me Again” that gained radio airplay. Not to mention that they were able to play with some of the best musicians for their time in the Tampa Bay area that would go on to play with great national bands such as Blues Image, Iron Butterfly, Alice Cooper (Mike Pinera), The Eagles, The Bee Gee’s, John Couger Mellenkamp, Jackson Browne, Eric Clapton, Stephen Stills (Joe Lala), Arthur, Hurley & Gottlieb (Jeff Arthur) and the most successful of all, Stephen Stills of Crosby, Stills and Nash. Yep, you heard right, Stephen Stills grew up right here in Tampa. Thanks to well-known veteran disc jockey Tedd Webb, he has a website that has any and all information about Tampa Bay musicians and bands, how they got started and where they are now. Check it out at: www.teddwebb.com . Not bad for a smaller city.In 1992, I met Linda Castellano, another well-known musician in the area. She had a recording studio and she gave me a shot. I began working nights, counting beats on a reel, recording musicians and finding my niche. Linda and her nephew Troy taught everything they could. That experience changed me. At that time, the place to be was in NYC, LA or Nashville if you wanted to be in the music industry. That was not an option for me. I was married at the time and pregnant with my daughter Alyssa. Once Alyssa arrived, my life and focus changed again.When 2004 rolled around, I began working for Live Nation at the Ford Amphitheatre at the Florida State Fairgrounds. I managed the office and scouted, booked and ran the B-Stage. We had some great bands such as My Chemical Romance, Taking Back Sunday, Anberlin, Thrice, Luna Halo, Lennon, The Plain White T’s, Shiny Toy Guns, Michael Tolcher, Matt White, Gumbi Ortiz, along with hot Florida bands such as Radio Reset, Weszt, Late Night Brass, American Supermodel, Colour Slide, Truly Sunday, Isn't She Lovely, Brad Conner and Long Shot, J.T. Curtis and The Silver Eagle Band, The Urbane Cowboys, Hat Trick Heros, The Secret State, Kessler, Diamond Gray and Ladyfish to name a few. This is where I have had the privilege to meet most of you and also forging great relationships with some great people. Say what you will about Live Nation, but they gave me a great foundation to work from and gave me an excellent opportunity to meet and work with influential people in this business.The most valuable lesson’s I have learned from being in various facets of this industry is how to do good business and bad business, and good business means consistent business. In this industry if you can learn to weed through the poser’s, user's and evildoer's and are able to recognize the people who work along with you and are honest about it are what I call “Golden Eggs". They are rare and few and far between. Don't get me wrong, I have made my share of mistakes, and those mistakes have led me to the GREAT artist and bands I have been fortunate to work with.Recently I finished a project with Champion Boxer Winky Wright's Pound 4 Pound Records artist RADIO RESET. The boys were GREAT to work with and they are AWESOME! They are the one's who gave me the nickname STELLA. The boy's were the first project I tackled after leaving Live Nation and it was a great experience. They are very talented. Some of the situations we put them in were not your normal rock n’ roll moments. But with each odd pairing they shined brighter and brighter each time and gained more and more fans. One such situation, RADIO RESET was the first rock band to play the Hip Hop Soda Shop here in Tampa. For those of you who don't know what that is, it is a restaurant backed by Russell Simmons and Dr. Ben Chavis. They have gaming and host gaming tournaments with XBOX controller's at your tables and huge HD flat screens and TV's everywhere so you can play games. They showcase new artist and have a sweet state-of-the-art recording studio that Busta Rhymes christened on the Grand Opening. When they asked us to play their 1st Annual New Years Eve Bash we accepted knowing we would be paired up with some great urban artist. So needless to say, the boy's rocked the house that night. Not only did they jam Jay Z's "Rock Boy's" along with special guest MC’s Gage and J-Sin from The Basiqs and horn players from Florida's leading college Marching Band FAMU and Bethune-Cookman, who added that extra BAM! The urban world was turned upside down that night....many even converted. Along with a few trip's to Vegas to play in the casino's and opening for Common to a nearly sold out crowd at Studio 54 in the MGM Grand, there were definitely some STELLAR moments. It was a pleasure working for them and I hope to work on different projects with them again in the future. They are and always will be one of those groups that are close my heart.Currently, I am working with Marvin Winans, Jr., artist and CEO of M2 Entertainment as their Online Community Manager. He is the son of Marvin and Vicki Winans from the very talented Grammy Award winning Winans family. Although this is a slightly different area for me, I am extremely honored and excited to be working for such an accomplished artist. Marvin has such a clear vision and an incredible infectious spirit, I know my prayers have not fallen on deaf ears. I am confident this is just another step in the right direction for me.WestWindr' Music is the sister company to WestWindr' Production here in Tampa and I work their A&R Department and Booking. We submit new music to Major Labels and get your name and music out there to the one's who can "MAKE IT HAPPEN". We are working with the classic rock group KANSAS’ violinist and vocalist Robbie Steinhardt. Robbie is putting together Steinhardt and Staff. They will be heading out on the road in early 2009. Orlando band, The James Boyd Band did an awesome cover of “Dust In The Wind” produced by Grammy Award winning producer Gary Carolla. The song has been gaining airplay on Orlando radio stations. I look forward to hearing it on the radio here in the Tampa Bay and getting them down to Tampa to play a show.WestWindr' Production has been in the Merchandise Business for over 25 years. They have toured with great national artist from The Rolling Stones to Matchbox Twenty. We work with local radio stations, festivals, tours and band management. They can take care of all your Merchandising needs to sell on the road or online.If you would like more information regarding WestWindr' Music or WestWindr' Production, please contact me here.I will keep you updated as to new projects, new shows and whatever is in the works.~Stella