Each month, I put my heart into one of my most favorite pastimes: crafting a letter to each member of the Ignited Fam. I search all over for the best tour announcements that I can share that you probably haven’t gotten wind of yet. I hunt around on the internet until I find an album or track that literally JUST got released. I put a lot of thought into what I could give you this month (for free) that you would just squeal with excitement to receive, should you be the lucky winner. And, I work with artists whose work and talents are prevalent and well-known and ask them to create a playlist just. for. you.

I realized that if you’re not in the Ignited Fam (fix that, will ya?) that you’re missing out on all of this, and in some ways, you don’t even know what you’re missing out on. So, I’ve decided to change that. I will release a little teaser from the curated playlist and some cool facts about the artist selected.

In June, Matthew Davis Buehrer was kind enough to put together a few of his favorite tracks for you. Matthew is from Houston. He’s a musician, an audio engineer, and part owner of the first Meta Music Label in Texas, Yawp Records. He grew up in an audio production family who has helped design and install countless audio/video systems in all sizes of venues, churches, and studios. His dad’s old studios, Ludwig and Sounds Right Sounds, were both pioneering new audio practices alongside national names well before he was born.

Here’s what he had to say about Yawp Records, supporting the local scene and one of the bands, VODI, that he chose for the playlist.

The focus of Yawp Records is improving the music “industry” as a whole by focusing our attentions on improving the average living wage for musicians and production personnel by creating rock solid standards of business in our art forum. Meta is in reference to the abstract parameters commonly overlooked from a spectators view of our industry. It is our mission to reconfigure outdated practices by utilizing advanced technologies and forward thinking research and development to mold a new generation of true music support.

 We have had a massively busy year working alongside WITS (writers in the school) to bring more music into education, recently threw a kids music fest, installed performance capable audio rigs in various museums, hotels, and coworking spaces, handled booking for several venues, breweries, and events, and will be opening up a fully loaded high tech soundstage by the end of Summer. Also, be on the lookout in mid June for the release of info on a videogame soundtrack we are currently working on. In the next couple of months we will also be assisting in the continued progress of a venue run by a charity focused on the rehabilitation of veterans through music and taking over a television broadcast studio.

 It’s obvious we are deep in everything related to music and I commonly get asked what is the way an every day person can contribute to the renovation of the music industry. It’s way easier than you think. First, you can join me for BARGAR every two weeks! BARAGAR (buy a record, give a record) is something I’ve been doing since the beginning of the year where I buy a local record for myself, and someone I’m close to. This gives us the mutual experience of exploring a local group and creating buzz about our friends! I also make it a point to go to at least 3 local shows for every national one I go to. Another great way to help your homegrown music is to find out what venues are paying their bands well and be loyal to those venues. Remember, the ONLY way you can make a better music industry is by supporting your locals so blast their songs in your ride, wear their merch, and go out to the shows!

Vodi is everything the Cali sound ever wanted with the gray area lyrical content you’d expect from experienced Texas artists. I would challenge you to explore all the members of this band.

Their individual works are the stuff of songwriting legend. Tom Lynch, Haley ‘Dollie’ Barnes, and the ever friendly Tank Lisenbe are the kind of artists who write better music than any national artist at the moment and will still shoot the breeze with you over anything and nothing. This is the very first release from this collective and anything else they put out is going to be amazing. Keep your eye on this one.

These events and live recordings were produced by the team at Yawp Record. Connect with Matthew and the team at YAWP Records, his band Runaway Sun, or with him on twitter. Hear his entire curated playlist in this month’s letter to the Ignited Fam by signing up at www.thelaurenignited.com/win.

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