Ninth Street Opus is an independent record label

Record label

In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...

 in Berkeley, CA. Founded in 2008 by producer Wayne Skeen, Opus is a genre-agnostic label, with recordings that focus on artists with strong live musical performances. Their catalog’s recordings have dipped into folk

Folk music

Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

, country

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

, rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

, jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 and alternative rock

Alternative rock

Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

 music genres. Opus offers management, tour support, Internet and traditional marketing and promotion, long term career and fan building and publishing.

Artists

The artist roster has seen steady growth since the label’s start (see complete discography). The first band to sign on to Ninth Street Opus in 2008 was Blame Sally

Blame Sally

Blame Sally is a collaboration of four solo female singer-songwriters from San Francisco who have recorded and performed together frequently over the past decade...

. Their first album with the label, Night of 1000 Stars, was released in May 2009. Shortly thereafter, Opus released Carrie Rodriguez

Carrie Rodriguez

Carrie Luz Rodriguez is a Mexican-American singer-songwriter and the daughter of Texan singer-songwriter David Rodriguez and well-known Texas painter Katy Nail, and is the granddaughter of prolific Texas essayist Frances Nail. She sings and plays the fiddle, mandobird and tenor guitar...

’ Love and Circumstance which remained in the top three on Billboard (magazine)

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

’s Americana Charts for over six weeks. In the winter of 2010, Opus released Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion’s album “Bright Examples”, produced by Andy Cabic

Andy Cabic

Andy Cabic is a folk rock singer-songwriter, and lead member of the band Vetiver.He was born in Virginia and attended school at the University of North Carolina Greensboro, where he played in a band called The Raymond Brake...

 and Thom Mohanan of Vetiver

Vetiver

Chrysopogon zizanioides, commonly known as vetiver , is a perennial grass of the Poaceae family, native to India. In western and northern India, it is popularly known as khus. Vetiver can grow up to 1.5 metres high and form clumps as wide. The stems are tall and the leaves are long, thin, and...

 and includes artists such as Gary Louris

Gary Louris

Gary Louris is a guitarist, singer, and songwriter of alternative country and pop music. He was a founding member of the Minneapolis-based band The Jayhawks, and their principal songwriter and vocalist after the departure of Mark Olson; he is often credited with the band's subsequent move from...

 and Mark Olson

Mark Olson

Mark W. Olson was a member of the Board of Governors of the U.S. Federal Reserve from 2001 to 2006. Filling an unexpired term to end on January 31, 2010, he resigned on June 21, 2006 in order to run the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.-Biography:In 1943, Mark W. Olson was born on March...

 of the Jayhawks.

Along with long term “label artists”, Opus also works on projects on an individual basis. These projects have included recordings with young artists looking for a professional album to tour with, side projects of signed artists and longer termed series projects with various artists.

Studio

Opus Studios, also located in the Ocean View

Ocean View

Ocean View may refer to:In Australia:*Ocean View, QueenslandIn New Zealand*Ocean View, New ZealandIn South Africa*Ocean View, Cape Town, a suburban community in Cape Town, also known as Slangkop, made up of so-called coloured people that were forcibly removed from Simon's Town, Noordhoek, Glencairn...

 district of West Berkeley, is a state of the art studio which includes a 48 channel mixer and a plethora of instruments including a grand piano, vintage mics, a Hammond B3 and harmonium

Harmonium

A harmonium is a free-standing keyboard instrument similar to a reed organ. Sound is produced by air being blown through sets of free reeds, resulting in a sound similar to that of an accordion...

 available for recording artists to use. The studio includes a glass vocal booth, control room and large tracking room so full bands can record together live.

Chief engineer/studio manager, Dave Luke, has 32 years under his belt with Platinum, Gold, Grammy and Academy Award Winning Projects in his resume.

Along with founder, Wayne Skeen, in-house producers include San Francisco duo, The Rondo Brothers

The Rondo Brothers

The Rondo Brothers are a musical collaboration between multi-instrumentalists and producers Diamond Jim and The Bastard Prince from San Francisco, California.-Origins & Background:...

. The Rondo Brothers, Jim Greer and Brandon Arnovick, formally joined the Opus team after producing the first recordings of Rondo Sessions with The Kin. They continue to build upon their artistic and commercial clients including a 2011 Rondo Session planned with Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion.

Discography

Year	Title	Artist	Label
2009	"Night of 1000 Stars"	Blame Sally Blame Sally Blame Sally is a collaboration of four solo female singer-songwriters from San Francisco who have recorded and performed together frequently over the past decade...	Ninth Street Opus
2009	"Corner of the World"	Luce	Ninth Street Opus
2009	"Paper City"	The Real Nasty The Real Nasty The Real Nasty is a Berkeley, California country/rock music-based band. Members are Ryan Lukas , Jacob Groopman and Matthew “Smitty” Smith...	Ninth Street Opus
2009	"There is No Reason Here"	Annie Bacon and her OSHEN	Ninth Street Opus
2009	"The Pam and Jeri Show"	The Pam and Jeri Show	Ninth Street Opus
2010	"The Year We’ll Have"	Luce	Ninth Street Opus
2010	"Love and Circumstance"	Carrie Rodriguez Carrie Rodriguez Carrie Luz Rodriguez is a Mexican-American singer-songwriter and the daughter of Texan singer-songwriter David Rodriguez and well-known Texas painter Katy Nail, and is the granddaughter of prolific Texas essayist Frances Nail. She sings and plays the fiddle, mandobird and tenor guitar...	Ninth Street Opus
2010	"Felsen Loves You"	Felsen	Ninth Street Opus
2010	"Live at Stern Grove Festival"	Blame Sally Blame Sally Blame Sally is a collaboration of four solo female singer-songwriters from San Francisco who have recorded and performed together frequently over the past decade...	Ninth Street Opus
2010	"From the Echo"	Cyndi Harvell	Ninth Street Opus
2010	"Bright Examples" (EP)	Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion	Ninth Street Opus
2010	"The Kin Rondo Sessions EP (US)"	The Kin	Ninth Street Opus
2010	"The Kin Rondo Sessions EP (UK)"	The Kin	Ninth Street Opus
2010	"The Kin Rondo Sessions EP (Japan)"	The Kin	Ninth Street Opus
2010	"Strangers and Friends"	The Real Nasty The Real Nasty The Real Nasty is a Berkeley, California country/rock music-based band. Members are Ryan Lukas , Jacob Groopman and Matthew “Smitty” Smith...	Ninth Street Opus
2011	"We Still Love Our Country"	Carrie Rodriguez Carrie Rodriguez Carrie Luz Rodriguez is a Mexican-American singer-songwriter and the daughter of Texan singer-songwriter David Rodriguez and well-known Texas painter Katy Nail, and is the granddaughter of prolific Texas essayist Frances Nail. She sings and plays the fiddle, mandobird and tenor guitar...  and Ben Kyle	Ninth Street Opus
2011	"Bright Examples- (full length LP)	Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion	Ninth Street Opus