Thursday, 3 July 2008

Jason Priestley says music industry is 'a mess' but it works








NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Jason Priestley says he got a crash course on the Nashville music industry while directing a reality series about the Canadian band the Road Hammers.

Priestley, 38, followed the Alberta group to Nashville as they sought a record deal.

"I got there as an outsider following this band who had a lot of autonomy in Canada and were basically left alone by their record label and did things how they wanted to do them and were successful," the former "Beverly Hills, 90210" star said recently.

"And here I am following them around in Nashville and they get greeted a lot with 'That's not the way we do it here' or 'Let me tell you how we do it in Nashville.' It was very interesting."

The series, "The Road Hammers," has already aired in Canada on CMT and premiered last month on the Great American Country channel, where it's currently airing in eight half-hour weekly episodes.

Priestley, who's from Vancouver, filmed the series last summer. He did a similar project a decade ago with another Canadian group, the Barenaked Ladies, following them on their U.S. tour.

"I have a lot friends who are musicians. I think I'm just fascinated by that industry," Priestley said. "It's just amazing that it works at all. It's a mess, but it works."

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On the Net: www.officialjasonpriestley.com










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