I found this post from Michelle Branch a Maverick recording artist. All I can say is...Bless you John
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Alright, I don't even know why I am still awake seeing as I have to be up in a few hours to feed Owen.

What I am most frustrated at, I suppose is...I pay money to keep this website up so all of you "fans" can talk about our music. Why would I want to spend the money so the majority of you can sit around and b1tch about us?

I understand that you are frustrated with the fact that there isn't any music for you to listen to. Don't you think Jessica and I are frustrated too?? We finished this record over a year ago and were sent on a lame ass tour we didn't want to be on. It was a horrible idea to headline a show playing music that nobody had ever heard. Maverick wanted to make a quick buck, and unfortunately, we were obligated by contract to do so. I was 5 months pregnant when we started that tour and believe me...it was the last place I wanted to be. Then I got pushed into doing a Santana song I didn't want to do (I didn't write it either, Shanks wanted me to sing it so bad, that was a bargaining tool), Maverick wouldn't let me do it unless Jess was on it so they would get "free" promotion for a record they didn't even understand or believe in for the most part. The record wasn't released because Maverick didn't want me promoting an album pregnant. they thought it would look bad to my young fans...bull.

As far as "biting the hand that feeds you"..

I would give nothing more than to play music in a ty bar and fold clothes at The Gap for a living. My "being famous" has done nothing but ruin my relationship with my parents, mostly my Father and it has made me hate doing what I used to love more than life itself...playing music. I have been pushed around and now most of you see me as someone who I never really was, and most of you can't accept the plain fact that people change and grow up and I'm not the little girl you think I am. I have a family of my own now, a baby...the last thing I could imagine doing is making music. I'm fine financially (although I don't make millions contrary to popular belief.) and being a famous musician has brought nothing to my life besides strife. (Okay, I met my wonderful husband and bandmate because of it.) I have maybe written two songs in the past year. That's ridiculous. This isn't fun for me anymore. I'm sick of sucking ^(&s to get my music heard, putting on a fake smile, and saying things that are acceptable.

On the contrary, The Wreckers album makes me very proud and excited again. It's almost like my first day at a new school. it's a fresh start. I'm finally excited to tour (although I need to find a nanny!) and I am looking forward to seeing what fans think.

You know, I CAN take the criticism. I just don't understand why I should pay for an arena for you to do it. If you are a "fan" why do you speak about Jessica and I in that way.

I never wanted to be put on a pedestal..I just wanted to make music. And believe me, many times I have thought I was going to quit. It's too much energy to pretend it's fun. You can call me a baby if you'd like, but life is too short to spend it being miserable.

This board is going to be shut down tonight. I think we all need a break. When the Wreckers album finally comes out, we'll see the ones who decided to stick around. As for the rest of you, I meant it when I said "f-off"

M

quote:

I understand that you are frustrated with the fact that there isn't any music for you to listen to. Don't you think Jessica and I are frustrated too?? We finished this record over a year ago and were sent on a lame ass tour we didn't want to be on. It was a horrible idea to headline a show playing music that nobody had ever heard. Maverick wanted to make a quick buck, and unfortunately, we were obligated by contract to do so. I was 5 months pregnant when we started that tour and believe me...it was the last place I wanted to be. Then I got pushed into doing a Santana song I didn't want to do (I didn't write it either, Shanks wanted me to sing it so bad, that was a bargaining tool), Maverick wouldn't let me do it unless Jess was on it so they would get "free" promotion for a record they didn't even understand or believe in for the most part. The record wasn't released because Maverick didn't want me promoting an album pregnant. they thought it would look bad to my young fans...bull.

Very, very interesting. The part that stood out to me most was her saying Maverick did not believe in or understand her album. That is how I always felt Maverick was with John(save for Nick), that they did not get him as an artist, his album either, and that they just wanted to make a quick buck off of him.

I can tell Michelle Branch is very frustrated. However, I don't think it's really wise to yell at her fans like that and tell them to "eff off". They are the ones who buy her albums, see her shows and if not for them then maybe her dream of working at the Gap would come true

Very interesting though.

testing

OH my goodness, what is Michelle Branch trying to prove to her fans? In a way her comments made me think about all that has happen on John's board and I feel even worse now, thanks. I hope that JOhn can forgive us for anything that was said that wasn't pleasant for him. As a fan I am truly in shock right now. But John has a passion for music and hopefully he understands that we are just overly concern about him. What happen has already happen and I guess we can only look towards the future.

quote:

Originally posted by sueanny1:
OH my goodness, what is Michelle Branch trying to prove to her fans? In a way her comments made me think about all that has happen on John's board and I feel even worse now, thanks. I hope that JOhn can forgive us for anything that was said that wasn't pleasant for him. As a fan I am truly in shock right now. But John has a passion for music and hopefully he understands that we are just overly concern about him. What happen has already happen and I guess we can only look towards the future.

I don't know what went down on Michelles board, I never lurked there. Sounds like she was frustrated over her fans being frustrated about any "lack of music" coming from her.

Regardless of what some people say, nobody here insulted or put down John. Some misconstrued our annoyance with Maverick as an attack on John. Why I have no idea. We have been supportive of John, just not the label he was under.

As for the pictures, well even in those a lot of us stood up for him in that he should not be put on a pedestal, and that he is just a normal kid and there is no harm in that

quote:

Originally posted by aimee:

quote:

Originally posted by sueanny1:
OH my goodness, what is Michelle Branch trying to prove to her fans? In a way her comments made me think about all that has happen on John's board and I feel even worse now, thanks. I hope that JOhn can forgive us for anything that was said that wasn't pleasant for him. As a fan I am truly in shock right now. But John has a passion for music and hopefully he understands that we are just overly concern about him. What happen has already happen and I guess we can only look towards the future.

I don't know what went down on Michelles board, I never lurked there. Sounds like she was frustrated over her fans being frustrated about any "lack of music" coming from her.

Regardless of what some people say, nobody here insulted or put down John. Some misconstrued our annoyance with Maverick as an attack on John. Why I have no idea. We have been supportive of John, just not the label he was under.

As for the pictures, well even in those a lot of us stood up for him in that he should not be put on a pedestal, and that he is just a normal kid and there is no harm in that

Your right Aimee, but I hope John doesn't feel like we did anything intentional to him. It was something that just happen. The pics aren't even that big of deal but I understand why John would not want them posted on here. It's all good, John knows that his fans are crazy about him and we will always support him. I know he will make a comeback and a really strong one. I hope his management team can still find him some gigs because we can't wait too long. I think I am still trying to accept the fact that he will be out of the limelight for awhile. It's rough being a fan, LOL. Good night, I need to go to bed. What Michelle Branch was a bit over the top. John is too polite to ever do anything like that. I am thinking too much, thats all.

Is this the board where you found Michelle's rant/post? http://boards.thewreckers.com/

If that's the one, she followed through with her threat to take the board down. She was either getting some major dissing from her own fanbase or she's got a big time case of baby blues.

Maverick is a mess and can't seem to get organized to do anything for their artists. The other Maverick artist I keep track of is Tyler Hilton. He was part of the "lame ass" tour Michelle was referring to (The One Tree Hill tour) and didn't get any significant exposure until he agreed to open for Hilary Duff, something his fans hated. He mostly goes to dinky bars, like his show tonight in Atlanta where he did the 7:30-9pm show and was FOLLOWED by a local act. The guy is on a popular teen tv show and had a small role in Walk The Line, surely Maverick could pursue better avenues to promote him. They also cut his first single off at the knees early this year just as it gained momentum, in order to release a song that never gained any at all. He's too nice and too new to the business to complain but he's got to be frustrated.
If you ask me, John got off easy because he doesn't have to record another album for them.

I don't know weather to be happy for her or disgusted at her. Thats bad that she was hatein on the fans but good for her for ranting about Maverick. VERY interesting.

wow...i definitely didn't know how outspoken michelle branch was...i'm a big fan of hers, and it sucks that her career is backsliding cause of the label. i think maverick is suffering some serious mismanagement and embezzlement issues...if multiple stars are unhappy...and they're not a huge-star label anyway...makes me wonder if they turn people off in the music business

quote:

The other Maverick artist I keep track of is Tyler Hilton. He was part of the "lame ass" tour Michelle was referring to (The One Tree Hill tour) and didn't get any significant exposure until he agreed to open for Hilary Duff, something his fans hated.

Carlie, do you by any chance know how many cd's Tyler has sold to date? I was not under the impression he has sold a whole lot, but I think Maverick is holding onto him because of the fact that he is also on tv and in the movies.

The sad thing is, it does sound like a pretty "lame tour" but a tour that I think John's fans would have been happy if he got to be a part of. It would have at least been "something". Cripes, Maverick could not even hook him up on a lame tour.

They stink!

quote:

wow...i definitely didn't know how outspoken michelle branch was...i'm a big fan of hers, and it sucks that her career is backsliding cause of the label. i think maverick is suffering some serious mismanagement and embezzlement issues...if multiple stars are unhappy...and they're not a huge-star label anyway...makes me wonder if they turn people off in the music business

ITA with all of this. I doubt at this point many budding stars seek Maverick out, especially with their track record.

wow, this is disturbing.

It's odd, I don't think I've ever seen any numbers on his site and couldn't get any figures via a google search but I know he hasn't gone gold and probably hasn't sold much more than 180,000 (and I'm thinking it might be a heck of a lot less, that's an optimistic guesstimate) because he only sold around 3 or 4 thousand his first week back in September 2004.
He's going from last night's dinky bar show in Atlanta to another dinky bar in Charlotte tonight,btw.
The slant seems to be that Maverick wants to squeeze money out of people -hence The OneTreeHill tour and lack of John tour because it's harder to make money off of a small jazz tour with a full band.

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Originally posted by Carlie:
It's odd, I don't think I've ever seen any numbers on his site and couldn't get any figures via a google search but I know he hasn't gone gold and probably hasn't sold much more than 180,000 (and I'm thinking it might be a heck of a lot less, that's an optimistic guesstimate) because he only sold around 3 or 4 thousand his first week back in September 2004.
He's going from last night's dinky bar show in Atlanta to another dinky bar in Charlotte tonight,btw.
The slant seems to be that Maverick wants to squeeze money out of people -hence The OneTreeHill tour and lack of John tour because it's harder to make money off of a small jazz tour with a full band.

Wow, that really stinks. Yeah, I checked and he never got onto the Billboard 200 so I had a hard time believing he could have sold that many cd's. However, he has the tv shows/movies that help him out a little. I guess if Maverick is going to "give up" on a singer they would choose John because of the type of music he seems and not have ANY idea what to do with him