| Real people making honest music Wepecket (wee-PECK-it) Island Records is dedicated to keeping American traditional music alive by recording living masters of the music and encouraging emerging artists to reflect the qualities of traditional music in their original work. 
In keeping with our motto, all the performers in our family are true "masters" of their craft. They are also involved with the process of finding, learning and promulgating songs of our heritage.Our artists also have interests and careers outside of music ranging from early childhood development, outdoor leadership, and social justice to the environment, ancient languages, anthropology and goldsmithing. In addition, they are much more interested in connecting with their audiences than achieving stardom. In fact, most of them feel strongly that the star system of modern show business is antithetical to making good, honest music. | |
| The company Everyone at Wepecket is committed to making the best music possible available to as wide an audience as we can find for our artists. Each of us cares deeply about the music and our community of musicians, technicians, marketers, artists and researchers. As a measure of that commitment, everyone on our staff is also an owner of shares in the company. Jim Bennett  succumbed to cancer on Nov. 30, 2011, after a long and fierce battle, at the age of 65.
He was Wepecket's semi-official Folklorist. A terrific banjo, mandolin and guitar player, Jim's knowledge, understanding and love of traditional music ran deep and true. He was the company's first investor. His playing on several Wepecket records as a back-up musician only scratches the surface of the value he brought to our day-to-day and long-term operations.Don Barry  brings a wide and deep range of talents to Wepecket. Don was the force behind making Wepecket a functioning business, and serves on Wepecket's Board of Directors. On any give day you might find him operating the PA system, producing a recording session, playing bass with a bluegrass band or guiding the company through a difficult business decision. He's also that guy you see in traffic delays playing his ukulele. Jessica Bregoli  brings a wide and deep range of talents to Wepecket. An accomplished scultor and designer, Jessica has also worked as a restaurant manager, both in the "front-of-the-house" and in overall management. She is a vital force behind display materials design, marketing overview and conference and concert representation. She also works with our Penikese division, helping yet-undiscovered talent find ways to bring their music out into the world.Paula Frederick  is a talented designer and cartoonist. Her illustrations and design work grace our website as well as our CD covers, tray cards and booklets. She is also possessed of an excellent grasp of the language and keeps a watchful eye on our prose and promotion. She was also responsible for our logo re-design last year. Check out the new "swag" she designed for us: bumper/instrument-case stickers for any occasion.
Paula also operates her own design business in Duxbury, Pawluh Designs.Goldie Radcliffe  is our mascot. She claims to be a golden retriever, but we're really not sure, as there were no papers for her at the adoption agency when we got her. She can most often be found perched atop a monitor speaker during a Rolling Roots performance, and loves to sit up on the dashboard of the van when we're traveling. She has her own Facebook page, as well. Give her a poke.Andrew Lewis  is an Account Executive for Penikese Productions.He is also an accomplished singer/songwriter, as well as a folksinger. Andrew has a wide and deep range of knowledge and experience in acoustic music. | |
| About our name ... Wepecket is a tiny island (maybe two acres) and two even smaller piles of rocks 500 yards off the northwestern shore of Naushon Island in Buzzards Bay off the coast of Massachusetts. The name is derived from the Wampanoag word "Wepu" for "narrow," hence "Wepu-ket:" "narrow strait." Some geographers consider Wepecket the smallest of eight islands in the Elizabeth archipelago. Others consider it an anomalous outcropping that is really part of Naushon Island. 
Fishermen have always been attracted to the spot because its combination of shoal and deep water, tumbling rocks and abundant sea vegetation and shellfish makes it a great feeding and breeding ground for bass, bluefish, scup and other species of cold water fish. Fishing birds, as well, like to hunt the waters surrounding the little chunks of glacial debris. The Great Black-backed Gull is among the birds that nest there, and ospreys, once almost extinct in this region, include the pickings on and around Wepecket in their mealtime rounds. You'll also see piping plovers, cormorants, black ducks, Mergansers and several varieties of terns, including the endangered Roseate (whose principal breeding ground is West by Northwest about 10 miles away on Ram Island, off the coast of Mattapoisett Neck). Since the performers and the music we record are themselves an  endangered species, when it was time to name our fledgling label back in 2004, it seemed an appropriate choice. Our mission remains the same: Preserving traditional American music and spreading its message through the recordings of modern masters of the craft.We also find an affinity between traditional music's homemade approach and the more gentle way of getting into the outdoors exemplified by sail and paddle power. Jack Radcliffe, President, Packer/Shipper and Dishwasher, Wepecket Island Records, Inc. For more information call me at 508-292-5632. |
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--------------------------------------------------------------------  Wepecket Island Records 573 Rockdale Ave., New Bedford, MA 02740 p: 508.292.5632 e-mail: info@wepecket.com © Copyright 2003-, Wepecket Island Records, Inc. All rights reserved. Host your web site with IPOWER! |