I will Will Dailey daily

This is not a blog, a bio or an email. This is a mission statement.

Today, after two years spent in professional purgatory, I received a certified letter stating that I, at last, am a free musician. In 2011, a major label knocked on my door after hearing the album I had just mastered: Will Dailey and the Rivals. They offered me a deal - I signed. It seemed like the organic path, the same one I had followed since kicking off my musical career in 2004. Unfortunately, the knock on my door was accompanied by a calamitous sequence of events all at the expense of my music. For the first time since the release of Goodbye Red Bullet, I felt my career and efforts were slipping backwards in direct opposition with what had long been, has always been, a steady forward-march.

I kept putting forth my best effort with the label’s ideas and goals, but in the end, I was uncomfortable with new plans they were proposing. I no longer felt safe making music with them. I laid down my case explaining that we would both be better off if we agreed to part ways. To their credit and the credit of my management, I was allowed to leave upon request. In a somewhat unprecedented show of cordiality, thankfully, I was able to retain full control of all my music.

So here I am today, a new man placed in a new year - a free artist in this age of free music, uncertainty and infinite change. Big industry debacles such as this experience often have the power to derail a band or corrupt a songwriter. However, I feel not only liberated, but also keenly aware of a sense that I’ve been reborn (revived). If I have to, I’m ready to sell my car again just to serve the army of songs that I have in my pocket eager for a new home. Standing independently now, onward I march, joined by my amazing team of colleagues, my close friends, family and my remarkably dedicated fans.

Music is my first memory. It has always been my way - it is who I am. In the weeks to come, fortified with the wealth of knowledge I’ve consumed over the past 10 years, I will be teaming up with Pledge Music and my fans to make my next album. The goal of this song collection is to celebrate this journey and the rewards of enduring artistic struggles. With you, I’m fully confident that the mission will be a success. What we leave behind will be an honest and invigorating album. You are the ears and hearts where my songs find a home.

This not a blog, a bio or an email. This is a mission statement.

The studio is waiting and so is the road. I have too many new songs busting loose behind my eyes. They will be finding you soon.

Happy 2013. Stay tuned and thank you! - Will Dailey