Featured Artists
Our monthly featured artist
Brandon Draper
Draper has taught at the University of New Mexico, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Johnson County Community College, East Mountain High School, Shawnee Mission West, and Kansas City Academy, led master-classes at the PAS Day of Percussion in many states, and performed at P.A.S.I.C. multiple times. With the Turkish-Jazz group Alaturka, Draper recorded, co-produced and performed on the 2013 release Yalniz (4.5 Stars - Best albums of 2013 - Downbeat Magazine). He is the co-founder of the acclaimed children's interactive music program Drum Safari with his wife and percussionist/educator Teryn. The group has been performing for children and families throughout the US since 2005 reaching an annual average of 35,000 participants. Brandon also played guitar with Ernest James Zydeco and his most recent releases are with the Draper Family Band which includes his father, famed Hammond B3 artist and songwriter.
Draper is currently a professor at the University of Kansas leading the jazz drums and world percussion studio, Afro-Cuban Ensemble, audio production in Film and Media Studies, First Year Fellowship professor, and is the director of Music Enterprise certificate combining music business and entrepreneurship. He is director of AV and contemporary worship at Trinity Lutheran Church in Shawnee KS. He holds a Bachelor degree in percussion performance from Bethany College, and a Masters of Music (cum laude) from the University of New Mexico. He is on the board of directors of the Kansas Music Hall of Fame and advisory board of KJHK Lawrence student run radio.
Industry spotlight
Harris Wilder
Harris Wilder, entertainment lawyer from The Wilder Law Firm, sits down with Danny Powell (co-founder of Heartland Song Network) for a conversation on the current music industry and gives his advice for music creatives.
For more on Harris Wilder: https://kcbusinesslawyer.com/
Industry spotlight
Shaun Crowley - Manor Records
For Manor Records, it all started in a basement of “The Shawnee Manor,” a D.I.Y. venue located in Shawnee, KS. From Glass Animals to Shy Boys, the underground venue hosted numerous local acts, as well as some national touring acts. Then, founder Shaun Crowley got the itch to host a house show music festival with the creation of Manor Fest. It started with 10 bands in one night, then grew to a two night event featuring 20 local bands from Shy Boys to BLK FLANL. After years passed and a community was built, it was time for the boys to move out of the deteriorating house.
In October of 2017, we officially launched as Manor Records. A DIY record label based on the foundation of infamous D.I.Y. venue The Shawnee Manor. Manor Record is a label that takes no money or profits from our artists, is hands-on, and self-run, with intentions of good music from good people. We began by hosting showcases featuring local and regional bands in addition to putting out cassette releases. In the summer of 2019, after growing as a label for two years, we decided to bring back the idea of Manor Fest. Manor Fest 3 came to Kansas City with 33 bands spread across three nights
in different regions of the city. We hosted showcases in traditional & non-traditional venues and featured up & coming locals such as bigfatcat and regional favorites such as Paul Cherry. After successfully putting on our first large sized festival, we realized that it was an event that helped promote and propel local artists to larger platforms. There was a need and hope to bring it as a regular event for the Kansas City music scene to look forward to every summer.
Alongside the festival, Manor Records has been actively providing booking, tour management, cassette releases, blog premieres/reviews, marketing and promotion services for indie acts all over the midwest. None of this would be possible without the addition of our new board members Skylar Rochelle, Kayla Jarrett, and Connor Randell who voluntarily joined the Manor Records team along the way.
On October 20th of 2023 Shaun will be opening a new record store location for Manor Records in the West Bottoms in the basement of The 12th Street Post that will hold over 4,000 records and host live events!