Pearl Jam Faces an Epic Crossroads

Pearl Jam is finishing mixing and mastering its next album and will be gearing up for the scheduled Nov. 19 release.

At the same time, the band, or at least its management, has been engaged in another kind of activity--looking for a new contract.

The new album will be the last under the Seattle band’s current deal with Epic Records and the group has been exploring what kind of deal might be available from other companies.

So what are Eddie Vedder and company worth these days?

That depends, say most label executives contacted by Pop Eye. Some of them have met with band manager Kelly Curtis, who did not return a call for comment, as well as others who plan to meet with him.

The biggest questions have to do with the band’s intent. Several prominent A&R; executives, who asked that their names not be used because it could affect their potential dealings with Pearl Jam, pointed to the band’s well-known aversion to the pop spotlight--no videos, few interviews and so on.

This, they say, is a band that could be as big as U2 but has chosen not to be, as reflected in sales of its last few albums. The most recent, 2000’s “Binaural,” sold about 700,000 in the U.S.--healthy but shy of mega-star, or mega-contract, status.

Still, the band has recorded solid sales from its unprecedented 2000 and 2001 release of more than 40 complete concert recordings, each of which has sold between 25,000 and 30,000 copies for a total topping more than a million worldwide.

That bespeaks the kind of rabid fan base that cannot be discounted.

“They would have to demonstrate that they’re willing to do the work that Bruce Springsteen and U2 are willing to do,” one executive says. “It’s hard to find groups that have the magic that they do, and if they wanted that [stature], it would be like the MasterCard commercials--they would be priceless.”

Numerous references were made to R.E.M.’s 1996 contract with Warner Bros. that was worth an estimated $80 million, which many believe did not pay off for the company. Especially with the shaky state of the music business today, the consensus is that the same kind of deal is not out there waiting for Pearl Jam.

Three scenarios are deemed most likely:

* The band stays with Epic. The fact that Epic retains Pearl Jam’s valuable catalog gives both the band and the company extra incentive to continue working together.

* Pearl Jam goes to DreamWorks Records to rejoin executive Michael Goldstone, who originally signed the band at Epic and supervised its biggest hits.

* Pearl Jam goes independent. The most intriguing option is supported by several A&R; executives, but although many have discussed this route, no act at its level has ever done so.

“This would be the perfect band to go indie,” one executive says. “They could do a direct deal where they could get $7 an album and still sell half a million with even minimal promotion. If I were them, that’s what I’d do. I don’t know that a major label adds value for them.”

NONE THE SOONER: Nashville band Sixpence None the Richer has been mighty quiet since its song “Kiss Me” was the most played on U.S. radio in 1999. Rather than quickly follow up the 1997 album containing that hit and build on its momentum, the group has waited to release a new set, “Divine Discontent,” due Oct. 29.

Don’t blame the band. It finished the album in 2000 and was ready to release it that fall. But the small label it was on, Squint, was sold and became tied up in legal questions. Only now is the band in the clear, with Reprise Records as its new home.

“It was nice to have a little break, but not 2 1/2 years,” singer Leigh Nash says.

The group didn’t just let the album sit during the forced layoff, though.

Once the legal issues were settled a couple of months ago, the quintet returned to the studio and recorded four new songs to replace others that, Leigh says, had “grown old to us.” The new songs address some of the emotions encountered while in limbo.

“There’s a new song called ‘Tonight’ which, when I sing it, it reminds me of the feeling of throwing your hands up and saying, ‘What are we supposed to do?’ ” she says. “It’s a feeling like you have no control over your future or present.”

BE-JEWELED: Jewel will take a break from touring amphitheaters with her band for a Sept. 27 acoustic show at the relatively intimate Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The show is sponsored by Acura, and tickets will be given away by radio stations to their listeners in the Southeast and by the car company to customers it has designated VIPs.

Spun off from other Honda- and Acura-sponsored tours (with Brian Wilson, Paul Simon, Santana, Blink-182 and Incubus among the headliners), the event may be the start of a series of similar events around the country.

The concept is similar to the Miller Brewing Co.-sponsored Blind Date shows, but this time the artist will be promoted and not kept a mystery, says Rob Tonkin, president and CEO of Venice-based Marketing Factory, which put the show together.

“We’ve talked about doing different artists in different parts of the country,” he says. “This could be something that also works for developing acts in residencies. MTV is doing something called the $2Billseries of shows. There’s no reason a corporation couldn’t do the same thing. And my view is there’s no reason why artists won’t participate, as long as it’s not too overt and not going to be perceived as the artists selling themselves to the corporate devil, so to speak.”

SMALL FACES: Trent Reznor and Zack de la Rocha have begun working together on tracks intended for De la Rocha’s first solo album since leaving Rage Against the Machine. The sessions are taking place at Reznor’s New Orleans studio. Dan the Automator, DJ Shadow and the Roots’ ?uestlove are among the producers who have collaborated on tracks. No release date has been set....

Brian Setzer and his orchestra have recorded “Boogie Woogie Christmas,” due Oct. 8 on Surfdog Records. The album features Setzer and Ann-Margret in a duet on “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” and a version of “Blue Christmas” with Setzer providing all five harmony background voices under the guise of the Briannaires....

A collection of 97 musicians, 74 singers and 68 songwriters all connected to the famed Muscle Shoals, Ala., soul scene have teamed for “One Voice,” a two-CD set of new songs to benefit the New York Police & Fire Widows’ & Children’s Benefit Fund and the Todd Beamer Foundation, formed by the family of a passenger on Flight 93 last Sept. 11. The project was produced by singer-songwriter Tonya Holly, and organized by her and husband Kelvin, who was once Little Richard’s lead guitarist. One song, “The Day,” also features a chorus of more than 1,000 people, including many firefighters and police officers. The album is due Sept. 3.

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Steve Hochman is a regular contributor to Calendar.