Beatnik Turtle is an indie rock band from Chicago formed in 1998. Beatnik Turtle plays alternative pop-rock "with a sense of humor." The band is made up of guitars, bass, keyboards, drums, and a horn section that includes: saxes, trumpets, and trombone. Their sound is rooted in the song-based pop-rock sound of They Might Be Giants, Fountains of Wayne, The Saw Doctors, Barenaked Ladies, Cracker, Cake, and The Beatles. In 2006, Beatnik Turtle published an online guide for indie bands called the Indie Band Survival Guide. The Indie Band Survival Guide is a free, 100+ page resource licensed under a Creative Commons license and shares "everything they've learned to date" about running and being in an indie band. Topics include the importance of digital distribution, promotion, copyright, and more. One section called File Sharing: An Independent Band's Perspective discusses file sharing from an indie band's point-of-view and argues that file sharing is good for indie bands with research based on important works from Lawrence Lessig, Janis Ian, Eben Moglen, and others. In 2007, Beatnik Turtle began TheSongOfTheDay.com where they are offering an original, free-to-download song every day during 2007.
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Band Members
- Beatnik Turtle band members include:
- Jason Feehan - Vocals, Guitar
- Tom Roper - Guitar
- John Owens - Drums, Vocals
- Randy Chertkow - Saxes, Vocals
- Dave Hallock - Trumpet
- Chip Hinshaw - Trombone
- Tom Susala - Bass Guitar
A number of other musicians frequently perform with Beatnik Turtle.
Discography
- Beatnik Turtle has released five album-length CDs:
- All In A Day's Work (2007), produced for the 2007 Record Production Month (RPM) Challenge
- Thanks For Coming Out! Beatnik Turtle Live! (2006)
- The Cheapass Album (2004) (Music based on games from Cheapass, with album cover art by Phil Foglio)
- Santa Doesn't Like You (2002) (also known as "The Un-Holiday Album")
- What We've Got (2001)
Airplay
- WLUW
- Chicago Public Radio's Eight Forty-Eight
- Dr. Demento
