Fowler All Night Sings

[ChandlerGirl695]

Hi all! I have a question. I recorded an audition for some talent scouts (who were supposedly from Nashville) about a week ago. The scouts and their production people really liked me and I found out today (through the mail) that they'd like for me to go to Branson on May 5 to record a video to be played online for people to call in and vote for my singing. This will cost around $500. If that were to get a REALLY good response from the public, then I would get to go to Nashville and compete for a $100,000 recording contract! Sounds great, right? Wrong. I am VERY reluctant about the entire thing. I have my reasons for believing that this could be a scam, but I was just wondering if anyone out there knew anything about this particular company. It comes through a Dr. Jimmy Fowler and is called something like "Fowler All Night Sings." The "video recording" is supposed to take place at the Honeysuckle Inn in Branson. SO, if anyone has any information about this, PLEASE let me know! I'm very curious to hear what y'all have to say! And if you have any questions, let me know, either in PM or right here on the board! Thanks for your time!

[Jerm]

If I were you I would call the Honeysuckle Inn and ask them if they know anything about it. They should since it is going to be there. I would be a bit reluctant if they didn't. Also I don't know where they would possibly do a video shoot there, I have stayed there and I don't know where there would be enough room for that. I would check it out! :)

[jakwi]

Could you sing a test song for any of the entertainers in the Branson area, and have them give you a honest answer on your talent first. Maybe one of the Presleys would do it for you.

[ChandlerGirl695]

Jerm: Duh... I never thought about getting in touch with the Honeysuckle Inn to see what they know about it! I will definitely have to do that! Thanks for the suggestion!

jakwi: You always crack me up! *lol* I actually did send "audition packages" to about seven theatres a little over four weeks ago... but no responses yet. BTW, Presleys' wasn't one of them... I love 'em dearly but I know I'm not good enough for their awesome show! I can only *wish* they'd evaluate me. Time will tell, I suppose!

Thanks for your replies, and keep 'em coming in!

[jakwi]

I do agree with you. They do have an awesome show.

[Cheesecake]

Dear Presleyfan....

Just my opinion here...I havent a clue about auditioning, or anything that is show business....but, in my experience in other things......the answer here is NO.....dont send money....investigate it completely. These other posters have some good ideas......but, the answer to Fowler is NO.

I emailed a professional with your dilema.....and here is just a few random comments, that I received. I sent your post, to let them read what you had said, this professional replied:

1. NO! it's not on the up and up. (And I haven't even read the first paragraph yet.) The words "talent scouts" "Nashville" and "really liked me" were the tip-offs"

2. Promotional Scams
You know all those "promotional companies" that offer to include you on a major compilation or ship your stuff to the majors for a "reasonable" fee? "In over four years in A&R," says Fitzgerald, "I've never had any of those people hand me anything." Avoid the scams. Flat, up-front fees are no good - if they really believe in your music, they'll work for a percentage of future profits.

source: http://musicians.about.com/library/weekly/aa101801a.htm

You know you have to be like a buyer and beware....you need to reallllly research this before you do anything in a hurry...ok?

Just some advice......and the advice I got came from very much a professional.....and from Nashville and Branson.....

I dont want to spoil your excitement....but I do not want you taken for a big ol ride....and I dont want you to loose 500 bucks.

Okay?

Meant with love,

Cheesecake

:)

[ChandlerGirl695]

As I mentioned in an earlier PM to another poster on this board, right now I seriously doubt that I am going to accept their offer to record the video. Quite a few things about it don't add up for me, and I just don't trust the company enough to put my name, my image, and my voice behind it. I'm sure there will be other opportunities, especially ones that will keep me in Branson and not ship me off to Nashville, where I have no desire to go whatsoever! Thanks, everyone, for your input, and feel free to keep it coming!

[Cheesecake]

Originally posted by PresleyFan
As I mentioned in an earlier PM to another poster on this board, right now I seriously doubt that I am going to accept their offer to record the video. Quite a few things about it don't add up for me, and I just don't trust the company enough to put my name, my image, and my voice behind it. I'm sure there will be other opportunities, especially ones that will keep me in Branson and not ship me off to Nashville, where I have no desire to go whatsoever! Thanks, everyone, for your input, and feel free to keep it coming!


Dear Cari,

I am relieved, and yet hate like heck to rain on someones parade. But, I think that if someone wants your music, they will not charge YOU to sing. They will be willing to share in the profits....

There are so many folks out there willing to take and not give....we have to be really careful.

I pray you have a big success in the future....just keep knocking on the doors.....one day the right one will open...and opportunity will reach out and grab ya.....

Good luck and God Bless you :)

[annemyles]

A relative of ours went to Branson this past weekend, April 20-22, to the Honeysuckle Inn where she had been promised that two of her songs would be recorded. She too, was to be given an opportunity to win $100,000.00.

There was a write-up in her local newspaper that was forwarded to me. It said that she was to appear on the Jimmy Fowler Show and sing with the All Night Gospel Singers. The show was to be broadcast live on TNN (The Nashville Network) and also on the internet.

I could not find a listing in my TV Guide for the show. So I searched the internet, especially the list of shows in Branson. I have tried every possible way to come up with something......I can't find ANYTHING on The Jimmy Fowler Show or the All Night Gospel Singers. I began to wonder at that point if this was a scam. I know that a businessman in Mobile, Alabama is "Sponsoring" her. I assume that means he is putting up at least part of the $500.00.

Does anyone have anymore information? I would love to find out if she has been taken. I doubt that she would ever tell anyone if it turns out to be a scam.

[Cheesecake]

FOWLER Wally
(b 15 Feb. '17, Bartow Co. GA; d 3 June '94) Singer, songwriter, band leader and promoter, one of the leading lights of southern white gospel music. Singing gospel in local church at 6, he was leader of a gospel quartet in Rome GA in his teens and became member of John Daniel Quartet singing baritone, first gospel quartet to become members of Grand Ole Opry '40. Scored as country songwriter with "Mommy Please Stay Home With Me Tonight' '44 (Eddy Arnold), "I'm Sending You Red Roses' '44 (Jimmy Wakeley), etc. Formed the Georgia Clodhoppers '44, performing on Knoxville's WNOX's Mid-Day Merry Go Round along with Chet Atkins; signed to Capitol '45, recorded in Atlanta with Atkins playing first session. Part of the Clodhoppers was a gospel quartet known as the Harmony Quartet; they gigged around Oak Ridge, where the atomic bomb was developed, changed their name to the Oak Ridge Quartet and played the Opry under that name three weeks after the first bomb was dropped in Japan. Early members of the Oak Ridge Quartet incl. Neal Mathews Jr. (who later joined the Jordanaires), Zeb and Zeke Turner, Bob Weber, Curly Kinsey, etc. Fowler started the famous All Night Gospel Sings at the Opry's Ryman Auditorium '49; the quartet left him '50 and became the Stone Mountain Quartet. He imported the Calvary Quartet and changed their name, but by '56 the group had disbanded. Fowler formed a new Oak Ridge Quartet around his protege Smitty Gatlin, who eventually became the owner of the group's name; by the early '60s they had become the Oak Ridge Boys. Though Fowler tried unsuccessfully to form new Oak Ridge Quartets, he was prevented by Gatlin and the new members of the Oak Ridge Boys (incl. William Lee Golden) who became a top country act of the '70s and '80s. Fowler continued to record gospel albums for Decca, Starday and King, and Wally Fowler Sings A Tribute To Elvis '77 on Dove, supported by J.D.Sumner & The Stamps. In the early '80s he moved to Branson MO, formed Wally Fowler's Tennessee Valley Boys and recorded for Nashwood. The group changed its name to the Branson Brothers and were the resident band at Silver Dollar City in Branson.

**source: Fowler bio (http://www.musicweb.uk.net/encyclopaedia/f/F140.HTM)

I dont know anything about this ....... I am just worried that folks might get taken advantage of, without complete investigation.

I just offer the above.....searched from "Fowler All Night Sings".

[ChandlerGirl695]

Here's what I know about the sponsorship thing. This comes from the letter I got from "Dr. Jimmy Fowler" and the Fowler All Night Sings.

"The singer will receieve video and audio cassettes of the Branson performance to sell and distribute all over the city and state, which could result in over 500 copies in circulation in the local area sold, over a one year time span. You could help this local singer by buying a 30 second commercial for your business which will be put on the video after the singer performs, meaning every time the recording of the singer is played, the people watching the video or listening to a cassette, will see or hear your commercial. The fee to sponsor a 30 second spot is only $100 and if the singer sells 500 copies, your cost is only 20 cents per tape to have your commercial seen and heard over and over again. Your commercial will also be on the Internet worldwide for one week at wcin.ac"

At the end, it also asks that the sponsors make their checks payable to the singer, so they can cash them locally, as they must pay in cash for their tapes when they come to Branson. Heeere fishy fishy fishy...

I also received a "poster" for the concert, and on the top, it says "Coming! Direct from Music City, LIVE IN CONCERT on the Branson Legends Opry..." What is THAT?! I've been going to Branson for 10 years and I've never heard of a Branson Legends Opry!

So, what exactly was it that tipped me off? In all the letters I get from them, the locations of the contests are in a different font than the rest of the letter, like things have just been pasted in and Xeroxed. They also claim you can turn a profit, but I have close connections (friends) in the industry who say that if people make you pay ANYTHING up front, it's probably a scam... like Cheesecake said, they should want to fund YOU... and the biggest thing? I watched the guy fill out my form and spell my name C-A-R-I, I was introduced on the recording as Cari, and when the letter came, it was addressed to Carl. That shows, to me, that absolutely no one listened to the tape in the first place. Now, I'm not saying that I know all and that this is definitely a scam, but it's certainly what I've come to believe through my experiences, at least. Anyone else? I'm anxious to hear what y'all think.

[ChandlerGirl695]

My mom checked into this for me... thought it might also be helpful...

http://data.middletennessee.bbb.org/common.html?location=/home/common/www/mis67/report.php&bureau=nash&compid=33012695

[chrlmy6]

:mad: I wish we had seen this posting before!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!My husband went to the talent search for Dr. Fowler Studios.He too recieved a invite to branson paid the $500.00 dollar fee.He was so exited that someone was interested in him that we didnt check them out.A few weeks after he recorded in branson he recieved a letter saying they wanted him to go to Nashville.A dream come true!!!We paid another $500.00 dollars and another 1300.00 in plane tickets another300.00 in hotels another 200.00 in food 500.00 for rental car and after all the money that we spent he got a letter in the mail saying they were interested in a $26,000 recording contract,all it would cost us was $6,000 dollars!!!!!!When he turned it down ,he got yet another letter stating that he placed 90 th in the contest and he could return to Nashville to compete again ,it would cost us another 500.00 dollars.I told them that we wernt interested and we thought it was a scam,and we were turning it over to an attorney.We got hung up on then when the attorney tried to call them they were out of business,A couple of weeks later I read in our local newspaper that they were returning to our town so we put a letter in the news paper stating that a invegistion was being looked into because of fraud.We never heard from them again.PLEASE DONT MAKE THIS MISTAKE THESE PEOPLE SEEM VERY NICE BUT ALL THEY WANT IS YOUR MONEY.NO PRODUCERS WERE PRESENT AND NO LEGEND OPRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[gbranmtns]

TNN (The Nashville Network) is now Spike TV (Network for Men) Like Lifetime is for women. TNN doesn't exist. It was changed from The Nashville Network to The National Network to Spike Tv over the past few years. I hope no one else falls for this scam, but there will always be people out there trying to scam others instead working honestly to earn money. :confused: :mad: