Rumors are swirling about which artists will be dropped from Capitol Music Group after the merger of Capitol with Virgin in January. Today, New York native Kevin Devine posted a MySpace blog confirming that he is no longer at the label. After playing a show in Nashville last week, his manager informed him of the news. According to Devine, the label decided to go in a different direction without him, however allowing him to shop around his Capitol release, Put Your Ghost To Rest. "It was definitely a roll of the dice to begin with," Devine explained exclusively to CMJ. "I guess I feel the music industry is such a dissolving dinosaur I don’t think it matters anymore where you sign. But we've had a good relationship with the people [at Capitol]. No smoke and mirrors. I guess that has helped us in the end." Devine is optimistic following the news, and waited a week to speak officially about the decision. "I wanted to let it settle and hash through my own feelings about it instead of jumping on something that may or may not be indicative in the long run." Devine signed to Capitol after releasing three albums independently. He plans to shop Ghost around to other labels and will release a music video that Capitol already paid for. Originally signed for a one-record deal with a four-additional-album option clause, had he not been dropped, he would have made a second album with the label. "That was made clear to me," he explained. Capitol has made no official announcement about which bands will or will not stay on their roster. Devine has been "out of the loop" while on tour but confirmed that fellow New Yorkers Morningwood are there to stay. In the end, he finds his experience a positive one—having had the ability to work with producer Rob Schnapf (Elliott Smith, Beck) and still retaining freedom on the album as a whole. Devine realizes it would have been harder news to swallow had he not been involved the industry since he was 17. "For a guy like me, it's always going to be about touring and connecting with people, not about snapping my fingers and selling a million ring tones. I’m not naïve. This means harder work," he says. "But I've done it before, and I'll do it again." www.kevindevine.net www.capitolrecords.com
