ANDY ROURKE OF THE SMITHS JOINS THE MUSEBOX

Legendary Bass Player Hooks Up With Top Music Marketing Firm as Director of A&R

January 13, 2009, 03:02 PM

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The MuseBox is proud to announce that former Smiths member Andy Rourke will join the New York City and Toronto-based music marketing firm as its Director of A&R. Harnessing his near 30 years of experience in songwriting, live performance and production Rourke will identify and work with unsigned and up-and-coming bands, guiding them through all of the key career building processes. It’s a relationship that will offer full artist development for the musicians as The Musebox will develop the band’s fan bases through press and online exposure, lifestyle marketing, tour marketing, sync licensing and eventually music industry marketing.

“The Smiths are a major influence on much of today’s music scene, and Andy Rourke was a key player in their sound and success,” said Nadine Gelineau, Founder and C.E.O of The MuseBox. “We are thrilled to be taking our lifeline of support for today’s bands to another level of expertise and experience by welcoming an imminent Rock And Roll Hall of Famer into our family. The Boy with the Thorn in His Side Strikes Again!”

“The MuseBox is an amazingly focused, driven and effective marketing firm,“ said Rourke. “They are in this business purely for the love of music, and that alone makes this a great fit for me. I look forward to working with the team in finding and nurturing some talented newbies, taking them up level by level and helping them achieve their full potential as artists and professionals.”
Andy Rourke first came to prominence as bass player for The Smiths, one of the most beloved and influential bands to come out of the 1980’s. He was a significant asset to the band with guitarist Johnny Marr remarking that Rourke's contributions to the classic The Queen Is Dead album were "something no other bass player could match." After the break-up of The Smiths Rourke went on to play with Sinéad O'Connor on her debut album as well as contributing to Morrissey’s early solo work, composing the music for the songs "Yes, I Am Blind," "The Girl Least Likely To," and "Get Off the Stage." Rourke has also played and recorded with The Pretenders, Killing Joke and Badly Drawn Boy.

Rourke is currently a member of the band Freebass with fellow bass legends Mani (The Stone Roses) and Peter Hook (New Order) with vocalist Gary Briggs. He is also high in demand as a touring club DJ, playing many major culture centers around the world including New York, Los Angeles, Moscow, Tokyo, Sydney, Toronto and others.

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