GTG Records keeps local music rolling with ‘Stay At Home’ series

FRIDAY, April 10 — Lansing’s stalwart DIY record label, GTG Records, is still finding ways to highlight Michigan musicians. Its latest project is Stay At Home With GTG Records — a series of live, recorded-at-home videos hosted daily by the label’s Facebook page.

While some entries in the Stay At Home series are as simple as one person singing to their camera with an acoustic guitar, others feature bands playing in tandem via video call programs like Zoom.

The Stay At Home project is a label-wide collaboration based on GTG Records’ Timmy Rodriguez and Michael Boyes’ idea for musicians to have a way to break through the rigorous isolation caused by Michigan’s shelter-at-home orders.

“When things were starting to be canceled left and right, we saw that we weren’t going to be able to perform anytime soon. We needed a way to stay connected,” GTG Records co-founder Tommy McCord said. “We’ve expanded it to include everybody that wants to share their thing.”

McCord has stayed on top of the submissions, and since Stay At Home began in mid-March it hasn’t missed a single day. “It’s nice having something every day to share,” McCord said. “Without the daily structure everyone is used to, it’s cool to have something I know will happen every single day. It feels good to know music is still reaching people. ”

McCord’s band Drinking Mercury has a great video exemplifying the project as a whole. The video is a performance of the band’s track “Stay Home,” and features McCord playing along with pre-recorded videos of his bandmates Rodriguez and Boyes.

“It’s very much a room recording. But as far as Facebook phone videos go, I thought it sounded great,” McCord said.

Above all, McCord said GTG Records’ goal with Stay At Home is to generate interest in local music in the face of no more live gigs.

“I’m an advocate for the creative community having an outlet for expression. I think it keeps us all sane,” he said.

If you’re a musician with a video submission you’d like to be featured by GTG Records, email GTGRecords@gmail.com