I wanted to write something about my friend Heinz Geissler,
who passed away in January. I first met
Heinz through Townes and Jeanene Van Zandt and soon began helping him with a
small record company that he and John Kunz ran in Austin, Texas: Watermelon Records. Within a few years I was handling agreements
for an amazing roster of artists ranging from Alejandro Escovedo, Julian
Dawson, the Austin Lounge Lizards and the Asylum Street Spankers, Omar and the Howlers, the Derailers, Bob
Neuwirth, Doug Sahm, the great Don Walser, Steve Young and many, many
more. I also worked on a deal to get
Watermelon to release two of my favorite Webb Wilder album "Town and
Country" and "Acres of Suede". Heinz and John built a great
record company.
Working with Watermelon I had an opportunity to learn the inner workings of
independent labels – the good and the bad.
I got to work on a multifaceted distribution agreement with a major
label (while in Russia adopting my
daughter). I enjoyed some of the best meals of my life in Austin . I also
learned more than I ever wanted to know about bankruptcy law.
At the end of the day, I just remember how much I enjoyed my
nearly daily phone calls with Heinz. We
would deal with whatever business was going on that day and then invariably
start talking about music – and Heinz was the world's biggest fan – from talking
about the Stones (he loved the Mick Taylor era) Paul Kossoff, Neil Young
bootlegs, Jackson Browne – the guy was an authority. To this day I remember him saying in his
thick German accent "that's really f...ing cool". More than anything,
I will miss his enthusiasm.
