January 10, 2009

MAD Dragon Records (MDR) was awarded the 2008 College Record Label of the Year by the Independent Music Awards, the top national awards for college music recording programs and independently produced music. The Redwalls' self-titled release earned the label this award for the second year in a row. Last year, Mad Dragon Records won for Hoots & Hellmouth's self-titled debut.The 2008 judges included Peter Gabriel, Anthony DeCurtis (Rolling Stone), Joe Cuello (MTV Networks), Roger Daltrey (The Who), Butch Walker (Producer) and Bob Ludwig (Mastering Engineer) among many others. The IMAs place winners and finalists in front of more than 15 million new fans via promotion, marketing and distribution.

After MAD Dragon President Terry Tompkins and his students from the Music Industry program's A&R (artist and repertoire) class identified The Redwalls as an artist for our label, the deal proved to be beyond their budget. But, thanks to support from the Kal and Lucille Rudman Institute for Entertainment Industry Studies, we were able to close the deal. The Redwalls went on to appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Late Show with David Letterman and have sold more albums than any other MAD Dragon release. All 12 of MDR releases have been made possible with the support of the Rudman Institute.