Sweet Nancy Productions
Who we are, Our Story, Our Mission
Who We Are
Sweet Nancy Productions is an independent record label formed by Gordon and Nancy Groff in July, 2000 for the purpose of producing and distributing fine music that "The Rest Of Us" can enjoy. Our music is intended to produce Love, Joy, and Peace in the hearts of the listener. It is not Pop, Rock, Jazz, or any other category you will find in a record store. It is simple, pure, and original music that contains no discordant or jarring elements.
Our Story
In the fall of 1998, Gordon remodeled the Groff home to make room for a dream that Nancy has held all her life: A full size Grand Piano. Seated at her brand new (bought while still on the boat from Germany from Leavitt and Bette Keener of The Piano Gallery) Schimmel 208LE piano, Nancy's creativity blossomed. The incredible beauty of the music resonating through the Groff home was an inspiration to both of them. Nancy played as she never played before and Gordon embarked on a mission to learn audio recording to capture this music that was so beautiful, it needed to be shared with others.
In the spring of 1999, at the request of friends who own a hot air balloon business (Kirby and Renee Kopp- Adventures Aloft), Nancy sat down and played Floating, her first Piano Tapestry. Her next Tapestry was New Dew, music of hope and new beginnings. The response we got from friends we shared these two with was overwhelming. Comments like "it's my favorite music", "I never listen to anything else anymore" were common and encouraged us to pursue developing Nancy's Piano Tapestries.
With the help of David Rissler, a local recording engineer (and great friend) and the wonderful members of the VS880 Big List (an Internet special-interest email list for owners of the Roland VS series of digital workstation recorders), a first-class professional recording studio was assembled and the rest of Nancy's Piano Tapestries was recorded.
In December, 1999, Gordon was asked by many at his place of work (Kellogg Co., Lancaster Plant) if the music they heard him playing in the office was available to purchase for Christmas gifts. Making a last minute decision, Gordon made available three Piano Tapestry albums and Christmas Dreams in time for holiday shopping. We sold 150 albums in two weeks to a group of about 100 people. Days and nights running off CDR's and graphics on our home computer system ensued. With this kind of response to our music, we were encouraged to form Sweet Nancy Productions, have our music commercially reproduced (glass-mastered, 4-color professionally printed graphics, shrink-wrapped and bar coded cassettes and CD's) and do a much larger release in the first year of the new millennium. Many thanks to all our friends at Kellogg's!
Sweet Nancy Productions was officially launched in July of 2000. We received almost 7000 items from our replicator in October (500 ea. CD and 300 each cassettes of 8 albums with 10% overruns), and officially had our release announcement October 15. We kicked off Sweet Nancy's release by mailing out over 1000 sampler CD's that are 53 minutes long and have 3 or more cuts from all 8 albums that we are offering. As Nancy is a "non-gigging" musician, this seemed the best way to increase her exposure.
We have sold 894 albums from Dec 1999 through Dec 2001.
Our Mission
We are very excited by our 8 album release! This is quite an ambitious undertaking for a small record label's first release, but we feel there is something very special in what we are offering. There is nothing like it on the commercial market that we know of. It is truly original and a pleasure to listen to.
We hope to see Nancy's music spread across this country and overseas as well.
One of our reasons for doing this is rooted in our faith and our desire to help others who are less fortunate. For this reason, 50% of the profits from Nancy's Piano Tapestries will go to World Missions. The rest will go to Sweet Nancy Productions development as a producer of fine music for "The Rest Of Us".
Glory to God, Giver Of All Good Gifts
Special Acknowledgements
David Rissler
For his help learning how to record and recommending the Roland VS digital recorder.
For helping with the graphics of our album covers and in many other things too numerous to mention or even remember. How many times have I said "Thanks, Joe!"?
Fine job mastering!
Good gear advice and a fine computer.
Great Voiceover on the Sampler!
All the members of the VS Big List
I learned all I know about recording from you guys and gals. Your support, encouragement, and guidance turned the Village Idiot into the producer for Sweet Nancy Productions.
FREE Sampler Album Nancy's Piano Tapestries Christmas Dreams
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