Assorted ramblings from the world of entertainment:
l Last week's Ticket cover story was an interview with Trans-Siberian Orchestra creator Paul O'Neill to preview TSO's first non-Christmas concert tour (the show comes to Akron and Cleveland this weekend and Pittsburgh and Erie, Pa., in April).
Reporters generally get 15 minutes to a half hour max for a phone interview (I've read stories with Ringo Starr where the reporter indicated he only got 5 minutes). O'Neill talked for about 90 minutes, so there were plenty of things that didn't make it into last week's story.
One of the more interesting points O'Neill brought up is his belief that TSO wouldn't be the multi-platinum-selling, arena-filling success it is today if it had started even a couple years later. He credited Atlantic Records boss Ahmet Ertegun and his philosophy of nurturing bands.
''I feel really lucky,'' O'Neill said. ''Trans-Siberian Orchestra was the last band to have old-fashioned artist development. If it wasn't for him (Ertegun), we wouldn't have existed.''
When O'Neill told Ertegun about his concept and explained he needed 24 singers and four guitar players and every other indulgence on ''Christmas Eve and Other Stories,'' ''Atlantic wrote a blank check,'' he said. ''Ahmet Ertegun understood rock operas were about pushing the envelope.''
But ''Christmas Eve'' sold less than 100,000 copies in its first year in release. Today, that response would get a band dropped.
''Atlantic stuck behind us until the band was able to stand on its own feet,'' O'Neill said.
In the '70s, bands traditionally got a few albums to establish themselves in the marketplace. Jon Anderson, lead singer of Yes, did a couple of performances with TSO, and O'Neill said he talked with Anderson about the lackluster response for Yes' debut album.
The label told Anderson, ''We've got some bad news. America says no.''
When a panicked Anderson asked what he should do, he was told, ''Go in the studio and make another record.''
''People under 30 think Queen and Led Zeppelin were all massive hits out of the box,'' O'Neill said. ''They weren't. They were nurtured by the labels.''
l Treadmill Trackstar had the opposite experience, with an Atlantic subsidiary no less.
The indie rock band garnered some attention in the mid-'90s and landed a slot on some major tours and festivals. But it was dropped by Atlantic imprint Breaking Records within a year of releasing the band's ''Only This'' album in 1997.
Treadmill Trackstar broke up and the musicians went their separate ways, but the South Carolina band regrouped in 2007 for a charity concert that rekindled those musical urges. Fans contributed money to pay for studio time and the result is the album ''I Belong to Me.''
The band is giving away the single ''I Belong to You'' as a free download on its Web site - www.treadmilltrackstar.com - and the song is a winner. The opening riff with the interplay between Angelo Gianni's guitar and Heidi Carey's cello produces chills of pleasure (imagine the Foo Fighters with a cellist instead of a second guitar player). If I was a radio talk show host, the song would be my bumper music.
The rest of the album is pretty good too, a collection of originals that have echoes of The Beatles, Wilco and Big Star.
The band is playing a show this weekend in Columbia, S.C., but its members don't have any serious plans to tour or chase stardom again. Carey said in an e-mail, ''We don't need the money, and we don't want the fame.''
They just want people to hear their music. And it's worth hearing.
Andy Gray is the entertainment writer for the Tribune Chronicle. Write to him at grayareas@tribtoday.com