Columns between Rawk and a HardDrive  “Well, what would you like done?” Wendy Rubin is trying to describe the services her company provides to independent musicians across the country. “We pretty much do it all.” Rubin is founder, president and owner of joe’s grille and production, a North Boulder company devoted to offering independent musicians alternate methods to get their music out to listeners, covering all bases from album manufacturing to radio airplay. “What joe’s is out to do as a company is create a new path for independent artists, a new way to get out there,” Rubin says. “We’re trying to pull in people who wouldn’t necessarily listen to independent music.” Joe’s Grille began as a film production company in 1992, and shifted its focus to music in 1995. This year Rubin says, the company will manufacture a half-million compact discs for over 600 bands, and distribute 1,500 independent albums and 5,000 import albums. Rubin’s philosophy is to steer clear of mainstream paths of distribution - “If someone wants to get their album sold at Tower Records, we’ll refer them to someone who can help” - instead concentrating on direct-to-buyer sales. The company sells albums through their Web site and via a toll-free number, and is preparing a mail-order catalog for this summer. CDs are strictly chosen for distribution- “We have quality control, and we’re selling the top 2%,” Rubin says - and in addition, joe’s Grille produces two varieties of radio show to give artists further exposure. The first is “joe’s Blue Plate Special,” a half-hour music show distributed to college radio stations across the country. Two sessions have been taped at Westminster’s Colorado Sound studio. “It’s a lot of fun. We’ve achieved medium rotation on some stations, which means we get played mare than one a week - pretty good for a half-hour radio show,” Rubin says. The Blue Plate Special is exclusive, reserved for the absolute top bands joe’s Grille handles, She says. Less exclusive is the online Blue Plate Special, at www.gogaga.com. The online presence is joe’s Grille’s main outlet - the Web site includes manufacturing information, as well as the CD Store, featuring all of Joe’s distributed products. The site allows visitors to search be band name, keyword or genre - ranging from a cappella to ska, punk to world beat. Currently in development is a feature which would allow users to type in the name of a known band submit it and get information on bands which sound similar. Each band has a brief portion of the site, featuring information for the interested browser - album cover, a brief description, home area, vocalist gender and whether the recording is live or studio. “We’re trying to make it easier for bands to get heard. In the music industry, you have to be a known artist to become a known artist - you have to have a following to get any notice - and it’s a really bad Catch-22. We want to connect good unknown bands with and audience,” she says. “It’s a long-term alternative for independent musicians to the current system,” Rubin says. “Because, frankly, the current system sucks.”