A Dip in the Mainstream

Bret Helm, the longtime bass player, singer, songwriter and producer behind the alternative band Doc Tahri, has a new band and a new CD. The CD is “Casual Wear.” The band is Vynil. And they’re playing at the Santa Clarita Brewing Company on Saturday night.

While Doc Tahri’s music was a little strange and delightfully funky in both attitude and rhythm, Vynil offers music that is decidedly more radio friendly and more accessible to mainstream audiences.

The new group features Doc Tahri members Helm and Monte McConnell (on bass and drums, respectively), along with singer-songwriter Sean Wiggins and guitarist Chris Roe. Adhering to the philosophy of “more is more,” Helm says Vynil is not a successor to Doc Tahri, but a completely new band.

“Monte and I are on this album, but this is not a Doc Tahri extension,” Helm said. “Sean had all these great songs, but Doc Tahri is still my own pet project.”

Vynil is now the third act on Helm’s struggling new indie label, Cash Only Records, which Helm operates out of his home in Santa Clarita. The label’s other act is guitarist Jennifer Batten, who tours regularly with the king of pop himself, Michael Jackson. She also has released a solo CD, “Tribal Rage,” and she is the lead guitarist in Doc Tahri.

“It’s very much an incestuous label,” Helm admits.

The switch from musician to music mogul is a hard one for Helm. “It’s killing me, but I have to learn how to do this,” he said. “Some days I go, ‘Say, what am I doing?’ ”

What Helm is doing is making a big promotional push for the Vynil CD. A cut from the album, “Colors of Goodbye,” is included on a promotional CD assembled by the Album Network, a radio promotion outfit, that will be sent out to over 1,200 radio programming directors nationwide. And plans are in the works for the CD to be heavily promoted at a convention for radio executives in Colorado later this month. Helm is doing everything on a below-shoestring budget.

“If I sell 25 copies of my CD, that’s the fruit bowl budget on a Lenny Kravitz project,” Helm said. “I’m very much the ‘Field of Dreams’ guy; if I build it, they will come. If I put this energy out, it attracts good things. It’s really exciting.”

* Vynil’s CD release party is Saturday night at Santa Clarita Brewing Company, 20655 Soledad Canyon Road, (805) 298-5677.