Notlaw Music History
Notlaw Music is solely owned and managed by Richard Walton. In case you don't 'backtalkwards', the name 'Notlaw' is 'Walton' spelled backwards. In 1988, Notlaw Music was established as a publishing company to represent Richard's musical compositions. During the 1980's, Richard made several trips to Nashville with his briefcase and shopped his songs. One of Richard's tunes, "Start All Over Again" sparked the interest of Mariposa Music, a publishing arm of the late Marty Robbins. Richard also returned home with a contract to work with a professional Nashville song plugger who wanted to represent Richard on a limited basis. Both deals were eventually scrapped and he set his sights on writing & recording more songs.
After several weeks of deliberation with an entertainment attorney, Richard decided to stay in Baltimore to concentrate on releasing his first commercial publication of his music. John Dayton designed the 'catchy' logo in a promotional effort to help Notlaw Music. Notlaw T-Shirts were graciously available through John and were sold to help finance Richard's first recording project, "The Whole Nine Yards". Ken Hardesty provided the studio in which to record and did so at a reasonable cost. Along with the musical talents of Ken, John, Bill Dumas, John Dayton, Randy Smith, Ed Hurdle, Joe Doyle, Eugene Jubilee and John Grant, Richard produced a 13 song debut 1989 release titled "The Whole Nine Yards". To support the expenses and legal responsibilities associated with the release, Richard expanded Notlaw's charter as both a recording and publishing company.
As of 2002, Notlaw has released five Richard Walton CD/cassette products: "The Whole Nine Yards", "Out Of Bounds", "Savannah Blue", "Where Time Stood Still" and "Hear And Now". The staff writers include: Richard Walton, Andrew Davidsen, Eric Robertson & David Meer. Other writers include Eugene Jubilee, John Dayton, Brian Jarboe, Bill Dumas, Bobby Betlejewski & Deena Gift. Richard's recordings have obtained radio & TV airplay around the United States in commercials, college, MOR and smooth jazz formats. Notlaw Music is a BMI affiliate, with a catalogue of over 50 songs.
