Her Next Friend’s new EP
is now available for
purchase at:
CD Baby
Amazon

Antipoison Records was formed in 2004 by John Whitfield Burton and Jon Paulette. The label is dedicated to releasing innovative and distinctive music, especially music produced by artists in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Antipoison Records believes in taking risks rather than following the latest trends.

Antipoison Records is named after Antipoison Creek, located on the extreme eastern edge of Virginia’s Northern Neck. Legend has it that English colonist Captain John Smith was stung by a stingray while exploring the area and the mud from this creek bed successfully healed his wound. The two founders were drinking beer and hashing out label names at a friend’s home on the banks of the creek when inspiration struck. The mud may be good for stingray wounds, but it’s not much help with hangovers.

The label’s flagship band is Her Next Friend, fronted by Antipoison co-founder John Whitfield Burton. Her Next Friend combines the best aspects of classic guitar rock with a thoroughly modern sensibility. Intricate finger-picking, crushing power chords and melodic solos combine to create a genuinely unique guitar style. Add in off-beat lyrics delivered in Burton’s distinctive vocal stylings, and the result is a truly original sound.

Antipoison has just released Her Next Friend’s debut, a 5-song self-titled EP available on CD Baby. Her Next Friend is already back in the studio recording a follow-up EP scheduled for release in early 2005

John Whitfield Burton is a veteran of several different music scenes in Virginia and California. Among his previous groups are Forever Goldrush, a successful alt.country band from Northern California, and godsize, a melodic modern-rock band from the Sacramento area. Burton has also played with the Aggro Drivers, an intelligent punk band from Los Angeles. In Virginia, he has been an occasional member of Draw the Kitten, a noted indie collaborative based in Charlottesville.

Jon Paulette is a recovering newspaper and magazine editor who now works as a freelance writer when not tending to label business. He has an immense record collection and is familiar with just about every out-of-the-way used record bin in the Commonwealth. He sees Antipoison Records as his way of making his own mark on the music industry.