MURRAY MAY ISSUE SUBPOENAS

California Sen. Kevin Murray is expected to subpoena both Dixie Chicks manager Simon Renshaw and attorney Don Engel in an attempt to gather information about how record deals are negotiated.

In addition, Murray said he is in talks with the labels in an effort to get them to voluntarily offer up some documents that would shed some light on label accounting practices.

Good luck.

The testimonies and evidence would serve as the backdrop to the Senate’s upcoming accounting practices hearing, slated for Sept. 24 in Los Angeles.

Wonderers are wondering if the Senator’s legal maneuvering will be able to pierce the veil of confidentiality that surrounds most major-artist agreements.

Renshaw and Engel have yet to receive their subpoenas, but both are aware of Murray’s plan. Renshaw told hitsdailydouble.com that the Senator wants to get into specific areas that are sealed under confidentiality agreements.

If served, Engel said, he would attempt to comply with the Senate subpoena, but that he has a constitutional obligation to his clients and to the courts.

Engel has represented several artists, most recently the Dixie Chicks, in contractual disputes with labels, and his testimony in July before the California Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Select Committee on Arts and Entertainment in Sacramento focused on alleged abuses on the part of record labels.