The U.S. Air Force veteran behind Aviation Records, Wilmington, NC’s new record label for independent artists

USAF Veteran owned Aviation Records in coastal Wilmington, NC

F-117 Nighthawks flying together

Singer-songwriter Devon Drake explores San Francisco and Oakland, California

Flying solo doesn’t mean artists don’t need support on the ground. Aviation Records helps independent artists remain independent.

WILMINGTON, NC, UNITED STATES, January 5, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- U.S. Air Force veteran and NC State graduate, Devon Drake, started songwriting in 2023 and shows no signs of stopping. A lifelong lover of rock music, Devon’s ready to make her vision of starting a record label a reality in January 2026. Her coastal home of twenty years is now a music house and the home base for her label, Aviation Records. Devon was an avionics technician on the F-117 Nighthawk at Holloman AFB near White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.

Devon hopes to make Wilmington a hotbed of original music, a Carolina music city like Charleston or Asheville. Devon has a lifetime of professional experience in areas such as management, marketing, public relations, and sales. She’s been self-employed for four years, managing short-term and long-term investment properties. She spent the 2022 show season as a production runner preparing greenrooms and fulfilling artists’ requests. As she developed her hospitality skills, she realized that touring artists and musicians have specific needs when they are on the road.

“I know it's counterintuitive, but musicians aren’t rowdy rock stars after their shows. They want a quiet, peaceful place to rest and recharge. They want to feel at home even if it’s just for a night. I'm happy to accommodate them.”

Being a new songwriter and recording artist has given Devon the perspective she needs to understand how original artists can set themselves apart. With only a dozen or so songs in 2023, she reached out to New Monkey Studio in LA. NMS was the studio of the late indie-rock icon, Elliott Smith. If there were only one takeaway from her experience with sound engineer, Greg Cortez, at New Monkey Studio, it’s that silence is imperative to quality recording. She says her week in Elliott Smith's Los Angeles recording studio was like space camp, but for recording artists.

“My amateur songs were just a medium I used to learn the ins and outs of a recording studio. Once Greg opened the two heavy carpeted doors to the recording room, I understood the importance of a silent background. Silence is the one thing I have in my spaces.”

She converted her Airbnb apartment into a 24/7 recording studio apartment with a bed, laundry units, kitchen, bath, private entrance, and vocal booth. Additionally, she has two guest bedrooms that accommodate 6 more adults. New to her portfolio is a quiet, mid-century house in New Bern, NC, which is also used as an artist retreat.

Speaking to her local Wilmington music scene, Devon says that in a coastal destination town, original artists can easily get swept up in a wave of entertainers vying for paid gigs. She aims to connect original artists, musicians, and songwriters to listening audiences on the East Coast. She calls her approach “a la carte, fill in the gaps.”

“It’s unreasonable to expect artists to complete the necessary administrative tasks when they've never been taught or trained how to. While they try to stumble through marketing, contracts, media, operations, and logistics, their original songs, music, and art get lost in a sea of local gigging performers.”

Devon isn’t naive enough to think she can handle every detail of an artist’s rise to fame. But she quickly identifies off-stage skills and talents. If an artist musician is a natural with social media, they can help other artists maintain their content. By outsourcing areas like booking, PR, and marketing, Devon evens the playing field and circumvents favoritism, nepotism, and gatekeeping, which are toxic to a music scene.

“I’ve always believed in using what you have to get what you want. Artists aren’t one-dimensional. They have lives, training, talents, and experiences outside of music that give them an edge. If we utilize those resources, all independent artists will soar.”

Devon Drake
Aviation Records
+1 910-508-2136
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