Bloodshot Records In Limbo As Co-Owner Rob Miller Leaves Label

UPDATE: On Friday (10-23), it was announced that Exceleration Music has purchased the catalog of Bloodshot Records, and intends to actively promote the catalog while making sure artists get paid for any back owed royalties, though they don’t know at the moment if they will release any new music or sign artists under the label in the future.
“Bloodshot is a vitally important part of American music history, a genre-defining label founded on passion and vision, dedicated to bringing a unique set of artists from its musical orbit to the world,” said Dave Hansen of Exceleration Music. “It represents exactly the kind of company that fits Exceleration’s founding ethos, which is to preserve and enhance the legacies of extraordinary independent companies and artists. We look forward to working to keep the Bloodshot history alive and relevant for many years to come.”
Original article below.
None of this might be happening right now if it wasn’t for Bloodshot Records. And when I say “this,” I mean this website, you reading it, many of the artists featured here, a.k.a. the independent country music movement that has given rise to so many of your favorite artists, bands, and albums over the last two-plus decades, whether they were signed to Bloodshot Records or not.
Let’s not oversell it of course. Country and roots music was due for a reckoning, and a renegade record label that could rise up to offer support to artists who didn’t want to sell their souls just to make music. These days there’s Thirty Tigers, New West, and nearly a dozen other labels are operating out there under that charge. But Bloodshot Records founded in 1993 was the first to try and forge a home for artists that didn’t fit anywhere else, and to do so as a professional record label, and it worked.
Bloodshot helped to launch the careers of artists such as Ryan Adams, Neko Case, The Old 97’s, Justin Townes Earle, Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers, and was the label of Sarah Shook and the Disarmers, Wayne “The Train” Hancock, Ruby Boots, Robbie Fulks, Jason Hawk Harris, Laura Jane Grace, The Vandoliers, Scott H. Biram, The Yawpers, The Banditos, Murder By Death, The Mekons, and many more.
But the last 2 1/2 years have been like a slow painful death for this important insurgent country institution—not one of those sad but humane passings where someone goes quietly in their sleep. It’s been like that loved one that’s taken away by a smoldering cancer, and you have no choice but to sit and watch the life slowly leave them with no cure or recourse.
Issues began at the label on February 16th, 2019 when alt-country singer and songwriter Lydia Loveless came out with a statement claiming that Bloodshot Records did not properly address the behavior of co-owner Nan Warshaw’s partner, Mark, who regularly sexually harassed and groped her during label functions over multiple years. After a public outcry ensued, Nan Warshaw announced on March 9th, 2019 that she would be stepping down from her position at the company, and selling her 50% stake in the label to co-owner Rob Miller.
But that’s just where the trouble began. On July 20th, 2020, a letter from Bloodshot Records employees published publicly by Bloodshot artist Jason Hawk Harris conveyed that private negotiations between co-owners Nan Warshaw and Rob Miller had not reached a conclusion, with Miller possibly not being in a position to pay market price for the other half of the company. In lieu of Miller taking over full ownership, the catalog was then shopped to other labels.
Further troubling for Bloodshot Records artists, songwriters, and their fans, the employee letter also stated that they believed creators were not being fairly compensated due to Nan Warshaw not fulfilling her continuing role as 50% owner of the label.
Now for well over a year, the fate of Bloodshot Records has been in a strange state of limbo, not entirely shutting down, but not exactly continuing on with business as usual. Obviously, no new acts were signed to the label, and aside from a couple of compilations, no new titles released.
Then on Monday evening, October 19th, the remaining label owner Rob Miller let it be known that he would no longer be working at Bloodshot Records.
“Regrettably, it is time for this phase of Bloodshot Records to come to an end,” Rob Miller said. “I will no longer be a part of the label I started over 25 years ago as an impossibly ill-conceived hobby. It’s not what myself, the staff or the artists wanted, but few get to write their final chapter. That we lasted as long as we did—an indie roots label, too rock for country, and too country for punk, in Chicago—was nothing short of miraculous.”
Rob Miller didn’t exactly say the label is done entirely. Hypothetically, the Bloodshot Records catalog will ultimately end up somewhere, and the name may be revitalized by someone else. Saving Country Music poked around a bit to try and determine the current status of the label, and nobody seems to know. Perhaps Rob Miller doesn’t even know at the moment. But what we do know is that it is no longer a going concern in its previous form. Some of Bloodshot’s bands have moved on, including Sarah Shook and the Disarmers who signed with Thirty Tigers.
“I am sad there wasn’t a chance for a proper goodbye and that we weren’t able to whip up a wake, a celebration or one last party,” Rob Miller continues. “I seem to remember a few good ones over the years. I have no doubt forgotten a few of them, too. I hope we brought some fun into your lives over the years and were pleasant members of the community.”
Bloodshot Records was much more than just a record label. It was a rallying cry, a cultural movement, and a home for fans just as much artists. Their SXSW showcases over the years were things of legend. Their development of talent was pretty unprecedented. And their reputation as good people (at least Rob Miller and all the employees) was paramount to the popularity of the label. As other labels came online, Bloodshot ceased being the biggest hot shot in the business. But no other label conveyed as much street cred as Bloodshot.
And now all of that appears to be in the rear view. It truly is the end of an era, but one that resulted in a lot of excellent music, some critically-important and incredible careers, and a rebirth in country and roots music born off an independent spirit that will continue on, no matter where the Bloodshot Records catalog ultimately lands.
RIP Bloodshot Records. For now.
Rob Miller’s Full Farewell Letter:
Amen.
October 20, 2021 @ 7:35 am
So sad. So avoidable.
October 20, 2021 @ 7:44 am
Great , great , article and such a beautiful farewell letter by the co- founder. I have a t-shirt ! Went to a backyard Bloodshot event a few years ago to see Robbie Fulks etc. Just a great vibe. A sad and unfortunate ending. Here’s to always keeping it real.
October 20, 2021 @ 10:21 am
Discovered a lot of great music on their Insurgent Country channel on AccuRadio years ago. A shame to see it end this way.
October 20, 2021 @ 2:21 pm
Why am I not the least bit surprised that he ended his letter about his business that collapsed under his watch, with a didactic call for activism.
October 20, 2021 @ 8:54 pm
The Yawpers are still one of my favorite non country bands… Glad Bloodshot discovered them and thankful for all Bloodshot has done for all the great artists that may not have had a chance elsewhere.
October 20, 2021 @ 9:19 pm
I was t a fan of their last album, however Boy in a Well is an absolute masterpiece
October 21, 2021 @ 3:20 am
The Bottle Rockets are my favorite Bloodshot artists.
October 22, 2021 @ 3:38 pm
Bloodshot has just been sold to Exceleration Music.
October 23, 2021 @ 10:22 am
I bet I have about 50 releases from Bloodshot in my CD collection. One year, I must have bought at least a dozen when they were running a Christmas clearance sale, with some CDs for $10 and others for $5.
Man, it had slipped my mind that Graham Parker had released a few albums on Bloodshot. I’ve been a fan of his since ’79. Your Country and Don’t Tell Columbus were two strong ones. A couple of Alejandro Escovedo’s best were on Bloodshot as well (the live album More Miles Than Money and A Man Under the Influence).
October 23, 2021 @ 6:22 pm
The Meat Purveyors were my favorite Bloodshot Records artists followed by Neko Case.
Thank you for this article, Trigger! This label did A LOT to help save country music.
October 25, 2021 @ 7:55 pm
That little social justice coda was cringe worthy. If people knew how this guy screwed his founding partner out of the business, they might be a little more skeptical.