Bloodshot Records is Officially Back
30 years ago, the independent record label Bloodshot Records was founded in Chicago by Rob Miller and Nan Warshaw, and quickly became one of the focal points and instigators of the independent country music revolution we’re currently enjoying the fruits of today. Helping to launch the careers of artists such as Ryan Adams, Neko Case, The Old 97’s, Justin Townes Earle, Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers and many more, Bloodshot laid the groundwork for insurgent country artists and labels to challenge the mainstream.
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, and The Mekons were some other acts signed to the label. But in October of 2021, Bloodshot was officially shuttered after 2 1/2 tumultuous years following a sexual harassment scandal and accounting concerns.
The closing of Bloodshot Records was a significant blow to a legacy independent label, and left a dozen or so independent roots acts adrift. On October 23rd, 2021, it was announced that Exceleration Music had purchased the catalog of Bloodshot Records, and intended to actively promote the catalog while making sure artists were fairly compensated for any back-owed royalties.
“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.”
But over a year after the purchase, nothing was heard from Bloodshot’s new owners. Numerous queries from Saving Country Music went unanswered. But recently the label restarted activity on the label’s social media pages, and last week, announced their official restart with a new release coming up in May.
It’s still unclear if any of Bloodshot’s previous artists will work with the new incarnation of the label, but Saving Country Music reached out to a dozen or so artists that were signed to the label before the implosion and sale, and it appears the new owners are making good on the company’s old commitments, at least from the responses received.
“There’s no lingering stench from the old company as far as I’m concerned,” songwriter and performers Robbie Fulks tells Saving Country Music. “It would have been great to have the money they owed me at the time it was owed, when it was worth more and I needed it more, but in the interval between Nan’s leaving and the new start-up, they made things right with me. The new guys have seemed fine so far, though I’m not working with them on music, just receiving statements. They don’t have that ‘we’re all just like scruffy hard-drinkin’ college buddies’ spirit of the old team, but who cares about that.”
For the first Bloodshot Records release back, Nashville Songwriter Hall of Famer Layng Martine Jr. is releasing an album called Music Man in collaboration with his son, engineer/producer Tucker Martine. It will be released on Bloodshot Records in conjunction with the label Kill Rock Stars on May 19th. Bill Frisell, k.d. lang, Peter Buck of R.E.M. and more contribute to the project. Now 81 years old, Layng Martine Jr. wrote songs for Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Reba McEntire, Pam Tillis, Kathy Mattea, and Ray Stevens among others. To pre-order/pre-save Music Man, Click Here.
This is just the beginning of the restart of Bloodshot Records, and we’ll have to see what happens from here. But it is reassuring to see the label name back out there promoting the back catalog, and to hear that the artists are getting taken care of, at least the ones that responded to Saving Country Music’s queries.
When Bloodshot Records first started among the “punk-gone-country” phase of the country music underground in the early 90s, nobody envisioned someday that what they started would end up not just disrupting the power center of country music on Music Row, but rise to begin to challenge it like we’ve seen in recent years with the success of Tyler Childers, Cody Jinks, and Zach Bryan, who can very much trace their lineage back to the grassroots work Bloodshot Records helped start.
For years the Bloodshot label immediately instilled a level of street cred behind an artist. Hopefully this will continue into the future.
January 20, 2023 @ 9:42 am
Good news indeed. Let’s hope they stay with the same formula that made Bloodshot a staple.
January 20, 2023 @ 10:27 am
As a Chicagoan, Bloodshot is huge. So many shows and artists over the years. I am very happy they are back.
January 20, 2023 @ 10:28 am
Great news.
January 20, 2023 @ 11:39 am
I never knew that about Tucker’s father. I’m quite familiar with his work with tons of indie bands from the early 2000’s.
Resurrecting Bloodshot is interesting – the name carries a lot of goodwill and a lot of bad blood. Curious to see how the artists respond to it.
January 20, 2023 @ 11:53 am
How the artists were going to respond to it is what I was most curious about as well. That is why I reached out to about a dozen of them to get their take, especially Lydia Loveless, Sarah Shook, and Jason Hawk Harris, who had been outspoken about it in the past. Basically nobody wanted to talk about the restart, though I wouldn’t take that as a negative. I think they’re just as curious as the rest of us how this might turn out. A couple told me privately they were fine with it, but didn’t really want to speak on record. Robbie Fulks was the one willing to go on record, but I think he echoed the sentiments a lot of the artists have with this.
We’ll see.
January 20, 2023 @ 11:58 am
Good Ol’ Robbie Fulks.
January 21, 2023 @ 6:42 pm
A brilliant guy & genius musician. And his comments were both spot on & exactly what I’d expect.
January 20, 2023 @ 12:13 pm
I have a hard time getting excited about any group that purchases the name and legacy of another company. May as well call it Ship of Theseus Records. I hope they do right by the roster of artists that never intended to go into business with them.
January 20, 2023 @ 2:56 pm
The only thing records companies own are the master tapes and the right to reproduce them for cash.
If the artists don’t want that scenario, they can make their own master recordings and lease them out.
The music business is pretty old at this point.
January 20, 2023 @ 3:26 pm
My comment was more about people being excited that Bloodshot Records is still around when the only thing that’s the same is the name.
Anyway, we’re talking about a record company that wasn’t properly paying royalties and closed up shop for two years with artists still under contract so
January 21, 2023 @ 7:13 pm
“Anyway, we’re talking about a record company that wasn’t properly paying royalties and closed up shop for two years with artists still under contract so”
Yes, and Nan Warshaw is a blood sucking parasite.
Why anyone would want to retain the name of this stellar organization, is curious, to be sure.
January 21, 2023 @ 7:20 pm
This is not just about the Bloodshot name. It’s about the back catalog they manage. In fact that’s the majority of the issue. If they close up and do nothing, nobody is promoting that back catalog. This is a problem for those artists. They lose money. Nan Warshaw no longer works for Bloodshot. As Robbie Fulks said, the new company is paying out royalties and money owed.
January 21, 2023 @ 7:22 pm
“As Robbie Fulks said, the new company is paying out royalties and money owed.”
I loved that part of this story.
They are to be commended for that.
January 20, 2023 @ 3:54 pm
Right now, Bloodshot is primarily managing a back catalogue. Many artists have left. A large portion of a roster will have to be rebuilt.
One frontman said it was like a divorce with awkward feelings about Bloodshot left in it’s wake.
A soloist I talked to gets furious feelings when they think about what happen with the sexual harassment by Nan’s boyfriend.
This indeed is a restart. New blood will have to be found for Bloodshot. The group of people who came from indie labels have the opportunity to take the label to higher heights and gain respect after the prior debacle
January 20, 2023 @ 9:20 pm
Let’s hope they dig out some non released Justin Townes Earle from the archives! Maybe even get a new solo project from Bobby Bare Jr.
Most likely just a cash grab though…
January 21, 2023 @ 1:38 am
i’m definitely one of those “punks gone country” and to read of a label like kill rock stars on a country music site still amazes me!
January 22, 2023 @ 1:35 pm
The third founder of Bloodshot Records is named Eric Babcock. He was ROYALLY screwed by the other two partners. I wish more music fans were aware that that record label was born in viciousness and deceit. The entire story of Bloodshot has yet to be told…
September 23, 2023 @ 12:05 pm
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