Bloodshot Records R.I.P.?

 

Regular readers will be aware of the high regard in which I hold the Bloodshot Records label from Chicago.Type Bloodshot into the search function and you will see how often they have featured here

In recent correspondence with our dear friend Brian (a former Chicago resident and fellow fan) he made reference to the recent drama at Bloodshot. This had me scooting to the internet to find out more.

I was awared that co-founder Nan Warshaw had resigned in 2019 following allegations of sexual misconduct by her partner. Now it seems that the other co-founder Rob Miller has departed and there are allegations that royalties due to artists have not been paid.

It also seems that the label has now been bought by Exceleration Music who will promote their catalogue. Whether there will be any more releases remains to be seen.

Some more detailed information around the current state of affairs can be found here in Variety, Pitchfork and Billboard. It's all very messy.

This  article by Mark Guarano in the Chicago Reader gives an in-depth report on the whole sorry saga*

I once in e-mail correspondence to them stated that they were the best record label ever. They modestly thanked me and cited others such as Tamla Motown, Chess and Stiff for that title. I'm not so sure.

Postal charges have meant that I have not bought as much from them as I used to in recent years. I have pretty much limited myself to the annual samplers which appeared on Bandcamp. Here is something from each of these from 2016 to the last one in the Spring of 2020.

Thanks for the memories and the music. The end of an era.

Waco Brothers - Receiver (Bloodshot 2016)

Justin Townes Earle -Memphis in the Rain (Bloodshot 2017)

Sarah Shook & the Disarmers - New Ways to Fail (Bloodshot 2018)

Robbie Fulks & Linda Gail Lewis - Wild Wild Wild (Bloodshot 2019)

Freakwater - Sway (Bloodshot 2020)