Signature Sounds Recordings
Encyclopedia
Signature Sounds Recordings is an independent record label
specializing in singer-songwriter
, Americana
, and modern folk music
. Jim Olsen and Mark Thayer founded the label in 1995
to promote the acoustic artists playing in the Northampton, Massachusetts
music scene. The label has served as the career launching pad for several important singer-songwriters including Josh Ritter
, Erin McKeown
, Mary Gauthier
& Lori McKenna
. Presently the label's catalog includes over 70 albums distributed in the U.S.
by Koch Entertainment
, in Canada
by True North Records
and throughout the U.K.
and Europe by Rounder Europe. The label's main office is located in Whately, Massachusetts
.
Thayer previously established the Signature Sounds Recording Studio in 1982. The studio in Pomfret, Connecticut
has recorded numerous folk and jazz musicians including many of the Signature Sounds recordings.
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
specializing in singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
, Americana
Americana (music)
Americana is an amalgam of roots musics formed by the confluence of the shared and varied traditions that make up the American musical ethos; specifically those sounds that are merged from folk, country, blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll and other external influential styles...
, and modern folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
. Jim Olsen and Mark Thayer founded the label in 1995
1995 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1995.- January–February :*January 18 – Jerry Garcia crashes his rented BMW into a guard rail near Mill Valley, California, USA, but is not injured in the accident....
to promote the acoustic artists playing in the Northampton, Massachusetts
Northampton, Massachusetts
The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population of Northampton's central neighborhoods, was 28,549...
music scene. The label has served as the career launching pad for several important singer-songwriters including Josh Ritter
Josh Ritter
Josh Ritter is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and author who performs and records with The Royal City Band. Ritter is known for his distinctive Americana style and narrative lyrics. In 2006 he was named one of the "100 Greatest Living Songwriters" by Paste magazine.- Early life :Josh...
, Erin McKeown
Erin McKeown
Erin McKeown is an American multi-instrumentalist and folk-rock singer/songwriter.McKeown began her career in the folk scene. She released her first album, Monday Morning Cold, on her own label , travelling throughout New England while still a student at Brown University in order to promote the...
, Mary Gauthier
Mary Gauthier
Mary Gauthier is an American folk singer-songwriter.-Life and career:Gauthier was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. Given up at birth by a mother she never knew, Gauthier was adopted by an Italian Catholic couple in Thibodaux, Louisiana...
& Lori McKenna
Lori McKenna
Lori McKenna is an American folk singer/songwriter. She lives in Stoughton, Massachusetts with her husband and five children.-Early work:...
. Presently the label's catalog includes over 70 albums distributed in the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
by Koch Entertainment
Koch Entertainment
Koch Entertainment was a music, film and television distribution company. It was purchased by E1 Entertainment in 2005 and now operates under the name E1 Entertainment.-History:The company began in 1975 as Koch International...
, in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
by True North Records
True North Records
True North Records is a Canadian independent record label. It was founded in Mississauga, Ontario in 1969 by Bernie Finkelstein. On December 17, 2007, True North was acquired by an investment group led by Linus Entertainment...
and throughout the U.K.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Europe by Rounder Europe. The label's main office is located in Whately, Massachusetts
Whately, Massachusetts
Whately is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,573 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.- History :...
.
Thayer previously established the Signature Sounds Recording Studio in 1982. The studio in Pomfret, Connecticut
Pomfret, Connecticut
Pomfret is a town in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 3,798 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water....
has recorded numerous folk and jazz musicians including many of the Signature Sounds recordings.
Artists with recordings on Signature Sounds
- Rani Arbo and Daisy MayhemRani Arbo and Daisy MayhemRani Arbo and the band Daisy Mayhem, consisting of Andrew Kinsey, Anand Nayak, and Scott Kessel, are an American musical group whose style combines folk, country blues, progressive bluegrass, jazz, and swing...
- Dave Carter and Tracy GrammerDave Carter and Tracy GrammerDave Carter and Tracy Grammer were an American folk duo who released three albums from 1998 to 2001, as well as additional material released after Dave Carter's death...
- Crooked StillCrooked StillCrooked Still is an alternative bluegrass band consisting of vocalist Aoife O'Donovan, banjo player Dr. Gregory Liszt, bassist Corey DiMario, cellist Tristan Clarridge and fiddler Brittany Haas...
- Kris DelmhorstKris DelmhorstKris Delmhorst is an American singer-songwriter who is part of the Boston folk scene. She was involved in producing 1998's Respond compilation, a fundraiser for domestic violence groups, and it included her song Weatherman. In 1999, she released a live album with The Vinal Avenue String Band,...
- Mark ErelliMark ErelliMark Erelli is an American folk singer/songwriter from Reading, Massachusetts. He currently resides in Massachusetts. Erelli is a 1996 graduate of Bates College, where he majored in Biology, and holds a Master's Degree in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Massachusetts...
- Jeffrey FoucaultJeffrey FoucaultJeffrey Foucault is a singer-songwriter from Whitewater, Wisconsin. His 2001 debut album, Miles from the Lightning, won much praise from critics and helped to kick-start a career of tours across the United States, Canada, and Europe. Along the way, he has played with such artists as Greg Brown,...
- Fred EaglesmithFred EaglesmithFrederick John Elgersma , known by the stage name Fred Eaglesmith, is a Canadian alternative country singer-songwriter, one of nine children raised by a farming family in rural Southern Ontario. As a teenager Eaglesmith hopped a freight train out to Western Canada, and began writing songs and...
- Mary GauthierMary GauthierMary Gauthier is an American folk singer-songwriter.-Life and career:Gauthier was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. Given up at birth by a mother she never knew, Gauthier was adopted by an Italian Catholic couple in Thibodaux, Louisiana...
- Mark GearyMark GearyMark Geary is an Irish singer-songwriter and musician born in Dublin, Ireland into a large family with ten siblings, one of whom is actor Karl Geary. In 1992 he emigrated to New York City after being called up for a lottery-won green card...
- Tracy GrammerTracy GrammerTracy Grammer is an American folk singer known for her work as half of the folk duo Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer and for the solo career that she has continued since Carter's death...
- Jim HenryJim Henry (folk singer)Fans first discovered Jim Henry in the Sundogs, an eclectic "swamp-boogie-swing" group that was one of New England's hottest touring club and dance hall bands in the late 80's/early 90's. In 1993, Jim released his debut solo disc, Into the Blue, whose title track garnered national praise and still...
- Knots And CrossesKnots and CrossesKnots and Crosses is a 1987 crime novel by Ian Rankin. It is the first of the Inspector Rebus novels. It was written while Rankin was a postgraduate student at the University of Edinburgh...
- Eilen JewellEilen Jewell-Early life and education:Jewell grew up in Idaho City, Idaho and attended college in Santa Fe, New Mexico.-Career:Jewell began her musical career when she began busking on the streets of Sante Fe while attending college...
- Patty LarkinPatty LarkinPatty Larkin is a Boston-based singer-songwriter. redefines the boundaries of folk-urban pop music with her inventive guitar wizardry and uncompromising vocals and lyrics...
- Laurie LewisLaurie LewisLaurie Lewis , is an American bluegrass musician.- History :Lewis fell in love with American folk music as a teenager, at the sunset of the 1960s folk revival. She says of the Berkeley Folk Festivals where she first caught the folk bug:"Oh, it was so exciting...
& Tom RozumTom RozumTom Rozum is a Northern California-based American bluegrass mandolinist and singer. He is best known for his long-time collaboration with partner Laurie Lewis.-Music career:... - Peter Lehndorff
- The MammalsThe MammalsThe Mammals are a contemporary folk rock band based in the Hudson Valley, area of New York, in the United States.Current band members are Michael J. Merenda, Jr., Chris Merenda, Ruth Ungar, Jacob Silver and Tao Rodríguez-Seeger.- Band history :...
- Lori McKennaLori McKennaLori McKenna is an American folk singer/songwriter. She lives in Stoughton, Massachusetts with her husband and five children.-Early work:...
- Erin McKeownErin McKeownErin McKeown is an American multi-instrumentalist and folk-rock singer/songwriter.McKeown began her career in the folk scene. She released her first album, Monday Morning Cold, on her own label , travelling throughout New England while still a student at Brown University in order to promote the...
- Peter MulveyPeter MulveyPeter Mulvey is an American folk singer-songwriter based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Since the early 1990s, he has developed a strong national following in the indie folk/rock scene through his relentless touring and critically acclaimed albums. Starting his musical career in Milwaukee while at...
- Pete Nelson
- Deb Pasternak
- RedbirdRedbird (Redbird album)Redbird is the title of a recording by Jeffrey Foucault, Kris Delmhorst and Peter Mulvey, released in 2003.-History:All three are artists on the Signature Sounds label and regularly toured together. Foucault and Delmhorst are married. The trio worked out many of the songs on the road allowing them...
- Amy RigbyAmy RigbyAmy Rigby is an American singer-songwriter. After playing with several New York bands she began a solo career, recording several albums which had only modest sales despite enthusiastic reviews. She settled into a career of touring small venues and private parties while raising a daughter, then...
- Josh RitterJosh RitterJosh Ritter is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and author who performs and records with The Royal City Band. Ritter is known for his distinctive Americana style and narrative lyrics. In 2006 he was named one of the "100 Greatest Living Songwriters" by Paste magazine.- Early life :Josh...
- Salamander CrossingSalamander CrossingSalamander Crossing was a bluegrass band based in New England that disbanded in 1999. The band was composed of lead singer and fiddler Rani Arbo, Jeff Kelliher on guitar, mandolin, and vocals, and Andrew Kinsey on bass and vocals. They derived their name from a pair of tunnels in Amherst,...
- Maria Sangiolo
- Richard ShindellRichard ShindellRichard Shindell is an American folk songwriter. Shindell grew up in Port Washington, New York. He currently lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with his wife, a university professor, and their children....
- Chris SmitherChris SmitherChris Smither is an American folk/blues singer, guitarist, and songwriter. His music draws deeply from the blues, American folk music, modern poets and philosophers.-Early life, influences and education:...
- Louise TaylorLouise TaylorLouise Taylor is an American folk singer-songwriter from Brattleboro, Vermont. An older brother gave her a guitar when she was twelve and at age 15 she left home, hitchhiking and busking her way around the United States...
- Viva Quetzal
- Erica WheelerErica WheelerErica Wheeler is an American folk singer-songwriter. She currently lives in western Massachusetts. Growing up in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., she was exposed to traditional folk and bluegrass music in surrounding Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland, which influenced her later style. She...
- Brooks WilliamsBrooks WilliamsBrooks Williams is an American acoustic guitarist and singer/songwriter. His style combines roots, jazz, blues, classical, and folk...
- WinterpillsWinterpillsWinterpills are an indie rock band from Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. Its members are Philip Price, Flora Reed, Dave Hower, Dennis Crommett and Brian Akey. They are also joined on tour sometimes by José Ayerve and Henning Ohlenbusch...
- Joy Kills Sorrow
- The Sweetback Sisters
- Lake Street Dive
External links
- Signature Sounds official site.
- Signature Sounds page at MySpaceMySpaceMyspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
.