Checkered Past Records is an American

indie music Independent music (also commonly known as indie music or simply indie) is music that is produced independently from commercial record labels or their subsidiaries, a process that may include an autonomous, do-it-yourself approach to recording a ...

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

established in May 1997 in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

History

The label was founded in May 1997 by

Bloodshot Records Bloodshot Records is an independent record label based in Chicago, Illinois, which specializes in alternative country. History Bloodshot Records was founded in 1994 by Nan Warshaw, Rob Miller, and Eric Babcock, who knew each other from jobs i ...

co-founder Eric Babcock, Yvonne Jones, and Larry Lipson. Babcock met Jones through their shared love of the Texas-based band Killbilly, and ran Checkered Past out of Jones' and her husband's house in Irving Park. Babcock's stated motivation for starting the label stemmed in part from his desire to release "more traditional and rootsy-sounding" music by relatively little-known artists. It was also influenced by Bloodshot's refusal to release "The Neighborhood is Changing", the debut album by Tom House. He has also recalled that while he was working at Bloodshot, he was looking through dozens of albums by such artists, and was surprised that they hadn't been released locally yet. So he decided to start his own label to do so himself, starting with Tom House's album ''The Neighborhood Is Changing''. In 1999, Babcock founded the Nashville-based

Catamount Records Catamount Records is a Nashville, Tennessee-based record label founded in 1999 by Eric Babcock, the former co-founder of Bloodshot Records and Checkered Past Records. Notable artists * Johnny Dowd *Souled American Souled American is an American ...

, and, as of 2004, had since left Checkered Past to run it.

Artists

Artists which have released albums on Checkered Past include, but are not limited to: *

Ass Ponys Ass Ponys was an indie rock band based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Their sound combines rock and country into an off-kilter blend of Americana music. They have gone on national tours with bands such as Pavement, Throwing Muses, and Possum Dixon. Amo ...

* The Great Crusades *

Johnny Dowd Johnny Dowd (born March 29, 1948, in Fort Worth, Texas) is an American alternative country musician from Ithaca, New York. Typical of his style are experimental, noisy breaks in his songs and strong gothic (in the sense of dark and gloomy) elem ...

* Lonesome Bob *

Paul Burch Paul Burch is an American musician, composer, and record producer based near the Natchez Trace. Discography *''Pan-American Flash'' (1996) *''Wire to Wire'' (1998) *''Blue Notes'' (2000) *''Last of my Kind'' (2001) *''Fool for Love'' (2003) *''Ea ...

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional football club based in Bel ...

* The Silos * Souled American * Spanic Boys *

Tom House Thomas Ross House (born April 29, 1947) is a former left-handed relief pitcher in Major League Baseball, as well as an author and a pitching coach. Baseball career Player House pitched at Nogales High School (La Puente, California) and the ...

Tommy Womack Tommy Womack (born November 20, 1962 in Sturgis, Kentucky) is an American singer-songwriter and author. Career Early endeavors Womack played with the band Government Cheese from 1985 to 1992. He wrote an engaging memoir about this experience cal ...

References

{{Authority control American independent record labels Record labels established in 1997 1997 establishments in Illinois American country music record labels