Diesel Only Records is a Brooklyn-based

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

record label established in 1990 by musician-journalist Jeremy Tepper, then also the lead singer of the World Famous Blue Jays.

History

Tepper, along with Diesel Only's cofounders, Jay Sherman-Godfrey and Albert Caiati, originally started the label with the goal of releasing vinyl 45s for use in

jukebox A jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that will play a patron's selection from self-contained media. The classic jukebox has buttons, with letters and numbers on them, which are used to selec ...

es at truck stops. Tepper also started the label with the goal of releasing his own band's albums, as well as those by other young bands from New York City. The first non-vinyl record the label released was 1992's ''Rig Rock Jukebox'', which was also their first singles compilation album. Also that year, the label released a single by Mark Brine entitled "New Blue Yodel," which, after Brine sent it to

Hank Snow Clarence Eugene "Hank" Snow (May 9, 1914 – December 20, 1999) was a Canadian-American country music artist. Most popular in the 1950s, he had a career that spanned more than 50 years, he recorded 140 albums and charted more than 85 singles on t ...

, landed him a gig at the

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a weekly American country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, founded on November 28, 1925, by George D. Hay as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM. Currently owned and operated by Opry Entertainment (a divis ...

that July. By the end of 1993, Diesel Only had released more than 30 records by artists from all across the United States. The label did not become well-known until 1996, when its third singles compilation album, "Rig Rock Deluxe", was released, as part of a deal with Upstart Records. The album included songs by

Buck Owens Alvis Edgar Owens Jr. (August 12, 1929 – March 25, 2006), known professionally as Buck Owens, was an American musician, singer, songwriter, and band leader. He was the lead singer for the Buckaroos, Buck Owens and the Buckaroos, which had 21 ...

Steve Earle Stephen Fain Earle (; born January 17, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, author, and actor. Earle began his career as a songwriter in Nashville and released his first EP in 1982. Initially working in the country music g ...

, and

Marty Stuart John Marty Stuart (born September 30, 1958) is an American country and bluegrass music singer, songwriter, and musician. Active since 1968, Stuart initially toured with Lester Flatt, and then in Johnny Cash's road band before beginning work as a ...

, and won Americana Album of the Year from the

National Association of Independent Record Distributors The American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) is a trade association that represents independent record labels in the United States, founded in 2005. A2IM is headquartered in New York City, with chapters located in Nashville, Chicago, North ...

. Tepper has recalled that after Owens agreed to contribute "Will There Be Big Rigs in Heaven?" to the album, they merely had to mention that he had signed on to the project, after which "we iesel Onlygot anybody we wanted." "Rig Rock Deluxe" received a favorable review from

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

, which described it as the label's best compilation yet. In 1996, Peter Blackstock wrote in ''No Depression'' that through his work with Diesel Only, "Jeremy Tepper has established himself as a unique and indispensable cog in the alt-country underground." In 1997, Tepper married fellow musician

Laura Cantrell Laura Cantrell (born July 16, 1967) is a country singer-songwriter and DJ from Nashville, Tennessee. Biography Cantrell moved to New York City from her native Nashville to study English at Columbia University. She briefly recorded songs with ...

. The label first diverged from its pattern of releasing compilations of trucker music in 2000, when it released Cantrell's debut album,

Not the Tremblin' Kind ''Not the Tremblin' Kind'' is the debut studio album by the American singer-songwriter Laura Cantrell. It was released in 2000 on Diesel Only Records. The album bears a dedication to "the original Beverly Hillbilly", Zeke Manners. Critical rec ...

. Cantrell and Tepper later became the co-owners and co-operators of Diesel Only. Cantrell has released all but one of her albums on Diesel Only (as of 2011).

Artists

Artists who have released albums on Diesel Only include, but are not limited to: *

Dale Watson Dale Watson may refer to: * Dale Watson (FBI), former Assistant Director for the Counterterrorism Division of the FBI * Dale Watson (singer) (born 1962), American country singer, guitarist, songwriter and author * Dale Watson (Jamaican footballer) ...

* World Famous Blue Jays *

Amy Allison Amy Allison is an American country music artist and the daughter of jazz-blues musician Mose Allison. She became interested in country music as a kid growing up on Long Island, and first began making music as the lead singer of ''Amy Allison and t ...

Will Rigby Will Rigby is an American musician known for being the drummer of jangle pop band the dB's, a band he formed along with Peter Holsapple, Chris Stamey, and Gene Holder in the late 1970s. He has also performed with many other artists and has release ...

* Tammy Faye Starlite *

Ween Ween is an American rock band from New Hope, Pennsylvania, formed in 1984 by Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo, better known by their respective stage names, Gene and Dean Ween. Generally categorized as an alternative rock band, the band are ...

References

{{Authority control Record labels established in 1990 American country music record labels 1990 establishments in New York City