E-Squared Records was a record label founded in 1996 by singer-songwriter and producer

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 seasoned music executive Jack Emerson. The label produced a series of albums by Earle, starting with 1996's ''

I Feel Alright ''I Feel Alright'' is the sixth studio album by Steve Earle, released in 1996. Critical reception Writing for ''Entertainment Weekly'', Alanna Nash gave ''I Feel Alright'' an "A" grade. She wrote, "If ''I Feel Alright'' doesn’t deliver the gr ...

''. Warner Bros. supported the label on many early releases. Earle and Emerson soon began signing and releasing additional artists, such as 6 String Drag, The V-Roys,

Bap Kennedy Martin Christopher Kennedy (17 June 1962 – 1 November 2016), known as Bap Kennedy, was a singer-songwriter from Belfast, Northern Ireland. He was noted for his collaborations with Steve Earle, Van Morrison, Shane MacGowan and Mark Knopfler, a ...

, and

Cheri Knight Cheri Knight is an American singer, songwriter, and bassist known for her albums (solo and with the band Blood Oranges). Early music career After performing in various Northampton-area bands, Cheri Knight was the singer, songwriter and bass pla ...

. According to ''

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 ...

'' the label developed a reputation for "releasing fine albums by artists who excel at songcraft and whose music is happily uncategorizable — hovering around rock, country and pop but never landing in any one camp.""Artemis Records Signs Steve Earle; Announces Co-Venture With E-Squared"
''Business Wire'', October 27, 1999 Late in 1999, following the success of Steve Earle's collaboration with the

Del McCoury Band The Del McCoury Band is a Grammy award-winning American bluegrass band. History Originally the band was called Del McCoury and the Dixie Pals with Del on guitar and his brother Jerry on bass. The band went through a number of changes in personn ...

, ''

The Mountain The Mountain (french: La Montagne) was a political group during the French Revolution. Its members, called the Montagnards (), sat on the highest benches in the National Convention. They were the most radical group and opposed the Girondins. Th ...

'', a co-venture was announced between E-Squared and

Artemis Records Artemis Records was a New York-based independent record label, founded in July 1999 by Danny Goldberg with Daniel Glass as President, and closed in April 2006. The label was acquired by E1 Entertainment. Artemis had a leading share of the U.S. i ...

. Artemis began providing support to E-Squared in areas of marketing, promotion, publicity and sales and in turn E-Squared began to act as an

artist and repertoire Artists and repertoire (colloquially abbreviated to A&R) is the division of a record label or music publishing company that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists (singers, instrumentalist ...

source for Artemis. E-Squared may have ceased operations a short time after the death of Jack Emerson on November 22, 2003. The label's Web site appears to have gone off-line in 2003,Internet archives of e2records.com
/ref> and Earle's 2004 album '' The Revolution Starts Now'' appears to be his last release on E-Squared (his 2007 album, ''

Washington Square Serenade ''Washington Square Serenade'' is the 12th studio album by American singer-songwriter Steve Earle, released in 2007. The album features the singer's wife Allison Moorer on the track "Days Aren't Long Enough," and the Brazilian group Forro in the ...

'' has been released on

New West Records New West Records is a record label based in Nashville, Tennessee, and Athens, Georgia. It had offices in Burbank, California, and Beverly Hills, California. The label was established in 1998 by Cameron Strang "for artists who perform real music ...

References

American record labels Record labels established in 1996 Record labels disestablished in 2004 {{US-record-label-stub