Kirtland Records is 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 ...

based in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

, with offices in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. It was co-founded by

Deep Blue Something Deep Blue Something is an American rock band who are known for their 1995 hit single " Breakfast at Tiffany's" from their second album ''Home''. ''Home'' achieved gold-record status; however, the band parted ways with Interscope Records and wen ...

drummer John Kirtland and his wife, Jenny Kirtland of

The Polyphonic Spree The Polyphonic Spree is an American choral rock band from Dallas, Texas that was formed in 2000 by singer/songwriter Tim DeLaughter. The band's pop and rock songs are augmented by a large vocal choir, and instruments such as flute, trumpet, fre ...

History

Kirtland Records was founded by John Kirtland, the drummer of

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...

band Deep Blue Something. After the band broke apart, Kirtland went to work at

Trauma Records Trauma Records was a Los Angeles-based independent record label created in 1993 by Paul Palmer and Rob Kahane. Trauma Records had a joint venture agreement with Interscope Records that included financing and distribution through Interscope Records ...

, an Interscope-affiliated label which launched artists such as Bush and

No Doubt No Doubt is an American rock band from Anaheim, California, formed in 1986. For most of their career, the band has consisted of vocalist Gwen Stefani, guitarist Tom Dumont, bassist Tony Kanal, and drummer Adrian Young. Since the mid-1990s, the ...

. When Trauma Records founder Rob Kahane encountered financial difficulties, he borrowed money from Kirtland, offering as collateral the rights to the Bush back-catalog and royalty rights on the sales of the No Doubt album ''

Tragic Kingdom ''Tragic Kingdom'' is the third studio album by American rock band No Doubt, released on October 10, 1995, by Trauma Records and Interscope Records. It was the final album to feature original keyboardist Eric Stefani, who left the band in 1994. Th ...

''. After Kahane defaulted on his debt, Kirtland sold the No Doubt royalty rights but kept the Bush back catalog rights. In 2003, John Kirtland co-founded Kirtland Records with his wife,

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

member Jenny Kirtland. Kirtland Records leveraged the Bush back catalog rights to secure a national distribution deal with

RED Distribution RED Music, stylized RED MUSIC, formerly RED Distribution, LLC (Relativity Entertainment Distribution) was a Sony-owned sales and marketing division that merged under The Orchard in 2017. RED previously handled releases for more than sixty i ...

(now merged into The Orchard), which remains the label's distributor. Kirtland Records went on to become the record label for a number of Texas-based indie bands, including the

Burden Brothers Burden Brothers are a hard rock band formed in Dallas, Texas, by Toadies lead singer/songwriter Vaden Todd Lewis and Reverend Horton Heat/Izzy Stradlin drummer Taz Bentley.Paoletta, Michael (2004)Singles: New & Noteworthy: Burden Brothers Beautif ...

, The Polyphonic Spree,

Toadies Toadies are an American rock band formed in 1989 in Fort Worth, Texas, best known for the song " Possum Kingdom". The band's classic lineup consisted of Vaden Todd Lewis (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Lisa Umbarger (bass guitar), Darrel Herb ...

, The Vanished, and Sarah Jaffe. In 2014, Kirtland Records sold its Bush back catalog rights to Round Hill Music and Bush's frontman

Gavin Rossdale Gavin McGregor Rossdale (born 30 October 1965) is an English guitarist and actor, best known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Bush. He helped form Bush in 1992; on the band's separation in 2002, he became the lead singer ...

. Kirtland Records also released Deep Blue Something's 2015 EP, ''Locust House''.

Artist roster

Alpha Rev Alpha Rev is an American alternative rock band from Austin, Texas, fronted by Casey McPherson (formerly of Endochine). McPherson remains the group's only consistent member, although historically the core members have also included Zak Loy on lea ...

* Bush *Bril *

The Fixx The Fixx are a rock band from London, England, founded in 1979. The band's hits include " One Thing Leads to Another", " Saved by Zero", " Are We Ourselves?", and " Secret Separation", each of which charted in the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot ...

* The Flys * The Hourly Radio * Sarah Jaffe * Pat McGee Band * People on Vacation *

Bob Schneider Bob Schneider (born October 12, 1965) is an Austin, Texas–based musician and former lead singer of the rock band Ugly Americans. He has released around a dozen albums, mostly on his own Shockorama label. ''Lonelyland'' (2001) was license ...

Smile Smile Smile Smile was an American folk pop indie rock band based in Dallas, Texas. The band is made up of Jencey Hirunrusme (piano and vocals) and Ryan Hamilton (guitar and vocals). At various times Smile Smile has played with a variety of drummers inclu ...

References

American independent record labels Record labels established in 2003 Rock record labels {{US-independent-record-label-stub

History

Artist roster

See also

References