Back Porch Records was an

Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana (music), a genre or style of American music *Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1992 TV series), a documentary series presented by J ...

roots rock Roots rock is a genre of rock music that looks back to rock's origins in folk, blues and country music. It is particularly associated with the creation of hybrid subgenres from the later 1960s, including blues rock, country rock, Southern rock, ...

label owned by

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

. The label was started in 1997 as joint venture between

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), Tom Newman. It ...

and Milwaukee-based

Narada Productions Narada is a record label formed in 1983 as an independent new-age music label and distributed by MCA. A fully owned subsidiary of Universal Music Group and distributed by Capitol Music Group's Blue Note Records, the label evolved through an expan ...

. The label's initial releases, including the I-10 Chronicles compilations, were produced by Virgin Records executives Ken Peterson and John Wooler. Roughly three years after launch, Peterson and Wooler left Virgin Records and the label became a full-time concern for Narada. The Milwaukee-based label was run by Narada president Wesley Van Linda, who appointed Rich Denhart (VP of A&R) and Mike Bailey (Label Manager/A&R) to head Back Porch. In 2005, David Neidhart succeeded the retiring Van Linda as head of Narada Productions and, along with Denhart and Bailey, oversaw albums by

the Subdudes The Subdudes (styled lowercase as The subdudes) are an American roots rock group from New Orleans. Their music blends folk, swamp pop, New Orleans rhythm and blues, Louisiana blues, country, cajun/zydeco, funk, soul and gospel with harmonic v ...

Alejandro Escovedo Alejandro Escovedo (born January 10, 1951) is an American rock musician, songwriter, and singer, who has been recording and touring since the late 1970s. His primary instrument is the guitar. He has played in various rock genres, including punk ...

Over the Rhine Over-the-Rhine (often abbreviated as OTR) is a neighborhood in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Historically, Over-the-Rhine has been a working-class neighborhood. It is among the largest, most intact urban historic districts in the United Sta ...

The Neville Brothers The Neville Brothers were an American R&B/soul/funk group, formed in 1976 in New Orleans, Louisiana. History The group notion started in 1976, when the four brothers of the Neville family, Art (1937–2019), Charles (1938–2018), Aaron (b. 1 ...

, John Hammond,

Frank Black Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV (born April 6, 1965) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is best known as the frontman of the alternative rock band Pixies, with whom he performs under the stage name Black Francis. F ...

Charlie Sexton Charles Wayne Sexton (born August 11, 1968) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Sexton is best known for his years as a guitarist in Bob Dylan's band, though also has become well known as a music producer. Sexton co-founded the Ar ...

Shannon McNally Shannon Maureen McNally (born March 17, 1973) is an American singer and songwriter. Biography McNally was born in Hempstead, New York, on Long Island. While studying anthropology at Franklin and Marshall College, she began singing and playing ...

, and Carrie Rodriguez. In 2006,

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

closed the Narada offices in Milwaukee. Some Back Porch employees remained with EMI and became part of the Blue Note Label Group ( Blue Note Records,

Manhattan Records Manhattan Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group and operates as a branch of Capitol Music Group. Company history Manhattan Records was formed in 1984 by Bruce Lundvall and was later renamed EMI Manhattan Records af ...

Higher Octave Music Higher Octave Music is a sub-label imprint of Narada Productions. Since 2013, it is part of Universal Music Group's Capitol Music Group, which is located in Los Angeles. History Higher Octave was acquired by Virgin Records on behalf of EMI in 19 ...

, Back Porch Records) in New York City headed by Bruce Lundvall and Ian Ralfini. Ralfini and Mike Bailey consolidated the rosters of Manhattan and Back Porch and released albums by

Emerson Hart Emerson Hart (born July 21, 1969) is a songwriter, vocalist, guitarist and producer. He is the lead singer and songwriter of the alternative rock band Tonic. Biography Emerson Hart was born in Washington, Pennsylvania. He grew up in Atlantic ...

Rosanne Cash Rosanne Cash (born May 24, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter and author. She is the eldest daughter of country musician Johnny Cash and Vivian Liberto Cash Distin, Johnny Cash's first wife. Although she is often classified as a country art ...

, Alejandro Escovedo,

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

, and Carrie Rodriguez.Back Porch Records Official Website
Accessed May 17, 2012. In 2009, Mike Bailey, who remained the labels one constant throughout its duration, left EMI. Back Porch is a dormant imprint. The catalog is part of EMI Music.

References

{{Authority control American independent record labels Universal Music Group EMI Virgin Records 1997 establishments in Wisconsin 2006 disestablishments in Wisconsin Record labels established in 1997