Knw-Yr-Own Records

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Knw-Yr-Own Records is a small record label operating out of Anacortes, Washington, home to releases from such notoriously independent Northwest bands as D+, Karl Blau, and Little Wings. The label is known for putting on What The Heck Fest, an annual music and arts festival in Anacortes.

Knw-Yr-Own was founded by Bret Lunsford (Beat Happening, D+) in 1987, as an outlet for Anacortes, Wash., area music. Lunsford, an Anacortes native, operated a book and record store called the Business, which hosted frequent live music events and was also home to a small studio where some of the Knw-Yr-Own recordings were produced. Started initially as a cassette-only label, the first releases on Knw-Yr-Own were the series of local compilations Sore Optimists, To Go Nowhere and Too Sore to Move.

In its current status, Knw-Yr-Own operates as a loose collective releasing CDs by Little Wings, Nate Ashley, Karl Blau, Dennis Driscoll, The Gift Machine, D+ and many others.

Today, the label is now perhaps best known for putting on What The Heck Fest, an annual music and arts festival in Anacortes. Knw-Yr-Own is planning releases from D+, Stuart & Caan, the Pyramids, Photosynthesis and more for 2008.