| Earwig Music Company | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1978 |
| Founder | Michael Frank |
| Distributor(s) | Burnside Distribution Corporation (US), Parsifal bvba, Belgium (Europe) |
| Genre | Blues, jazz |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Location | Chicago, Illinois |
| Official Website | Earwigmusic.com |
Earwig Music Company is an American blues and jazz independent record label, founded October 1978 in Chicago by Michael Frank.[1][2]
Before setting up his label Michael Frank from 1975 until 1977 had been - like Bruce Iglauer of Alligator Records and Jim O'Neal of Living Blues magazine - employed in Bob Koester's Chicagoan 'Jazz Record Mart'.[3][4]
Since its foundation Earwig Music has issued fifty-seven albums, of which fifty were produced by its CEO, Frank,[5] among them the last recordings of Louis Myers,[6] Maxwell Street Jimmy Davis, and early Howlin’ Wolf Band's guitarist Willie Johnson.
Other artists among the label's roster were blues musicians:[7] The Jelly Roll Kings (with Frank Frost), Honeyboy Edwards, Johnny Drummer, Big Jack Johnson, Jimmy Dawkins, Louisiana Red, Willie Kent, H-Bomb Ferguson, Sunnyland Slim, Little Brother Montgomery, Jim Brewer, Homesick James, John Primer, Lil' Ed Williams, Lester Davenport, Johnny Ray, and Liz Mandville Greeson, jazz musicians: Carl Arter and Tiny Irvin, a gospel group; the Gospel Trumpets, and renowned folk storytellers: Jackie Torrence, Alice McGill, Bobby Norfolk and Laura Simms.
Those storytellers' Earwig recordings won American Library Association[8] Parents′ Choice, and NAIRD Awards.[9][10] In 1998, Johnny ″Yard Dog″ Jones won a W.C. Handy Award – Best New Artist – for his Earwig album, Ain't Gonna Worry.[11]
In 2008, Frank received the Blues Foundation's Keeping the Blues Alive Award - category "Manager".[12]