Earwig Music Company
| 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 sixty-six albums, of which fifty-one 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:[4] 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, Kansas City Red,[7] and Liz Mandeville; 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]
References
- ↑ Hoffman 2006, p. 294
- ↑ Penchansky 1979
- ↑ Vabres 1995, p. 7
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Earwig’s Michael Frank". Delmark.com. Retrieved 2011-03-16.
- ↑ "Michael Frank, Earwig Music Company". Chicago Artists Resource. Retrieved 2011-03-16.
- ↑ Dahl, Bill. "Louis Myers". Allmusic. Retrieved November 16, 2010.
- ↑ "Old Friends". Discogs.com. Discogs. Retrieved September 17, 2014.
- ↑ "TEACHER¹S GUIDE FOR ROBOTS" (PDF). Retrieved 2011-03-16.
- ↑ The moral of the story: folktales ... Retrieved 2011-03-16.
- ↑ "Alice McGill Biography - Personal, Addresses, Career, Honors Awards, Writings, Sidelights - Review, Molly, Miles, Bannaky, Book, and Stories". Biography.jrank.org. Retrieved 2011-03-16.
- ↑ "Blues On Stage - Johnny "Yard Dog" Jones Interview". Mnblues.com. 1941-06-21. Retrieved 2011-03-16.
- ↑
Sources
- Hoffman, Steve: Earwig.- in Komara, Edward M. (2006). Encyclopedia of the blues. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-92699-8.
- Vabres, Jean-Luc: Entretien avec Michael Frank.- Soul Bag no. 140 (Fall 1995), pp. 6-8
- Penchansky, Alan: Interest in Blues Spawns 2 Labels.- Billboard 91 (24 November 1979), p. 70, at Google Books
- Stephenson, Mike & Les Irvine: Recording the Blues. Blues & Rhythm 178 (April 2003), pp. 10–11