Earwig Music Company is an American blues and jazz independent record label, founded by Michael Frank in October 1978 in Chicago.[1][2]
| 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 | www |
From 1975 until 1977 Frank was employed by the Jazz Record Mart, like Bruce Iglauer of Alligator Records and Jim O'Neal of Living Blues magazine.[3][4]
Since its founding, Earwig Music has issued 66 albums, fifty-one produced by Frank,[5] among them the last recordings of Louis Myers,[6] Maxwell Street Jimmy Davis, and Willie Johnson.[4]
Other artists on the label include blues musicians 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] Scott Ellison,[8] and Liz Mandeville; jazz musicians Carl Arter and Tiny Irvin; the Gospel Trumpets; and folk storytellers Jackie Torrence, Alice McGill, Laura Simms, and Bobby Norfolk.
The storytellers' Earwig recordings won the American Library Association Parents2 Choice and NAIRD Awards.[9]
Earwig released four albums by the Chicago blues duo, Chris James and Patrick Rynn.[10]
In 1998, Johnny "Yard Dog" Jones won a W. C. Handy Award for Best New Artist for the album, Ain't Gonna Worry.[11]
In 2008, Frank received the Blues Foundation's Keeping the Blues Alive Award (Manager).
References
edit- ^ Hoffman, Steve (2006). "Earwig". In Komara, Edward (ed.). Encyclopedia of the Blues. New York, NY: Routledge. p. 294. ISBN 0-415-92699-8.
- ^ Penchansky, Alan (24 November 1979). "Interest in Blues Spawns 2 labels". Billboard: 70.
- ^ Vabres, Jean-Luc (Fall 1995). "Entretien avec Michael Frank". Soul Bag (140): 6–8.
- ^ a b "Earwig's Michael Frank". Delmark.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-09. Retrieved 2011-03-16.
- ^ "Michael Frank, Earwig Music Company". Chicago Artists Resource. Archived from the original on 2010-12-07. Retrieved 2011-03-16.
- ^ Dahl, Bill. "Louis Myers". Allmusic. Retrieved November 16, 2010.
- ^ "Old Friends". Discogs.com. Retrieved September 17, 2014.
- ^ "Scott Ellison - YEG Live". Yeglive.ca. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
- ^ "Teacher's Guide for Robots" (PDF). Discoverytheater.org. Retrieved 2011-03-16.
- ^ "Chris James | Album Discography". AllMusic. Retrieved 2016-05-23.
- ^ "Blues On Stage - Johnny "Yard Dog" Jones Interview". Mnblues.com. 1941-06-21. Retrieved 2011-03-16.