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 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]
[edit] References
- ^ Hoffman 2006, p. 294
- ^ Penchansky 1979
- ^ Vabres 1995, p. 7
- ^ "Earwig’s Michael Frank". Delmark.com. http://www.delmark.com/rhythm.earwig.htm. Retrieved 2011-03-16.
- ^ "Michael Frank, Earwig Music Company". Chicago Artists Resource. http://www.chicagoartistsresource.org/music/node/22200. Retrieved 2011-03-16.
- ^ Dahl, Bill. "Louis Myers". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/louis-myers-p473/biography. Retrieved November 16, 2010.
- ^ "Earwig’s Michael Frank". Delmark.com. http://www.delmark.com/rhythm.earwig.htm. Retrieved 2011-03-16.
- ^ "TEACHER¹S GUIDE FOR ROBOTS" (PDF). http://discoverytheater.org/education/guides/2006/SojournerGuide.pdf. Retrieved 2011-03-16.
- ^ "The moral of the story: folktales ... - Google Bόcher". Books.google.de. http://books.google.de/books?id=m5itgA0f1xsC&pg=PA179&dq=bobby+norfolk+awards&hl=de&ei=gxp6TdeyJo_CtAatm53wBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=bobby%20norfolk%20awards&f=false. Retrieved 2011-03-16.
- ^ "Alice McGill Biography - Personal, Addresses, Career, Honors Awards, Writings, Sidelights - Review, Molly, Miles, Bannaky, Book, and Stories". Biography.jrank.org. http://biography.jrank.org/pages/1545/McGill-Alice.html. Retrieved 2011-03-16.
- ^ "Blues On Stage - Johnny "Yard Dog" Jones Interview". Mnblues.com. 1941-06-21. http://www.mnblues.com/review/yarddog-intv.html. Retrieved 2011-03-16.
- ^ http://www.blues.org/#ref=kba_past
[edit] 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
- Stephenson, Mike & Les Irvine: Recording the Blues. Blues & Rhythm 178 (April 2003), pp. 10–11
