Michigan Production Companies & Labels
Albatross Productions, Grand Rapids is an artist management and development agency designed and committed to provide the world with access to the best in "live" Blues and World Beat entertainment! Albatross artists include Jimmie Stagger, Hank Mowery and Eric Jon.
No Cover Productions, Detroit is an independent record label from the Metro Detroit Area specializing in all styles of Blues, ranging from the more traditional Delta & Chicago Styles to the current Rocking Blues Sound. Their goal is to bring Detroit Blues to the world! No Cover CDs include Johnnie Bassett & The Blues Insurgents, Motor City Josh, Curtis Sumter Project, and the Detroit Blues Band, among others.
Blue Suit Records, Toledo, OH (the part of Michigan that got away) is home to some of the finest music available throughout the world. Now in its 14th year, Blue Suit was initially founded as a record label to produce albums for some of the unrecognized blues masters of the Toledo/Detroit region. Blue Suit has expanded into festival and concert promotion and radio broadcasting . Blue Suit has been recognized by having multiple albums nominated for W C Handy awards and its catalog now covers blues to folkrock to swing jazz and now gospel music. Blue Suit artists include the Motor City Rhythm & Blues Pioneers, and Harmonica Shaw, among many others.
Special Places for Blues Recordings
In an ambitious salute to The Year of the Blues, The Right Stuff/EMI will issue six CD "best of" packages for artists whose repertoire resides within EMI Music's extensive catalog. The Blues Kingpins series, contains "best of" volumes from six of the most influential artists in blues and rock'n'roll: Fats Domino, Ike Turner, John Lee Hooker, Lightnin' Hopkins, Elmore James and B.B. King. The reissues were produced and annotated by noted blues journalist/author Bill Dahl. A portion of the profits from the series will be donated to The Blues Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation headquartered in Memphis serving as the organization for the worldwide resurgence in blues music.
Music Maker Relief Foundation, Inc. is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping the true pioneers and forgotten heroes of Southern musical traditions gain recognition and meet their day to day needs.
The Smithsonian Folkways Catalogue contains over 250 recordings released from 1988 to present and is updated regularly with new releases. It is commercially available both on the web (click left) and in record stores. The blues collection includes historic recordings of Big Bill Broonzy, Lead Belly, Honeyboy Edwards, Lightnin' Hopkins, Sonny Terry, and others. Many Alan Lomax recordings are included here.
A Few Other Blues Labels
