Folk Labels

Lost Highway Records
Lost Highway Records was named for a song by the late, great Hank Williams, Sr., and many of the artists they've come to support through the years have pulled heavily from Williams' legacy as well. The label started in 2000 and is now part of the Universal Music Group, based in Nashville, Tenn.

Hush Records
Hush Records is an independent acoustic, experimental, and indie roots record label based in Portland, Ore., founded in 1998 by Portland-based singer-songwriter and artist Chad Crouch. Now, with over a decade under its belt, the label has signed and promoted the music of Portland's best envelope-pushing folk and roots-inspired artists.

Rounder Records
Rounder Records is an independent folk and roots music record label founded in Cambridge, Mass., in 1970 by college students Ken Irwin, Bill Nowlin, and Marian Leighton-Levy. It includes a number of subsidiary labels and has housed an extensive distribution and sales service. Though the label cut back on those services in the 1990s, it's still one of the largest independent labels in North America.

Red House Records
The label that handles Greg Brown, Eliza Gilkyson, John Gorka, and Lucy Kaplansky.

Lost Highway Records
Featuring Ryan Adams, Lyle Lovett, Lucinda Williams, and Mary Gauthier.

Smithsonian Folkways
The label responsible for keeping the best of folk alive, including Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly, and others.

American Melody
This label deals mostly with Folk, Roots, Bluegrass, and Children's Music.

Azalea City
A Maryland-based independent regional Folk label that allows its artists to keep the rights to their work.

Elizabeth Records
This Brooklyn-based independent Folk label represents the New York Folk scene.

Hard Miles
Folk label dedicated to old-school Folk, Roots, and labor-related songs.

Smithsonian Folkways Records
Learn more about the history of the Smithsonian Folkways record label, from its early days as Asch Records to the present.

Signature Sounds
New England-based independent label Signature Sounds has pumped out some of the finest folk music of the past decade. Learn more about their impeccable taste and impressive roster with this introductory history.