Small Stone Records is an American

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

based in

Detroit, MI Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

. It was founded in 1995 by Scott Hamilton and is a self-dubbed "heavy rock" label. The label has released a number of

stoner rock Stoner rock, also known as stoner metal or stoner doom, is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of doom metal with psychedelic rock and acid rock. The genre emerged during the early 1990s and was pioneered foremost by Kyuss and Sl ...

compilation albums, as well as releases by

Dozer A bulldozer or dozer (also called a crawler) is a large tractor equipped with a metal blade at the front for pushing material (soil, sand, snow, rubble, or rock) during construction work. It travels most commonly on continuous tracks, though s ...

Los Natas Los Natas or Natas were an Argentine stoner rock band formed in 1993 in Martínez, Greater Buenos Aires. In their later releases, they had been leaning towards a more experimental sound described by them as ''free rock''. The group disbanded i ...

Halfway To Gone Halfway to Gone is an American heavy metal band from New Jersey. The band formed in 1999 when bassist and founding member of Solarized, Lou Gorra got together with Lee Stuart (Solarized's touring guitarist), and drummer Danny Gollin. Chuc ...

Solace Consolation, consolement, and solace are terms referring to psychological comfort given to someone who has suffered severe, upsetting loss, such as the death of a loved one. It is typically provided by expressing shared regret for that loss and ...

, and many others in the stoner rock,

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media *Independent media, media free of influence by government or corporate interests *Indie art, fine arts made by artists independent of commer ...

, blues-rock, and

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary mental states (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips") and a perceived "expansion of consciousness". Also referred to as classic halluci ...

genres.

History

Small Stone Records was founded in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

by Scott Hamilton in 1995, who remains owner and operator. Hamilton claims he mostly started the label to put out records by friends and his favorite bands such as

Big Chief "Big Chief" is a song recorded by Professor Longhair.Berry/Foose/Jones, ''Up from the Cradle of Jazz''. University of Louisiana at Lafayette Press, 2009, p. 148. It was released as a single by Watch Records of New Orleans in February, 1965.

, The Laughing Hyenas,

Mule The mule is a domestic equine hybrid between a donkey, and a horse. It is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). The horse and the donkey are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes; of the two ...

, and Slot. Hamilton started the label with a $5000 loan and named it after the Small Stone effects pedal made by

Electro-Harmonix Electro-Harmonix (also commonly referred to as EHX) is a New York City-based company that makes electronic audio processors and sells rebranded vacuum tubes. The company was founded by Mike Matthews in 1968. It is best known for a series of g ...

. The label's first release was a single by 36-D, which had members of Big Chief, Born Without a Face, and Slot. The label's first album release was a 1995 compilation titled ''Detroit Rust City,'' which sold 1,000 copies the first week, and featured

Kid Rock Robert James Ritchie (born January 17, 1971), known professionally as Kid Rock, is an American musician, singer, rapper, and songwriter. After establishing himself in the Music of Detroit#Hip-hop, Detroit hip-hop scene, he broke through into m ...

and Big Chief. Shortly afterward the label released Morsel's sophomore EP. In 1997 the label released an album by Perplexa, a band which included a member from WIG, who later went on to become

West Indian Girl West Indian Girl is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California, United States. The band's name comes from a type of lysergic acid (LSD) that was popular in the early 1960s. The initials are also a reference to Robert James' and Francis ...

. Five Horse Johnson also signed to the label that year. The label initially featured a number of different rock genres but soon began focusing on the

blues rock Blues rock is a fusion music genre, genre and form of rock music, rock and blues music that relies on the chords/scales and instrumental improvisation of blues. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electri ...

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

and

genres, and what Hamilton dubs "heavy rock." Besides albums by groups such as

Acid King Richard Allan Kasso Jr. (March 29, 1967 – July 7, 1984), also known as the Acid King, was an American murderer who killed his friend, 17-year-old Gary Lauwers, in Northport, New York, on June 19, 1984. Two other teenagers, Jimmy Troiano and Alb ...

, Greenleaf, and

, the label has released a number of stoner rock compilations. The first, '' Right in the Nuts: A Tribute to Aerosmith'', featured covers of

Aerosmith Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of lead vocalist Steven Tyler, bassist Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton, drummer Joey Kramer, and guitarists Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry and B ...

, and was released in 2000. In January 2002, the label released ''

Sucking the 70s ''Sucking the 70's'' is a two disc collection of 1970s songs covered by modern stoner rock bands. It was released by Small Stone Records in 2002. A second album, ''Sucking the 70's – Back in the Saddle Again'', was released in 2006. The album ...

'', a two disc collection of 1970s songs covered by stoner rock bands. In 2006, the label released the compilation '' Sucking the 70's - Back in the Saddle Again'', which featured covers of various 1970s songs. According to Hamilton, early on the Small Stone bands relied on networking with other bands on the label to organize tours and musical projects. In 2006, Small Stone began issuing the lost recordings of the band Slot, whose founder and guitarist had recently died. Remaining members of the ban
Sue Lott
(bass) and Eddie Alterman (drums) were then joined by Phil Durr of Five Horse Johnson and Scott Hamilton on guitar to play at

SXSW South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

in the spring of 2007. The new reformation soon garnered Five Horse Johnson drummer Eric Miller, and formed the ban
Luder
Their first album, ''Sonoluminescence'', was released on Small Stone in November 2009. Reviews dubbed the style "

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock Music genre, genre and subculture that emerged during the in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, particularly in Seattle and Music of Olympia, Washington, O ...

gaze In critical theory, philosophy, sociology, and psychoanalysis, the gaze (French: ''le regard''), in the figurative sense, is an individual's (or a group's) awareness and perception of other individuals, other groups, or oneself. Since the 20th ...

." The label continues to put out approximately 10 to 12 new releases a year. Small Stone's newer bands, such as Lo-Pan, Backwoods Payback, and Freedom Hawk continue to maintain busy touring schedules. Small Stone records is sometimes referred to as the "new home" for Man's Ruin bands. Acts like Acid King, Los Natas, Dozer, Sons Of Otis, Tummler, and Men Of Porn were picked up by Small Stone after the demise of the Man's Ruin record label (Some of those earlier Man's Ruin records have since been reissued by Small Stone, most notably the albums by Dozer, Acid King, and Sons Of Otis). Beginning in February 2014, Small Stone Records entered into a distribution agreement with

Alternative Distribution Alliance Alternative Distribution Alliance (ADA) is a music distribution company owned by Warner Music Group, which represents the rights to various independent record labels. ADA provides "independent artist and label partners with access to the resource ...

Artists who have signed to Small Stone Records

* Abrahma *

* All Time High * Antler * Asteroid * A Thousand Knives of Fire * Axehandle * Backwoods Payback * Blackwolfgoat * Black Sleep of Kali * Bottom * Brain Police * The Brought Low * Deville *

Dixie Witch Dixie Witch is a Texas-based hard rock trio formed by guitarist Clayton Mills, drummer/vocalist Trinidad Leal, and bassist/vocalist Curt Christensen in 1999. The band released their self-produced album ''Into the Sun'' on Brainticket Records in ...

* Dwellers * Erik Larson * Five Horse Johnson *

Fireball Ministry Fireball Ministry is an American stoner metal band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1999. History Formed in Cincinnati in the late 1990s by James A. Rota II and Emily Burton, Fireball Ministry relocated to New York City before eventuall ...

* Freedom Hawk * Gozu * Greatdayforup * Giant Brain * Gideon Smith & the Dixie Damned * The Glasspack * Greenleaf * Hackman *

Halfway to Gone Halfway to Gone is an American heavy metal band from New Jersey. The band formed in 1999 when bassist and founding member of Solarized, Lou Gorra got together with Lee Stuart (Solarized's touring guitarist), and drummer Danny Gollin. Chuc ...

* Honky * House of Broken Promises * Infernal Overdrive * Iota * Ironweed * Isaak * It's Not Night: It's Space * Jeremy Irons & the Ratgang Malibus * LaChinga * Larman Clamor * Lo-Pan * Lord Fowl * Lord Sterling *

* Luder * Mangoo * Medusa Cyclone * Mellow Bravo * Mother of God * Milligram * Miss Lava * Mog Stunt Team * Morsel * Mos Generator * Neon Warship * Nightstalker * Novadriver * Obiat *

The Men of Porn Men of Porn, sometimes typeset as Porn (The Men Of) and now simply known as Porn, is an American, San Francisco-based stoner rock band. They toured with Melvins on their "Double-Drumming Rock for Peace" tour at the end of 2006, and later played ...

* Puny Human * Red Giant *

Roadsaw Roadsaw is an American rock band, formed in 1994. To date, the band has released six studio albums. History Early years (1994–1997) In the year 2000, the band gave the following explanation for their name:"We were really, really stoned, ...

* Roundhead *

Sasquatch Bigfoot (), also commonly referred to as Sasquatch (), is a large, hairy Mythic humanoids, mythical creature said to inhabit forests in North America, particularly in the Pacific Northwest.Example definitions include: *"A large, hairy, manlike ...

* Shame Club * Slot * Skånska Mord * SNAIL *

* Soul Clique * Sun Gods In Exile * Supermachine * Suplecs * The Might Could * The Socks * Throttlerod * Tia Carrera * Tummler *

VALIS ''Valis'' (stylized as ''VALIS'') is a 1981 science fiction novel by American writer Philip K. Dick, intended to be the first book of a three-part series. The title is an acronym for ''Vast Active Living Intelligence System'', Dick's gnostic vi ...

* Whitey Morgan and the 78's * Wo Fat * ZUN * 36D

References

External links

*
Small Stone Records
on

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

Small Stone Records
on

Last.fm Last.fm is a music website founded in the United Kingdom in 2002. Utilizing a music recommender system known as "Audioscrobbler", Last.fm creates a detailed profile of each user's musical preferences by recording the details of the tracks they ...

{{Authority control American record labels Alternative rock record labels Record labels established in 1995

History

Artists who have signed to Small Stone Records

See also

References

External links