::''This page is about the record label. For the Small Stone effect pedal, see

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 ...

''. Small Stone Records is an American

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the prod ...

based in

Detroit, MI Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

. 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 Sleep ...

compilation albums, as well as releases by Dozer, Los Natas, Halfway To Gone, Solace, and many others in the stoner rock, indie, blues-rock, and psychedelic genres.

History

Small Stone Records was founded in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

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,

The Laughing Hyenas Laughing Hyenas was an American post-hardcore band from Ann Arbor, Michigan, that existed from 1985 to 1995, fronted by Negative Approach vocalist John Brannon. According to AllMusic, "At first, the band specialized in dirges overlaid with the ...

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

. 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 (also known as Bobby Shazam), is an American singer, songwriter and rapper. His style alternates between rock, hip hop, country, and metal. A self-taught musician ...

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. 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 that combines elements of blues and rock music. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electric blues and rock (electric guitar, electric bass guitar, and drums, sometimes w ...

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, Dozer, Greenleaf, and Los Natas, the label has released a number of stoner rock compilations. The first, '' Right in the Nuts: A Tribute to Aerosmith'', featured covers of Aerosmith, and was released in 2000. In January 2002, the label released '' Sucking the 70s'', 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 Suction is the colloquial term to describe the air pressure differential between areas. Removing air from a space results in a pressure differential. Suction pressure is therefore limited by external air pressure. Even a perfect vacuum cannot ...

'', 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, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, ...

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-

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

." 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 * Acid King * 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 * Dozer * Dwellers * Erik Larson * Five Horse Johnson * Fireball Ministry * Freedom Hawk * Gozu * Greatdayforup * Giant Brain *

Gideon Smith & the Dixie Damned Gideon Smith and the Dixie Damned is a band based in North Carolina. Gideon Smith began singing with local bands in the Carolina music scene in 1989. In 1997, he formed "Gideon Smith & The Dixie Damned" with friends Otis Hughes and Boo Duckworth ...

* The Glasspack * Greenleaf * Hackman * Halfway to Gone * 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 * Los Natas * 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 * Puny Human * Red Giant * Roadsaw * Roundhead * Sasquatch * Shame Club * Slot * Skånska Mord * SNAIL * Solace * Soul Clique * Sun Gods In Exile * Supermachine * Suplecs * The Might Could * The Socks * Throttlerod * Tia Carrera * Tummler * VALIS * Whitey Morgan and the 78's * Wo Fat * ZUN * 36D

References

External links

*
Small Stone Records
on

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Small Stone Records
on Last.fm {{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