Back Porch Records was an Americana/ roots rock label owned by

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

. The label was started in 1997 as joint venture between

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...

and Milwaukee-based Narada Productions. The label's initial releases, including the I-10 Chronicles compilations, were produced by Virgin Records executives Ken Peterson and John Wooler. Roughly three years after launch, Peterson and Wooler left Virgin Records and the label became a full-time concern for Narada. The Milwaukee-based label was run by Narada president Wesley Van Linda, who appointed Rich Denhart (VP of A&R) and Mike Bailey (Label Manager/A&R) to head Back Porch. In 2005, David Neidhart succeeded the retiring Van Linda as head of Narada Productions and, along with Denhart and Bailey, oversaw albums by the Subdudes, Alejandro Escovedo, Over the Rhine, The Neville Brothers, John Hammond, Frank Black, Charlie Sexton, Shannon McNally, and Carrie Rodriguez. In 2006, EMI closed the Narada offices in Milwaukee. Some Back Porch employees remained with EMI and became part of the Blue Note Label Group ( Blue Note Records, Manhattan Records, Narada Productions, Higher Octave Music, Back Porch Records) in New York City headed by Bruce Lundvall and Ian Ralfini. Ralfini and Mike Bailey consolidated the rosters of Manhattan and Back Porch and released albums by Emerson Hart, Rosanne Cash, Alejandro Escovedo,

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician whose recording career started in the 1960s. Morrison's albums have performed well in the UK and Ireland, with more than 40 reaching the UK ...

, and Carrie Rodriguez.Back Porch Records Official Website
Accessed May 17, 2012. In 2009, Mike Bailey, who remained the labels one constant throughout its duration, left EMI. Back Porch is a dormant imprint. The catalog is part of

EMI Music EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), c ...

References

{{Authority control American independent record labels Universal Music Group EMI Virgin Records 1997 establishments in Wisconsin 2006 disestablishments in Wisconsin Record labels established in 1997