Diesel Only Records is a Brooklyn-based

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

record label established in 1990 by musician and journalist

Jeremy Tepper Jeremy Evan Tepper (November 18, 1963 – June 14, 2024) was an American musician, journalist, and record industry executive. The former frontman of the band World Famous Blue Jays, he founded the record label Diesel Only Records in 1990, along wi ...

, then also the lead singer of the World Famous Blue Jays.

History

Tepper, along with Diesel Only's cofounders, Jay Sherman-Godfrey and Albert Caiati, originally started the label with the goal of releasing vinyl 45s for use in

jukebox A jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that plays a user-selected song from a self-contained media library. Traditional jukeboxes contain records, compact discs, or digital files, and allow user ...

es at truck stops. Tepper also started the label with the goal of releasing his own band's music, as well as tracks by other artists from New York City. The first non-vinyl release by the label was 1992's ''Rig Rock Jukebox'', which was also their first singles compilation. Also that year, the label released a single by Mark Brine entitled "New Blue Yodel," which, after Brine sent it to

Hank Snow Clarence Eugene "Hank" Snow (May 9, 1914 – December 20, 1999) was a Canadian country music guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He recorded 140 albums and charted more than 85 singles on the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' country charts betw ...

, landed him a gig at the

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a regular live country music, country-music Radio broadcasting, radio broadcast originating from Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, on WSM (AM), WSM, held between two and five nights per week, depending on the ...

that July. By the end of 1993, Diesel Only had released more than 30 records by artists from across the United States. Following a second singles compilation, ''Rig Rock Truck Stop'', the label finally gained wider recognition in 1996 with its third, ''Rig Rock Deluxe'', which was released as part of a deal with Upstart Records. The album included songs by

Buck Owens Alvis Edgar "Buck" Owens Jr. (August 12, 1929 – March 25, 2006) was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was the frontman for The Buckaroos, which had 21 No. 1 hits on the ''Billboard'' country music chart. He pioneered what came ...

Steve Earle Stephen Fain Earle (; born January 17, 1955) is an American country, rock, and folk singer-songwriter. He began his career as a songwriter in Nashville and released his first EP in 1982. Earle's breakthrough album was his 1986 debut album '' ...

, and

Marty Stuart John Marty Stuart (born September 30, 1958) is an American country music, country and bluegrass music singer, songwriter, and musician. Active since 1968, Stuart initially toured with Lester Flatt, and then in Johnny Cash's road band before be ...

, and won Americana Album of the Year from the

National Association of Independent Record Distributors The American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) is a trade association that represents independent record labels in the United States, founded in 2005. A2IM is headquartered in New York City, with chapters located in Nashville, Chicago, North ...

. Tepper recalled that after Owens agreed to contribute "Will There Be Big Rigs in Heaven?" to the album, they merely had to mention that he had signed on to the project, after which "we iesel Onlygot anybody we wanted." ''Rig Rock Deluxe'' received a favorable review from

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

, which described it as the label's best compilation yet. In 1996, Peter Blackstock wrote in ''No Depression'' that through his work with Diesel Only, "Jeremy Tepper has established himself as a unique and indispensable cog in the alt-country underground." In 1997, Tepper married fellow musician

Laura Cantrell Laura Rose Cantrell (born July 16, 1967) is a country singer-songwriter and DJ from Nashville, Tennessee. Biography Cantrell moved to New York City from her native Nashville to study English at Columbia University. She briefly recorded songs w ...

. The label first diverged from its pattern of releasing trucking songs and related thematic compilations in 2000, with the release of Cantrell's debut album, Not the Tremblin' Kind. Cantrell and Tepper later became the co-owners and co-operators of Diesel Only. Cantrell has released all but one of her albums on Diesel Only (as of 2011).

Artists

Artists who have released albums on Diesel Only include: * Dale Watson * World Famous Blue Jays * Amy Allison *

Will Rigby Will Rigby is an American musician known for being the drummer of jangle pop band the dB's, a band he formed along with Peter Holsapple, Chris Stamey, and Gene Holder in the late 1970s. He has also performed with many other artists and has rele ...

* Tammy Faye Starlite * Ween

References

External links

* {{Authority control Record labels established in 1990 American country music record labels 1990 establishments in New York City