Evangeline Records is an independent 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

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

that promotes and releases music in the

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

baroque pop Baroque pop (sometimes called baroque rock) is a fusion genre that combines rock music with particular elements of classical music. It emerged in the mid-1960s as artists pursued a majestic, orchestral sound and is identifiable for its appropria ...

psychedelic folk Psychedelic folk (sometimes acid folk or freak folk) is a loosely defined form of psychedelic music that originated in the 1960s. It retains the largely acoustic instrumentation of contemporary folk music, folk, but adds musical elements common ...

, and

Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana music, a genre or style of American music * Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1981 film), an American drama film * ''Americana'' (20 ...

genres. The label was founded by notable songwriters Bob Frank and John Murry in 2006. Artists on the label include Bob Frank and John Murry, Jeffrey Luck Lucas, Kira Lynn Cain, Christine Shields, Danny Pearson, Birdgang, Ryan Auffenberg,

Chuck Prophet Charles William Prophet (born June 28, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and record producer. A Californian, Prophet first achieved notice in the American psychedelic/desert rock group Green on Red, with whom he toured and reco ...

History

Frank and Murry were both raised in the

American South The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is census regions United States Census Bureau. It is between the Atlantic Ocean and the ...

and moved to the

Bay Area. Initially, it was a vehicle for the duo's own work. Their critically acclaimed "World Without End" received international recognition and got them a European record deal, however they were unable to secure a suitable record deal in the United States. The label's first release was "World Without End", coming in July 2007 several months after its European debut on Decor Records. The name for the label comes from John Murry's daughter born in 2004, named

Evangeline ''Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie'' is an epic poem by the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, written in English and published in 1847. The poem follows an Acadian girl named Evangeline and her search for her lost love Gabriel during the e ...

after the tale by Longfellow and of

Acadian The Acadians (; , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Today, most descendants of Acadians live in either the Northern American region of Acadia, ...

and

Cajun The Cajuns (; French: ''les Cadjins'' or ''les Cadiens'' ), also known as Louisiana ''Acadians'' (French: ''les Acadiens''), are a Louisiana French ethnicity mainly found in the US state of Louisiana and surrounding Gulf Coast states. Whi ...

history. Following its release, additional artists were signed to the roster. Most of the artists are based in the

Bay Area, with the exception being Zach Roberts, known as ' Birdgang'. Most of the artists have some

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

influence and have a somewhat dark, cinematic sound. The label offices are located at 1441 Howard Street, home of Closer Recording studios, owned by producer and engineer

Tim Mooney Tim Mooney (October 6, 1958 – June 13, 2012) was an American drummer, producer, and sound engineer. He drummed in the The Sleepers (San Francisco band), Sleepers, Toiling Midgets, Negative Trend, Sun Kil Moon and American Music Club. Musi ...

, the former drummer for

American Music Club American Music Club was an American, San Francisco-based indie rock band, led by singer-songwriter Mark Eitzel. Formed in 1982, the band released seven albums before splitting up in 1995. They reformed in 2003 and released two further albums. ...

, The Toiling Midgets, and The Sleepers. The majority of the records released by or to be released by the label have been recorded there and many of the same musicians have collaborated on these recordings. The label views itself as a collective that is influenced by and is attempting to recreate the spirit of

Stax Stax can refer to: * StAX, (Computer Programming) Streaming API for reading and writing XML in Java * Stax Ltd, a Japanese brand of electrostatic headphones * Stax Records Stax Records is an American record company, originally based in Memphis, ...

Motown Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

Muscle Shoals Muscle Shoals is the largest city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States. It is located on the left bank of the Tennessee River in the northern part of the state and, as of the 2010 census, its population was 13,146. The estimated popula ...

, and

Sun Records Sun Records is an American independent record label founded by producer Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee on February 1, 1952. Sun was the first label to record Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Jo ...

. Musicians such as Sean Coleman,

, John Murry, Nate Cavalieri, and Quinn Miller have appeared on a number of these recordings and Sean Coleman has engineered two of them and produced and engineered one, Kira Lynn Cain's " The Ideal Hunter", released in May 2008. The record label was purchased in 2011 by Lori Graves Murry and reopened as Evangeline Recording Company. It is still a Bay Area-based independent label operating out of Oakland, CA. Most of the previous artists remain on the roster of the new label and the first scheduled releases under the new label name are scheduled for January 2012. The back catalog is available through the Evangeline Recording Co website.

References

External links

*
''Rolling Stone'' review of World Without End
{{Authority control American record labels Reissue record labels Record labels established in 2006