Rust Nashville was a

recording company 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 produ ...

founded by Ken Cooper in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

, originally to promote his band

Vertigogo "Vertigogo" is the title theme for the '' Four Rooms'' film soundtrack by Combustible Edison. It was submitted for consideration for an Academy Award but was ultimately disqualified from consideration because of its incomprehensible lyrical conte ...

. It was originally based out of Northeast

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

, most notably

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U ...

, before its move to

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...

, TN, in 2005. The label represented notable country artists such as

Aaron Tippin Aaron Dupree Tippin (born July 3, 1958) is an American country music singer, songwriter and record producer. Initially a songwriter for Acuff-Rose Music, he gained a recording contract with RCA Nashville in 1990. His debut single, "You've Got to ...

n.a
Aaron Tippin signs with Rust Records
''Country Standard Time'', June 20, 2006 and Shane Owens.

Origins

Ken Cooper started Rust Records as a way to promote his band rock band Vertigogo. Upon the band's major label signing to

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most ...

and change of the band's name to Sinomatic due to infringement upon a recording group from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

, Rust Records again went onto the back burner. Shortly after the release of Sinomatic's debut album however, the band fell apart in early 2002 and was subsequently dropped by their label. Ken Cooper returned to his roots, once again thinking about his recording company in early 2003. The first release on the label was a rock band called Dear Violet, once again with Ken Cooper as the frontman. In 2004 Cooper retired from performing, began to focus on the label full-time. VP of Operations Keith Simmerer was brought on board, and proved to be the only other person to stay with the company over the course of its run. Starting with the alternative rock group Cherry Monroe, Rust became a Universal Imprint and was among the first labels to sign a deal with the then new Fontana Distribution company. They then released records by other local artists Between Home and Serenity, Blush, View From Everest, Southcott, and Lareau before venturing into country music with artist Shane Owens.

Present day

In 2005, Rust Records made the move from Cleveland, OH, to Nashville, TN, where the company made a major change: it switched genres from

rock & roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whil ...

. In 2005, the band signed emerging artists

The Povertyneck Hillbillies The Hillbilly Way or THW are an American country music band formed in and around Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 2012 and originally consisted of Chris "Abby" Abbondanza (lead vocals), Dave Cramer (keyboards), Ryan Lucotch (drums), Jeff Volek ( bass g ...

and Shane Owens. In 2006, Rust signed a partnership agreement with

to release his work in partnership with his startup label Nippit Records and trio

BlackHawk Black Hawk and Blackhawk may refer to: Animals * Black Hawk (horse), a Morgan horse that lived from 1833 to 1856 * Common black hawk, ''Buteogallus anthracinus'' * Cuban black hawk, ''Buteogallus gundlachii'' * Great black hawk, ''Buteogallus urub ...

, who came over after being dropped from

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

. In January 2007, Rust Records closed its doors due to issues with its financial partners. All artists were released from their recording obligations at that time.

References

{{Authority control Record labels established in 1998 American country music record labels Rock and roll record labels

Origins

Present day

See also

References