Red House Records

Origin

The label’s name comes from the Iowa farmhouse where Greg Brown was living when he founded it. After Brown put out the albums 44 & 66 in 1981 and The Iowa Waltz in 1982, the label went quiet for a time. In 1983, Brown met Bob Feldman and Susan Ode, and the three began producing concerts to promote Brown and other folk musicians.

Feldman eventually took over running the label, while Brown shifted his focus to his music career, having just become a regular performer on A Prairie Home Companion. Feldman’s guiding principle was to give artists a supportive environment where they could make albums with total creative freedom, free from interference by executives chasing hit singles. The first release on the revived label was Brown’s In the Dark with You.

In the years that followed, the label concentrated on artists from the upper Midwest, including Spider John Koerner, Prudence Johnson, Peter Ostroushko, Rio Nido, Jorma Kaukonen, and John Gorka. As the industry moved from vinyl to compact discs, Red House made the same switch and began signing established musicians from across the country. Among the many performers who have released music through the label are Utah Phillips, Tom Paxton, Norman Blake, Eliza Gilkyson, Loudon Wainwright III, Robin and Linda Williams, Cliff Eberhardt, and Ramblin’ Jack Elliott.

Elliott’s South Coast won a Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album in 1996. Eberhardt’s 2007 album The High Above and the Down Below was named one of the top five of that year by USA Today. Other Red House recordings have earned roughly a dozen Indie Awards from the Association for Independent Music (A2IM). The label has also put out several compilations, including A Nod to Bob, which Red House calls a tribute from a Minnesota label to a favorite native son.

Feldman ran the company until his health declined in late 2005. He left work and died a few weeks later on January 11, 2006, at age 56. In November 2017, the Compass Records Group in Nashville bought the label, and its St. Paul operations were closed.

Did You Know?

• Ramblin' Jack Elliott's South Coast won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album in 1996.
• Cliff Eberhardt's 2007 album The High Above and the Down Below was named one of the TOP 5 of 2007 by USA Today.