Compass Records
Encyclopedia
Compass Records is a Nashville
-based independent record label
founded in 1995
by musicians Garry West and Alison Brown
. Currently home to nearly 100 folk
, bluegrass
, Celtic
, jazz
, and new acoustic artists, the label releases about 20 records a year. In 2006, Compass purchased the Green Linnet
and Xenophile
catalogs, and in 2008 the label purchased Mulligan Records.
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
-based independent record label
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
founded in 1995
1995 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1995.- January–February :*January 18 – Jerry Garcia crashes his rented BMW into a guard rail near Mill Valley, California, USA, but is not injured in the accident....
by musicians Garry West and Alison Brown
Alison Brown
Alison Brown is an American banjo player and guitarist known for a soft nylon-string banjo sound. She has won and has been nominated on several Grammy awards and is often compared to another banjo prodigy, Béla Fleck for her unique style of playing...
. Currently home to nearly 100 folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
, Celtic
Celtic music
Celtic music is a term utilised by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe...
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, and new acoustic artists, the label releases about 20 records a year. In 2006, Compass purchased the Green Linnet
Green Linnet Records
Green Linnet Records was an American independent record label that specialized in Celtic music. Founded by Lisa Null and Patrick Sky as Innisfree Records in 1973, the label was initially based in Null's house in New Canaan, Connecticut. In 1975, the label became Innisfree/Green Linnet and Wendy...
and Xenophile
Xenophile Records
Xenophile Records is a Nashville, Tennessee based sublabel of Green Linnet Records that specializes in world music from Madagascar, Nigeria, Haiti and other countries. The label was started in 1992 in Danbury, Connecticut by Wendy Newton as a subsidiary of Green Linnet. In 2006, Newton sold Green...
catalogs, and in 2008 the label purchased Mulligan Records.
Partial list of current and former artists
- Altan
- Beoga
- GradaGrádaGráda is a traditional Irish music band, founded in 2001, whose members are a mix of Irish and New Zealand musicians. Gráda are based in Dublin and Galway, Ireland, but spend much of their time touring internationally...
- Darol AngerDarol Anger-Career:Darol Anger entered popular music at the age of 21 as a founding member of The David Grisman Quintet. Anger played fiddle to David Grisman's mandolin in The David Grisman Quintet's 1977 debut. He co-founded the Turtle Island String Quartet with David Balakrishnan in 1985 and performed,...
- Russ BarenbergRuss BarenbergRuss Barenberg is a Grammy-nominated American bluegrass musician.-Biography:Barenberg began playing guitar at age 13, taking lessons from Alan Miller, whose brother John Miller Barenberg he would later play with. His style was heavily influenced by the flatpicking technique of Clarence White. He...
- Michael BlackMichael BlackMichael Black may refer to:*Michael Black , former English footballer*Michael Black , former Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Australia*Mike Black , American football player...
- Old Blind DogsOld Blind DogsOld Blind Dogs is a Scottish musical group which plays traditional Scottish folk music and Celtic music, with influences from rock, reggae, jazz, blues and Middle Eastern music rhythms...
- Paul BrockPaul BrockPaul Brock is an Irish button accordionist born in Athlone now residing in Ennis. In May 1989, Brock co-founded the group Moving Cloud with fiddle player, Manus McGuire. In 2001 he co-founded the new group The Brock McGuire Band also with Manus McGuire. In 2004, Brock was voted Best Male Musician...
- Paul CarrackPaul CarrackPaul Carrack is an English singer, songwriter and musician. Carrack has been a member of several bands including Ace, Squeeze, Mike + The Mechanics, and Roxy Music, been a session and touring musician for several others including Nick Lowe, and has enjoyed success as a solo artist as well...
- Jeff CoffinJeff CoffinJeff Coffin is an American jazz and alternative rock musician best known as the saxophonist for Dave Matthews Band and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones. In addition to the saxophone, he plays clarinet, flute and oboe.-Biography:...
- Fairport ConventionFairport ConventionFairport Convention are an English folk rock and later electric folk band, formed in 1967 who are still recording and touring today. They are widely regarded as the most important single group in the English folk rock movement...
- Éamonn Coyne
- Catie CurtisCatie CurtisCatie Curtis is an American singer-songwriter. Her music has been categorized in several genres, including pop, rock, alternative country, indie and folk. She has recorded 11 CDs. The most recent, Stretch Limousine On Fire, will be released in August 2011 on Compass Records.-Early life:Catie...
- Kris DreverKris DreverKris Drever is a Scottish contemporary folk musician and songwriter, who came to prominence in 2006 with the release of his debut solo album, Black Water...
- Judith Edelman
- Thea GilmoreThea GilmoreThea Eve Gilmore is a British female singer-songwriter. She began her career working in a recording studio, where she was discovered by her now long-time collaborator, producer and sometime co-songwriter Nigel Stonier, whom she married in October 2005.-Career:Gilmore was born in Oxford to Irish...
- Roddy HartRoddy HartRoddy Hart is a Scottish singer–songwriter from Glasgow. He tours both solo acoustic, and with his band The Lonesome Fire.-Music career:After graduating from University with a first-class law degree, Hart put together his 2004 demo album Home Tapes in 4 days on an 8-track recording machine...
- Colin HayColin HayColin James Hay is a Scottish-Australian musician, who made his mark during the 1980s as lead vocalist of the Australian band Men at Work, and later as a solo artist.- Early life and Men at Work :...
- Nuala Kennedy
- LúnasaLúnasa (band)-History:Named after Lughnasadh, an ancient Irish harvest festival, Lúnasa was started when Seán Smyth, Trevor Hutchinson, and Donogh Hennessy briefly toured through Scandinavia in 1996. Upon their return to Ireland, they teamed up with Michael McGoldrick and John McSherry to record a few tracks...
- Cathal McConnell
- John McCuskerJohn McCuskerJohn McCusker is a Scottish folk musician, record producer and composer. An accomplished fiddle player, he had a long association as a member of the Battlefield Band beginning in the 1990s and was later a band member and producer for folk singer Kate Rusby...
- Clara Moreno
- Beth Nielsen ChapmanBeth Nielsen ChapmanBeth Nielsen Chapman is an American singer-songwriter, mostly known for her numerous hits recorded by country and pop music performers.-Early history:...
- Farmer Not So JohnFarmer Not So JohnFarmer Not So John was a popular music group based in Nashville, Tennessee, that was often categorized as alternative country. With members Mack Linebaugh, Brian Ray, Sean Keith and Richard McLaurin, the band released two recordings on Compass Records....
- Mairéad Ní MhaonaighMairéad Ní MhaonaighMairéad Ní Mhaonaigh is an Irish fiddler and the lead vocalist for the Irish traditional band Altan.-Biography:Ní Mhaonaigh grew up in Gweedore , County Donegal, on the northwest coast of Ireland....
- Vigilantes of LoveVigilantes of LoveVigilantes of Love is a rock band fronted by Bill Mallonee with a large number of secondary players drawn from the musician pool in and around Athens, Georgia...
- Jeb Loy NicholsJeb Loy NicholsJeb Loy Nichols is an American-born singer, songwriter, musician, and artist currently living in Wales. His music combines elements of soul, country, folk, reggae and blues.-Biography:...
- Pierce PettisPierce Pettis- Biography :A former staff writer for PolyGram Publishing in Nashville, Pettis' musical career was started in 1979 when Joan Baez covered one of his songs, "Song at the End of the Movie", on her album Honest Lullaby...
- Todd PhillipsTodd PhillipsTodd Phillips is an American screenwriter and film director. He is best known for directing the comedy films Road Trip, Old School, The Hangover, and Due Date.-Early life:...
- Kate RusbyKate RusbyKate Anna Rusby is an English folk singer and songwriter from Penistone, South Yorkshire. Sometimes known as The Barnsley Nightingale, she has headlined various British national folk festivals, and is regarded as one of the most famous English folk singers of contemporary times...
- Leftover SalmonLeftover SalmonLeftover Salmon is a jam band from Boulder, Colorado, formed in 1989. Their unique blend of bluegrass, rock, country, and Cajun/Zydeco, which the band calls "Polyethnic Cajun Slamgrass", has found favor with the jam band scene...
- Enda ScahillEnda ScahillEnda Scahill is an Irish banjo player from Corofin, County Galway.Enda is a four-time All-Ireland Champion and has performed with The Fureys, Frankie Gavin and The Chieftains....
- Sharon ShannonSharon ShannonSharon Shannon is an Irish musician. She is best known for her work with the accordion and for her fiddle technique. She also plays the tin whistle and melodeon. Her 1991 album Sharon Shannon is the best selling album of traditional Irish music ever released there...
- Athena Tergis
- Glenn TilbrookGlenn TilbrookGlenn Martin Tilbrook is the lead singer and guitarist of the English band Squeeze, a band formed in the mid 1970s who broke through in the new wave era at the decade's end. He generally wrote the melody for Squeeze, while his writing partner, Chris Difford, wrote the lyrics...
- Ciaran Tourish
- The WaifsThe WaifsThe Waifs are an Australian folk rock band formed in 1992 by Josh Cunningham , and sisters Vikki Thorn and Donna Simpson...
- Tannahill Weavers
- Victor WootenVictor WootenVictor Lemonte Wooten is an American bass player, composer, author, and producer, and has been the recipient of five Grammy Awards....
- Andrea ZonnAndrea ZonnAndrea Zonn is a singer fiddle player who grew up in Champaign, Illinois. She grew up in an environment surrounded by music. She sings, and plays classical violin, and is fluent in numerous other musical genres. Zonn first met Alison Krauss at a fiddle contest at the Champaign County Fair when she...