The Rounder Records Story

The moral of the Rounder Records ‘story’ is that a record label devoted mostly to contemporary takes on traditional music can take root, survive through four decades, gain the respect and participation of serious musicians – both celebrated and relatively unknown – and occasionally score a big hit and a Grammy or two. Beyond this, the story’s arc may be a bit tough to discern, other than that there’s quite a bit of old-time and bluegrass material at first and that the catalogue expands as time goes on.

This four CD box-set compilat ion – which also includes extensive notes – devotes one disc to each of Rounder’s four decades. The offerings are somewhat repetitive and not always interesting, but there are intriguing detours including, on the 70s disc, music from Louisiana, The Gambia, and Cape Breton, and standout vocal and lyrical turns by Hazel Dickens and unique fiddling by Buddy Thomas. Most of the set’s songs are originals but among the moments of pure joy are the Highwoods Stringband’s traditional ‘Who Broke the Lock?’, which might be described as party bluegrass. More fun follows on the 80s disc from the Brave Combo, Sleepy LaBeef, and the Klezmer Conservatory Band, along with more blues, some zydeco and a continuation of the bluegrass, often with a country &western slant. By the 90s, the production values have improved noticeably, with alt-country star Jimmie Dale Gilmore’s ‘One Endless Night’ (perhaps the box’s best track), the angelic voice of Alison Krauss reviving the rocker ‘Baby, Now That I’ve Found You’ with the help of some of her Union Station cohorts, and Tish Hinojosa’s superior ‘Something in the Rain’. In the latest decade, the 2000s, Rounder dips into jazz with Madeleine Peyroux and attracts a panoply of luminaries including Willie Nelson and Mary Chapin Carpenter from country, blues diva Irma Thomas, Led Zeppelin English rocker Robert Plant, comedian-cum-banjoist Steve Martin, and polka principal Jimmy Sturr. The earlier bluegrass and singer-songwriter streams continue, though they are mostly not as memorable as the contribution of The Three Pickers: Ricky Skaggs, Doc Watson, and Earl Scruggs.