Watermelon Records | |
---|---|
Parent company | Texas Music Group/New West Records |
Founded | 1989 |
Founder | John Kunz, Heinz Gessler, Robert Earl Keen |
Defunct | 1998 |
Status | Defunct |
Distributor(s) | Alternative Distribution Alliance |
Genre | Rock Americana Alternative country |
Country of origin | U.S. |
Location | Austin, Texas |
Watermelon Records was a record label based in Austin, Texas.
Watermelon Records was founded in 1989 by John Kunz, Heinz Gessler, and Robert Earl Keen. Keen later sold his interest in the label. [1]
During the 1990s, Watermelon released 10-15 albums a year, mostly Americana music. [2]
Watermelon Records filed for bankruptcy in 1998, and its assets were sold to Texas Clef Entertainment Group, an affiliate of Antone’s Records. [3]
In 2010, New West acquired the Texas Music Group, which included the Watermelon Records label. [4] [5]
Outlaw country is a subgenre of American country music, most popular during the 1970s and early 1980s, sometimes referred to as the outlaw movement or simply outlaw music. The music has its roots in earlier subgenres like honky tonk and rockabilly and is characterized by a blend of rock and folk rhythms, country instrumentation and introspective lyrics. The movement began as a reaction to the slick production and popular structures of the Nashville sound developed by record producers like Chet Atkins.
Robert Earl Keen is an American singer-songwriter and entertainer. Debuting with 1984's No Kinda Dancer, the Houston native has recorded 18 full-length albums for both independent and major record labels. His songs have had cover versions recorded by many musicians, including George Strait, Joe Ely, Lyle Lovett, The Highwaymen, Nanci Griffith, and the The Chicks.
Douglas Wayne Sahm was an American musician and singer-songwriter from Texas. Born in San Antonio, Texas, he was a child prodigy in country music but became a significant figure in roots rock and other genres. Sahm is considered one of the most important figures in what is identified as Tex-Mex music. Proficient on multiple instruments, he was the founder and leader of the 1960s rock and roll band, the Sir Douglas Quintet. He would later co-found the Texas Tornados with Augie Meyers, Freddy Fender, and Flaco Jiménez as well as Los Super Seven.
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Danny Barnes is an American banjo player, singer, and composer whose music is influenced by country, jazz, blues, punk, metal, and more. He has been described as a "banjo virtuoso" and is "widely acknowledged as one of the best banjo players in America." He was a founding member of the Austin trio the Bad Livers, with whom he toured and recorded extensively from 1990 to 2000. Since then, he has performed and recorded as a solo artist, as well as collaborating with Bill Frisell, Dave Matthews, Jeff Austin and other musicians. In 2013, Barnes and Max Brody formed the Test Apes. In September 2015, Barnes was awarded the Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass, in recognition of his role as "one of bluegrass music’s most distinctive and innovative performers." Martin’s website said of Barnes’ work: "The raw and unpolished musical breadth of his compositions has propelled him across the industry today."
Clifford Antone was the founder of the eponymous Austin blues club Antone's and independent record label Antone's Records and Tapes, as well as a mentor to Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmie Vaughan, Kim Wilson, Gary Clark, Jr. and numerous other musicians. He is the nephew of Jalal Antone, the founder of the Houston-based Antone's Import Co - known for its po-boy sandwiches.
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Omar & the Howlers is a Texas based electric blues and blues rock band, The original Howlers was formed in Hattiesburg, Mississippi in 1973. Three years later they moved to Austin, Texas. The band has regularly toured European countries. Led by singer/guitarist Omar Dykes, they are best known for the 1987 album Hard Times in the Land of Plenty which sold over half a million copies and whose title song was a top 20 hit in America.
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Angela Strehli is an American electric blues singer and songwriter. She is also a Texas blues historian and impresario. Despite a sporadic recording career, Strehli spends time each year performing in Europe, the US and Canada.
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Antone's was a record label based in Austin, Texas.
Andrew Hardin is an American guitarist and record producer. Andrew's guitar style has been influenced by Roy Buchanan, Clarence White, Ry Cooder, Gabby Pahinui, and Grady Martin, with shades of blues, rock, R&B, country, tropical, and Spanish music.
Antone's Famous Po' Boys, formerly Antone's Import Company, is a sandwich shop chain based in Houston, Texas. Established by Lebanese American Jalal Antone, it grew to having fifteen locations and having products distributed throughout the Southern United States, but was beset by ownership disputes within the surviving family in the 1990s. Legacy Restaurants now owns the trademark and operates all restaurants with the name. From circa the 1990s until 2018 several shops franchising the Antone's name were operated as the Original Antone's Import Company.
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