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When it comes to alternative country music, label owner Eric Babcock has gone from "No Depression" to what some might call "No Bullshit." As a co-founder of Bloodshot Records, one of the labels which first exposed the "No Depression"
Babcock parted company with partners Nan Warshaw and Rob Miller in May to form Checkered Past Records, a indie label he wants to use to record "more traditional and rootsy sounding artists." And that's just what he has started to do, signing such obscure and backwoods artists as Lonesome Bob and Tom House. "I called it Checkered Past because I thought it sounded mysterious, something you would want to look into, much like the artists I am putting out," Babcock said. "Some people ask if it has anything to do with my time at Bloodshot Records, but it really doesn't." And while its name is the same, Checkered Past also has nothing to do with a certain all-star rock band of a few years back, Babcock said. "Apparently, there was a group a few years back called Checkered Past that had some guys from The Sex Pistols and Blondie in it. And apparently they were pretty bad. A lot of people ask me if it has anything to do with them or if I'm working with them or whatever. It has nothing to do with them. The last thing I want my label associated with is some stinky band that no one likes." While he purposely made his new label's name enigmatic, he is very clear about why he parted company with Bloodshot Records. "Ever since the beginning of Bloodshot, I was more into the country music, the more rootsy stuff, and Nan and Rob were into the more punk sounding stuff." Back when Babcock was at Bloodshot, the label put Tom House on a Nashville compilation which featured numerous obscure artists, he said. While some at the label thought House too traditional sounding, Babcock was convinced he was onto something great. After the release, Babcock got to hear more of House's music. "I didn't want to fight about putting it out. So, I started to think about putting it out somewhere else with a better scene." So, he began forming Checkered Past in March of this year while still working at Bloodshot Records. Working for both labels (from March through May), however, proved too much of a drain on Babcock. In turn, he parted ways with alternative country and set out on his own. The split raised the heads of those in the alternative country community who were not already in the know about the inner workings of Bloodshot Records. For others, the move made sense. "Most everyone who knows the three of us are not too surprised, just based on our tastes in music. Some people are sort of shocked, basically because they see Bloodshot as the leaders of a cause. Others don't seem to care at all. In a lot of the alternative country circles, I get people telling me 'I will listen to any music put out by someone I respect.' So, that's nice to hear." For their part, Warshaw and Miller have been nice about the split, telling Country Standard Time that things at the label "...will now be a bit more efficient and streamlined. I don't think it's going to be a noticeable difference to anybody outside of Bloodshot. Having one partner to communicate with is a lot easier than two." Babcock also bears no ill will toward his former partners, preferring to focus on the positive. And he doesn't consider his former label a competitor. "I mean, how small do you want to make your umbrella? Neither of us are mainstream country at all. But, like I said before, the kind of music I'm interested in is closer to traditional sounding country music than the stuff Bloodshot usually puts out. However, it's not like either of us are dealing with artists who are getting attention from radio... I don't really see us competing to sign the same artists." Checkered Past currently has a small stable of artists. They've re-released the Old Joe Clarks' Town Of Ten, a 1996 indie release by the San Francisco-by-way-of-Kansas torch and twang band. Meanwhile, Oct. 7 brings the release of Lonesome Bob's country blues opus Things Fall Apart. But Babcock seems proudest of Tom House's The Neighborhood Is Changing, a symphony of delta blues and Southern folk music. When talking about why he formed the new label, Babcock said, "Tom House states my case better than I ever could." Indeed, he does. Calling the 47-year-old Tom House at his room in the Meridian, Miss. Days Inn, you are greeted by a voice not far removed from Boomhauer, the mumbling country gentleman on Fox TV's King Of The Hill. In spite of his thick accent and fast talkin', House is clear about what he thinks of the state of country music. "I don't think much of it," he said. "I mean, there is no current state of country music. Most of it is pretty embarrassing." Unlike the blow-dried country-fide pretty boys who claim to sing for the working man, House has been a laborer for most of his life. Currently working as an electrician, he said he is happy with how Checkered Pasts The Neighborhood Is Changing turned out. "I'm pretty keyed up about it. I've been writing poetry for a long time and doing music since I was 26," the music troubadour said. "This whole alternative country thing is great. It reminds me a lot of the poetry scene that sprung up in Nashville a few years ago. Everyone helps everyone out and the people are nice." [Thurs., Sept. 4, 1997, 9 a.m. PST]
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