Famed nation document label Misplaced Freeway Information is formally coming again, Interscope Information introduced on Tuesday, with CEO John Janick tapping Nashville veterans Robert Knotts and Jake Gear to take the reins. Knotts and Gear will each function government vice presidents and co-heads of the brand new label.
Misplaced Freeway was based 25 years in the past by former UMG Nashville CEO Luke Lewis, working with artists together with Willie Nelson, Ryan Adams, Lucinda Williams, Elvis Costello and Kacey Musgraves. Maybe most famously, Misplaced Freeway launched the O, Brother The place Artwork Thou soundtrack, which went 8-times platinum and is one in all simply 4 film soundtracks to win the Grammy for album of the yr. The label was absorbed into Mercury Nashville after Lewis stepped down in 2012.
“Misplaced Freeway carved out a particular place within the outstanding musical legacy of Nashville,” Janick mentioned in an announcement. “It was a left-of-center label with one-of-a-kind artists who, at their core, had been nice songwriters and moved tradition. Equally, Interscope has at all times been a beacon to artists who don’t match right into a field but are destined to encourage what comes subsequent. With this new chapter in Misplaced Freeway’s historical past, we’re dedicated to empowering the subsequent technology of trailblazers, each artists and executives.”
The newly shaped Misplaced Freeway can be based mostly out of Nashville, although it’s going to function underneath the West Coast-based Interscope umbrella, the newest within the sizzling development of coastal label presence in Nashville. Former UMG Nashville CEO Cindy Mabe had introduced a Misplaced Freeway revival alongside T Bone Burnett again in January, and the label launched Ringo Starr’s nation album Wanting Up. (Mabe exited UMG Nashville in February, changed by Mike Harris.) Burnett, Interscope mentioned, will work with the label on a number of tasks, together with a twenty fifth Anniversary version of the O Brother The place Artwork Thou soundtrack.
Knotts involves Misplaced Freeway from indie Nashville music firm 30 Tigers, whose artists have included Jason Isbell, Sturgill Simpson and Turnpike Troubadours amongst others. Knotts most not too long ago served as senior vp of artist and label providers on the label. Gear is leaping from sister firm UMG Nashville, the place he was vp of A&R, signing Tucker Wetmore and dealing on music for Parker McCollum, Jordan Davis and Dierks Bentley amongst others.
“Over the course of my profession, my purpose has at all times been to function in service to the artist’s imaginative and prescient whereas understanding the emotional connection to their artwork,” Knotts mentioned in an announcement. “It’s with this similar spirit that Misplaced Freeway left an enduring affect on the Nashville neighborhood – offering a house for artists who aren’t outlined by style and recognizing that the artist’s imaginative and prescient finally shapes tradition itself. I’m honored to hold that method ahead alongside one in all my closest buddies, Jake Gear.”
As Gear added: “Misplaced Freeway has a wealthy historical past. Many of those releases and artists had been formative in creating my very own appreciation of the craft of songwriting,” he mentioned. “The label was a pioneer in style, representing an ethos of artistry first, an openness to taking artistic dangers and shining a light-weight on artists who drifted on the fringes of the main label outlined ‘mainstream.’ Collectively with my good friend, Robert, and with the backing of John Janick and Interscope, I stay up for curating the roster.”
