Record labels—their hometowns and histories; their owners, reps, and rosters; the stars they launched, lost, poached, and in some cases ripped off, grounded, or ruined entirely; their foundings, foldings, fights, acquisitions, and mergers—are a domain of interest pretty much limited to archetypal record store geeks and rock critics, for whom labels are very much the story of twentieth century music. Still, to any music fan of a certain age, labels retain a share of symbolic power and mystique. A label represents curation, an aesthetic and clan identity. A label is a literal stamp of authentication, validation, differentiation, and, at least in the pre-streaming era, the most vital “tion” of all: distribution. Among musicians, being or having been “signed” to a major or to a prestigious indie—profitably or not—remains a trump-card bona fide, a verbal velvet rope of sorts.
But here in the streaming age, where your Spotify page is more or less indistinguishable from Beyonce’s but for a tiny blue check and the small matter of seven or eight zeroes, it is increasingly hard for most of us on the outside to say what a label even does anymore. Something, I’m sure, but the fact remains that they no longer spin around and around hypnotically at 33 1/3 or faster, imprinting that iconic design on the brains of young people deep in the process of self-identification and pop culture schismogenesis. They don’t in most cases deliver your physical media—which may or not exist—to stores—which mostly don’t exist—across the country or world. Labels can seem like fond old castles in the clouds, casualties of a traumatic and sudden paradigm shift that are still, for some reason, emotionally necessary.
They’re not publicists, booking agents, studios, or managers though certainly they integrate with and support all of those while their own prime directive remains somewhat foggy. Legit larger labels still function as a bank that can front artists recoupable recording, video production, and promotional costs, and thus they can still quibble with song selection and album art and perhaps require you to go co-write a tune with Jack Antonoff to add blue-chip appeal to your new record. But here in the post-sales, post-distribution era of recorded music, labels mostly just sit there looking pretty and lending gravitas to your work, a metaphor for an old caste system that still reigns in our imaginations in much the same way that digital recording applications like Logic and Pro Tools continue to organize themselves around comforting metaphors for analog tape and mixing desks.
The genuine beauty of labels, of course, is that Goliath is one but so is David. Labels are both the Empire and the Uprising—the very medium of the revolving struggle between establishments and insurrections. And this may be why they still have potency and function beyond the merely symbolic. Consider, for example, Vfib Recordings, a small collective label headquartered in the high Catskills and representing a very, very choice selection of some of the region’s most accomplished songwriters and recording artists. Vfib, to me, at least, proves that labels still have the energy to speak, in majority or minority voices, for the sensibilities of a region, a generation, or just a group of talented friends.
“When I was in high school a long time ago,” says Vfib founder Steve Koester, “the label was a sign that the album was worth listening to—Slash, IRS, Twin Tone, Virgin and (most importantly!) SST led me to most of my formative music. And I think even into the first part of this century (Matador, Daptone, 4AD, Rough Trade, Sub Pop, Jagjaguwar) a label meant something. Before I moved to the Catskills and formed Two Dark Birds, I had previously released music with some very fine Indie labels such as Pitch-a-Tent label (David Lowery’s label), Tee Pee Records, and Tapete (in Europe). These experiences were generally positive. Although none of the bands sold oodles (or even a single oodle) of albums, these labels offered artistic and monetary support and gave us a decent platform to reach more people. Our aim with Vfib is to just focus on our own releases and do what we can to get people to hear them. It’s a humble mission maybe but it’s all any of us have ever wanted, really.”
The ”Us” Koester cites includes his Vfib partners Jason Mills, Rick Donner, Todd Adelman, Justin Tracy, and Marc Delgado. If you know one or several of the names on that list, an accurate sense of the Vfib house style is probably already forming in your head: Literate, adult, generally organic and roots-leaning but with experimental tendencies and a willingness to embrace aspects of modern production. Roots music, yes, but non-binding, non-dogmatic roots of great plasticity. American music that looks equally to the past and the future may well be the Catskills/Mid-Hudson house style, not just Vfib’s.
“We don’t have a prescribed sound or aims,” Koester says, but I do think we all feel a deep connection to the music that this area is known for, that combination of folk/rock/roots, electric and acoustic instruments intermingling. Dylan, The Band, Karen Dalton, John Martyn, Bobby Charles, those Van Morrison early ‘70s albums: I think that’s the common ground we all walk on. But also The Felice Brothers, Mercury Rev, Creative Music Studio, Bobby Previte, Tubbys, Opus 40, and the many many bands/artists that we are intertwined with here—Sandy Bell, Chris Maxwell, Sweet Clementines, Shana Falana, Catskill Harmony Guild, Rachel Yamagata, Soren Song. As we all know, there’s something in the water (air?) around here and we aim to channel it.
“Although Vfib has been an entity for over a decade,” continues Koester, it’s really just coming into its own. Over the past several years, we’ve ramped up quite a bit with two releases from Two Dark Birds and three from J.B. Mills, as well as a debut from Iris Clementine and a second album from Bicentennial Drug Lord. Whereas up until now I had been ‘running’ the label with the assistance of Jason Mills and Rick Donner, we’ve now taken on new partners and are embarking on a new era., i.e. we’re really making a go of it. We’ve partnered with wunderkind Kyle McEvoy of Sonder House for our streaming releases and have a (very!) robust release schedule set for the next year.”
That schedule kicks off in November of 2024 with Five Fathoms, the splendid new album by the Hurley-residing, British-born songwriter, guitarist, and producer Justin Tracy, whose previous full-length, Mumbai Night, was a profound and undefinable fusion of song-centric folk and Indian classical music. “Echoes Britfolk heroes John Martyn, Bert Jansch and Nick Drake,” says Koester, “whilst bringing something new to the table. Gorgeousness and weird tunings abound. Beautifully recorded to tape by Todd Adelman at The Woods Studio, the tracks feature Justin’s voice and guitar, and light arrangements featuring local all-stars such as [bassist] Jeff Hill and [jazz legend] Don Byron.”
Next up will be the sixth release from Koester’s own project Two Dark Birds, entitled Dreamers of the Golden Dream. “The band is in full rock mode,” says Koester, “working with Chris Maxwell, Jeff Lipstein, Alan Weatherhead and Todd Adelman. More tempo, more color, more words, more rock. The first cut, “The Song To End It All,” will be released in the next month, with singles to be released every month through the end of the year.”
Also slated for early 2025 release is the new record by Todd Adelman & The Woodsmen, which finds perhaps the purest roots rock classicist of the Vfib lineup working with producer Neil Dorfsman (Bruce Springsteen, Dire Straits, Bjork). “Todd and his incredible band recorded (at The Woods) a full album to tape this summer. They have really gelled as a band. The album features the masterful playing of Danny Blume, Jeff Hill, and John Valesio,” says Koester.
The bardic, gritty songwriter Marc Delgado will be known to most regional readers as a distinctive fixture in the local clubs and coffee houses. Blending noirish folk songcraft with spoken word elements and a narrative sensibility as indebted to novelists like Denis Johnson and Cormac McCarthy as to any fellow songwriters, Delgado’s new Justin Tracy-produced release is slated for—you guessed it—early 2025 release.
And there’s yet more. “Bicentennial Drug Lord is wrapping up the recording of its third this month at Drop of Sun Studios in Asheville, NC. More brilliant but damaged pop echoing Big Star, ELO, Grandaddy, and Elliot Smith. The band features songs from the trio of producer Alan Weatherhead (Sparklehorse, Mary Timony, Hotel Lights), singer/guitarist Rick Donner (Punchdrunk), and singer/bassist John Daniels (Blow Pops, Maki, Soda).”
Another Vfib principal, drummer/producer JB Mills, gets back in on the action with Mills & Nievergelt, a collaboration with bassist/producer Derek Neivergelt. “Incredible instrumental album. 808s plus cinematic funk plus spy jams. Please bring your bong,” says Koester, adding, “Late 2024 release.”
Concluding his list of upcoming releases, Koester adds, “and maybe your band? We view Vfib as an incubator of new talent. We are not desperately seeking new acts, but we have our eyes open for artists (particularly but not necessarily local-ish) that resonate with us. While we are (unfortunately?) a group of middle-aged white gentlemen who play variations on the folk/rock trope, we are definitely looking to expand beyond that. Requirements are only that the music moves us.”
For more information on Vfib Recordings, visit vfibrecordings.com.
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