Free Dirt Records is an American independent record label and label services company founded in 2006 by John Smith and Erica Haskell that releases folk and roots music.[2] The label's releases have received three Grammy nominations.[3][4][5]
History
John Smith met Erica Haskell when Haskell interned at Smithsonian Folkways in 2000.[6] Later while Haskell was attending graduate school in ethnomusicology[7] they collaborated on a box set of spoken word introductions paired with original songs by anarchist folk musician and storyteller Utah Phillips[6] before founding Free Dirt Records in 2006. The label's first official release was by the traditional Bosnian group Mostar Sevdah Reunion.[8] Smith and Haskell ventured to create a label where they could work with young artists making traditionally rooted music and showcase often overlooked material like spoken word. Since 2006, the label has released music by Pokey LaFarge,[9]Anna & Elizabeth,[10]Hackensaw Boys, Julian Lage & Chris Eldridge (Grammy-nominated), Cahalen Morrison, Che Apalache (Grammy-nominated), Dori Freeman,[11]
