that resists the music “business”.
I don’t know everything, but I know what we have right now doesn’t work.
Hi! My name is Reed and I’ve spent the past twenty years playing music, running a label, managing bands and doing just about every job you can possibly imagine to pull it together and make some sort of career in music.
I’ve learned a lot about what works and what doesn’t.
I am a co-owner of Single Lock Records, an independent label with roots in the fertile soil of Muscle Shoals, Alabama. We generally win 25% of the Grammys we’re nominated for (currently 2 for 8) and that’s why I bought a suit. I’ve played drums for tons of folks, most notably on Cedric Burnside’s Grammy winner I Be Trying. I’ve toured and sold records around the world and back. When I was in college, I started a fake label and made up names for all the staff members... but they were all me. Now, I currently serve on the board of A2IM and as a Governor of the Memphis Recording Academy Chapter. Times change, I guess.
I’ve started Well Kept Secret because not everyone needs a traditional record label. The thing I’m finding more and more is that everyone needs something a little different. This company is an idea: what if the music business started by responding to what artists need? One size just doesn’t fit all anymore. (It never really did.)
The only thing I ever truly loved was music and it’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. You probably feel the same way.
Twenty years in and I’ve learned something about working in music: if you do it right, it’s a public service.
In fact, I believe helping lift up good art and expose it is a moral exercise.
That’s the backbone this company is based on and we hope you’ll see it in everything we do.