Concord Bicycle Music continues its roll-up of indie labels with two more acquisitions, buying the HighTone record label catalog and the recorded music assets of Bandit Records, the late George Jones' label imprint. Terms of the deals were not disclosed.
The catalog of HighTone, founded in 1983 by Bruce Bromberg and Larry Sloven, includes Americana and various other roots music from such artists as Rosie Flores, Dick Dale, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Dale Watson, Joe Lewis Walker, Tom Russell, Buddy Miller, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Joe Ely, Dave Alvin, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown and Robert Cray. The catalog had been sold to Shout! Factory, which in turn was the seller in this current deal.
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Meanwhile, the Bandit Records catalog, obtained from Jones' widow Nancy, includes about 140 songs from the late country artist, including such albums as The Rock, The Gospel Collection, Kickin' Out The Footlights Again and Hits I Missed…And One I Didn't. It also included an unreleased Jones duet collection featuring such artists as Leon Russell, Vince Gill, Keith Richards, Ricky Skaggs and Mark Knopfler.
“HighTone, and Bandit, represent an important niche in the American independent music culture and fits perfectly within our existing catalog," Concord Bicycle Music chief corporate development officer Steve Salm said in a statement. The company's senior VP of catalog management and development Sig Sigworth added that the acquisition would enhance the label's collection of country, folk, blues and Americana master recordings.
Other label acquisitions that Concord Bicycle has made over the past few years include Rounder Records, Vanguard, Razor & Tie, and Wind-Up Records.