The Blue Canoe Records Story
The BCR story is not one that begins with lofty aspirations, but necessity – more precisely, the necessity of its founder, Joseph Patrick Moore. An up-and-coming bassist from the American South, JPM had successfully entered the ranks of journeyman professional musicians by the mid-1990s, but he had also hit a wall of sorts:
“I was gigging steadily 5 nights a week, making money. It was great, but I was in this weird Groundhog Day loop playing Mustang Sally and wanting to be more creative. So, with the money I was making, I bought some recording equipment and made an album. At that time, the next logical step was to shop it around to get a record deal so I sent out a bunch of letters and got zero feedback. I ended up making a total of three solo albums but got no record company interest at all. From that experience though, I did learn a great deal about not only recording, but also publishing and copyrights. So when my next project with two other musicians - EMP - looked really promising, I went all in to try and garner label interest. I bought books about record company contacts and sent out professional letters and press kits to every single label. Again, there was ZERO response… except for one person - Peter Erskine.”
“I was gigging steadily 5 nights a week, making money. It was great, but I was in this weird Groundhog Day loop playing Mustang Sally and wanting to be more creative. So, with the money I was making, I bought some recording equipment and made an album. At that time, the next logical step was to shop it around to get a record deal so I sent out a bunch of letters and got zero feedback. I ended up making a total of three solo albums but got no record company interest at all. From that experience though, I did learn a great deal about not only recording, but also publishing and copyrights. So when my next project with two other musicians - EMP - looked really promising, I went all in to try and garner label interest. I bought books about record company contacts and sent out professional letters and press kits to every single label. Again, there was ZERO response… except for one person - Peter Erskine.”
Erskine wrote back that his own Fuzzy Music label was too small to take on the album at that point but also said that the music was ready, the time for independent release was now, and encouraged JPM to do it himself. “This was 2003, right before ITunes and the advent of the MP3 player and all that. So, given that we had exhausted all our other options, I decided to take Peter’s advice and put the album out ourselves. That EMP album was the first official Blue Canoe release. I had no designs on starting a label at all. I just needed a path to put out projects I was involved in. That’s how it all began.”
Before long, other musicians would voice their frustrations to Moore about getting their music released - and slowly, BCR began to grow a catalog:
Before long, other musicians would voice their frustrations to Moore about getting their music released - and slowly, BCR began to grow a catalog:
“Shortly after EMP disbanded, I moved to Atlanta and played in multiple projects. Friends who knew that I had some experience releasing albums independently came to me asking to help them with certain things - copyrights and publishing mostly. In due course, they would say, ‘Well heck, why don’t you just put it out?’ I did have structures in place, the UPC code, and a little website. So the first few releases on Blue Canoe, after my own, were from musicians I was gigging with in Atlanta - people that had recorded albums but needed an outlet, just like I did. And just like I had been, they were all a bit like “deer in the headlights” when it came to getting their music out there.”
Then around 2008 or 2009, Moore set up an online label listing and Blue Canoe Records began getting submissions from all over the world. “A few of those submissions featured some world-class musicians but, for whatever reason, other more established labels weren’t interested. Suddenly we had albums in our catalog that included players with some serious name recognition - Eddie Gomez, Vinnie Colaiuta and others. That kicked things up to a different level and Blue Canoe started to get a bit more notice from certain publications and radio stations.”
Then around 2008 or 2009, Moore set up an online label listing and Blue Canoe Records began getting submissions from all over the world. “A few of those submissions featured some world-class musicians but, for whatever reason, other more established labels weren’t interested. Suddenly we had albums in our catalog that included players with some serious name recognition - Eddie Gomez, Vinnie Colaiuta and others. That kicked things up to a different level and Blue Canoe started to get a bit more notice from certain publications and radio stations.”
In 2017 Moore left Atlanta to plant his flag in Las Vegas. The label at that time had expanded steadily, becoming an entity unto itself but a real turning point was reached when a musician friend of Moore’s facilitated a crucial introduction.“
Atlanta keyboardist Randy Hoexter had somehow mentioned me to bassist/producer Jimmy Haslip and told me that Jimmy was interested in connecting. He had a few projects he was producing for other people and I think was interested in feeling me (and the label) out a bit. After a few conversations, we went ahead with a project he was producing and he got a taste of how Blue Canoe handled things.”
Evidently, Moore was doing something right because Haslip started bringing more and more of his projects to Blue Canoe, including his own. “Since then, Jimmy has been instrumental in the growth in the quality of music and the caliber of artists, thus raising BCR’s profile to a whole new level.”
One easily identifiable key to the Blue Canoe ethos, reputation, and burgeoning artistic profile is that Moore easily understands where musicians are coming from – because he continues to make a living as one. “I put a lot of time infto the label but I’m not a cigar-chomping lawyer or an MBA. I’m a working musician so I’m coming at it from those shoes. If Blue Canoe has been about anything, it’s about authenticity in the music and being fair and accountable to the musicians. Look, there are no guarantees out there and I know how I would feel to be handing over my music - my baby - and entrusting it to someone else. It’s an honor that artists are willing to do that with me and that’s a responsibility I take very seriously. It makes me want to give 150% to get their music out there to connect with its audience.”
Atlanta keyboardist Randy Hoexter had somehow mentioned me to bassist/producer Jimmy Haslip and told me that Jimmy was interested in connecting. He had a few projects he was producing for other people and I think was interested in feeling me (and the label) out a bit. After a few conversations, we went ahead with a project he was producing and he got a taste of how Blue Canoe handled things.”
Evidently, Moore was doing something right because Haslip started bringing more and more of his projects to Blue Canoe, including his own. “Since then, Jimmy has been instrumental in the growth in the quality of music and the caliber of artists, thus raising BCR’s profile to a whole new level.”
One easily identifiable key to the Blue Canoe ethos, reputation, and burgeoning artistic profile is that Moore easily understands where musicians are coming from – because he continues to make a living as one. “I put a lot of time infto the label but I’m not a cigar-chomping lawyer or an MBA. I’m a working musician so I’m coming at it from those shoes. If Blue Canoe has been about anything, it’s about authenticity in the music and being fair and accountable to the musicians. Look, there are no guarantees out there and I know how I would feel to be handing over my music - my baby - and entrusting it to someone else. It’s an honor that artists are willing to do that with me and that’s a responsibility I take very seriously. It makes me want to give 150% to get their music out there to connect with its audience.”
Moore works hard to get the music on BCR heard but believes in a hands-off approach artistically. “I don’t feel like it’s a fair thing to say, ‘Here’s what I like and don’t like’ after someone has poured their own money into a project. Let the artist do what they do and we’ll be a facilitator.”
Just as any musician would with their own music, BCR aims to maximize revenue potential for their artists. “We’ve ramped up our promotion of music on social media platforms and have a 24-hour Blue Canoe radio stream. We have over 1000 songs in our catalog now so licensing is another way for artists to really win. It’s a growing focus and we’ve gotten traction with inclusions of artists’ music in video games, independent films and TV commercials. It’s always a bit of a thing to marry art and business but bottom line, people have to eat. We try to do that while keeping the best of artistic intentions.”
While the technologically-accessible, DIY-enabled music world we live in increasingly calls into question the existential relevance of a record label, Moore sees it differently. “With just a small investment, home hobbyists, weekend warriors and all manner of dabblers can flood the musical playing field, often burying music of artistic relevance and quality. In light of all this, Blue Canoe’s role as a label - as a signpost, a rallying point, a lightning rod for quality music of a certain type - is actually increasing in value.”
With no grandiose designs on expansion, Moore keeps the emphasis on quality and the way Blue Canoe was built - through real relationships. “I’ve come to develop relationships with the artists that have found a home on the label. That makes it all feel a bit like family. It reminds me of how Steve Jobs would talk about the beginnings of Apple - a family of misfits. I like that we’re a family of misfits in a way - doing “weird” music, by some people’s standards - and I’d like to keep it that way. We are growing but I’m only interested in growing in an organic, manageable way. We’re never going to be a ‘big label’. That’s fine by me because that way, the original intention - music first - will always remain.”- Mike Jacobs
While the technologically-accessible, DIY-enabled music world we live in increasingly calls into question the existential relevance of a record label, Moore sees it differently. “With just a small investment, home hobbyists, weekend warriors and all manner of dabblers can flood the musical playing field, often burying music of artistic relevance and quality. In light of all this, Blue Canoe’s role as a label - as a signpost, a rallying point, a lightning rod for quality music of a certain type - is actually increasing in value.”
With no grandiose designs on expansion, Moore keeps the emphasis on quality and the way Blue Canoe was built - through real relationships. “I’ve come to develop relationships with the artists that have found a home on the label. That makes it all feel a bit like family. It reminds me of how Steve Jobs would talk about the beginnings of Apple - a family of misfits. I like that we’re a family of misfits in a way - doing “weird” music, by some people’s standards - and I’d like to keep it that way. We are growing but I’m only interested in growing in an organic, manageable way. We’re never going to be a ‘big label’. That’s fine by me because that way, the original intention - music first - will always remain.”- Mike Jacobs
