Smaller independent record labels like Colemine Records deserve a lot more media attention. We’ve been customers for almost 3 years and they’ve proven to be a great resource for new records from lesser known artists who have struggled to have their albums released on vinyl.
Terry Cole started Colemine Records sitting a Subway sandwich shop.
“Colemine Records was started by accident in 2007. Me and a buddy of mine, Louis Rideout, had just finished an album called The City. The album was an extension of the hip-hop/funk band we were in at the time called Soundscape. Everyone in the group contributed to the record and I was pretty proud of the final product, so we wanted to start selling it at shows. But I wanted it to seem legitimate and shopping the record around to labels didn’t appeal to me. So, we developed some artwork and I made up a label….Colemine. The logo image came to me when I was eating Subway in Oxford, OH while attending graduate school at Miami University. I drew it on a napkin and boom! We had a logo.
Since that first release we’ve been lucky enough to work with many talented musicians and producers. Our extended family seems to grow every year and we have no plans of slowing down. My goal for Colemine was always very, very simple. I simply wanted to release music that I love and help those that create that music in any way possible. This label was never about getting rich, becoming famous, or overnight success. I was a high school biology teacher for the first eight years of the label’s existence and this label has always much been my labor of love. True love.
It wasn’t until the stars aligned just right towards the end of 2014 that I could officially say that running Colemine Records was my “job”. My younger brother, Bob, had just finished graduate school and was all set to start his career as a computer engineer. Great money, benefits, a comfortable life was ahead of Bob. So naturally I convinced him to forego all that in order to somehow make Colemine Records our career. The answer was opening up a brick & mortar record store to compliment what we were already going to be doing as a label. So within a week of the idea we had a business plan, a location, and a one-year lease. Thus Plaid Room Records in downtown Loveland, OH was born. And since opening, both businesses have complimented each other while each continues to grow and reach its full potential.”
A big part of their business is pressing 45s; almost always the first big single for all of their indie acts.
The Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, Aaron Frazer, Kelly Finnigan, Grand Funk Ghost Orchestra, Durand Jones & the Indications, and Black Pumas are all part of the lineup at Colemine Records and if you love soul, R&B, and jazz — this is a music label you should be paying attention.
Colemine Records have announced 3 new 45s this week from the Resonaires, Black Market Brass, and the Harlem Gospel Travelers.
All 3 recordings are well worth checking out.
