Rosanne Cash and her husband and producer, John Leventhal, have revealed the launch of their new label RumbleStrip Records. The label will manage archives, forthcoming projects, and reissues, including the first vinyl pressing of Rosanne’s 1993 album, The Wheel, which has been remastered as an expanded edition to commemorate its 30th anniversary. Produced by Leventhal, The Wheel was a landmark album for Cash, marking a new shift in her sound after she moved to New York City.
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Under RumbleStrip, Cash will also release a series of recently-acquired master recordings from 1978-1993. In early 2024, the label will also unveil Leventhal’s first solo album. RumbleStrip has also partnered with Thirty Tigers for distribution.
“I have listened to Rosanne Cash’s music ever since ‘Seven Year Ache‘ came out, and I was working in record stores,” said Thirty Tigers founder David Macias, in a press release. “She has continued to grow and push the boundaries of her creative powers. I respect her immensely. She is a vital artist, and I am so thrilled that she has agreed to team up with Thirty Tigers.”
Cash, who released her 14th album, She Remembers Everything, in 2018, and will continue working with Blue Note Records for her upcoming solo releases, shared her thoughts on the new label. “John and I are excited about starting our own label, and we are tremendously grateful to be partnered with Thirty Tigers, who know how to get it done,” she said.
When she was 18, Cash wrote her very first song, “This Has Happened Before,” while on the road with her father Johnny Cash. “I remember working so hard on that song and realizing that it didn’t have to fit all those forms I was trying to force on it,” Cash told American Songwriter in 2014. “That was the moment that I felt like could do this.”
She continued to discuss her songwriting process. “I work on songs in my head before I put pen to paper,” she added. “Sometimes, I will write down four to six lines and then come back to them later. I think it’s wrong to take full credit for many songs, though. I feel like a lot of songs are already complete and they’re in the ether and you use whatever skills you can to pull them down.”
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