Thoroughbred Records, a bluegrass Gospel label with long-standing roots to the genre, is being relaunched by Daywind Music Group, the company behind leading Gospel labels Daywind Records and New Day Records as well as up-and-coming mainstream bluegrass label Billy Blue Records. Chosen Road, Thoroughbred’s first signing, makes their musical debut with the brand-new upcoming album Appalachian Christmas, which also features a number of their musician pals, including Selah, Point of Grace, and others.
In 1995, Thoroughbred Records became a leading distributor of bluegrass Gospel music. From 1995 until just before their retirement in 2009, the legendary Lewis Family, who are Hall of Famers in both the bluegrass and gospel genres, called Thoroughbred home. The Chigger Hill Boys and Terri joined the label in 2003, joining The Easter Brothers, a Mt. Airy, North Carolina, mainstay in the genre made up of brothers Edd, Russell, and James Easter. Along with these outstanding performers, the label promoted the Gospel side of bluegrass through its two-volume collection of Bluegrass Gospel music, O Lord How Great Thou Art, which included tracks by artists such as Bill Monroe, Ralph Stanley, Bluegrass Cardinals, Alison Kraus, Ricky Skaggs, and many others. This was done during the period of the bluegrass genre’s enormous resurgence following the release of the blockbuster film, O Brother Where Art Thou. With the appropriately named We are Family audio and video collaboration, which featured Jeff and Sheri Easter, the Lewis Family, and the Easter Brothers, Thoroughbred successfully concluded its original run.
Daywind Music Group established Billy Blue Records in 2018, a niche mainstream bluegrass label run by seasoned industry creative Jerry Salley. In addition to Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver (who recently retired), Joe Mullins and the Radio Ramblers, Donna Ulisse, Jason Barie, Appalachian Road Show, Authentic Unlimited, and others, the highly successful label also houses multi-artist projects like IBMA Award-winning Country Faith Bluegrass and Grammy®-nominated Gonna Sing Gonna Shout. Chosen Road and other solely bluegrass Gospel musicians will have their own label home with the reopening of Thoroughbred Records, which is a good fit with Daywind Music Group’s entry into the bluegrass genre.
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