Ten miles east of Elon there is a nondescript warehouse with small words displaying the name of the company. From the outside, Redeye Distribution might seem like nothing worth investigating, yet is one of the leading music distribution companies in the country. Their reputation is growing rapidly as they do business with more prominent artists in the industry.

Redeye Distribution was started by Glen Dicker and Tor Hanson in 1996. Dicker was the previous owner of Eleven Thirty Records, home of The Gourds, Cowboy Mouth and Laika & the Cosmonauts. Redeye itself is not a record label; however one is tied to it.

Yep Roc is the Redeye in-house label and home to many well-known artists in a spread of different genres. While interning there this summer I overheard someone say something in the vein of “Yep Roc doesn’t sign a specific genre, they sign the artists they view as top quality.”

Some of these quality bands include rockabilly legends The Reverend Horton Heat, The Minus 5, John Doe (a member of the punk group X), Robyn Hitchcock, Ian Hunter, The Sadies, Los Straitjackets, the local Chatham County Line and Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers.

Th’ Shack Shakers are nearly impossible to describe with complete accuracy. Imagine the Decemberists, take away a few members, throw them in a swamp, and get them angry.

The album, “Pandelirium,” is a masterpiece in its own right. With unique instrumentation, Tom Waits-esq growls, many fused folk elements, an essence of rockabilly, and incredibly interesting lyrics, it is one heck of a wild ride.

While Th’ Shack Shakers are amazing, other artists on the label are worth checking out. The Minus 5, known for releasing the album “Down with Wilco,” are one of the more recognized artists.

A trend in Yep Roc is the signing of older artists who encountered a certain degree of stardom decades ago. At least that’s the case with artists such as Ian Hunter, John Doe, Peter Case and Nick Lowe.

Do you know the theme song for the Daily Show with Jon Stewart? Bob Mould, yet another artist signed on Yep Roc, wrote the song.

In the same vein, back in the days of his fight with the Decemberists, Stephen Colbert had several musical guests, including Rob Schneider, the lead singer for one of the remaining Elephant Six Collective bands, The Apples in Stereo.

There was some press on Elijah Wood starting a record label and signing the Apples in Stereo late last year. The Yep Roc people are understandably bitter because of this. Why? Well the story goes that Wood didn’t know running a record label would be so much work, thus he gave up on it and dumped The Apples on Yep Roc.

If you buy an album from an artist on an independent label, there is a good chance it went through the Redeye warehouse.

Reporter: Ryan Sweeney - 09/12/07