ABOUT SINGLE LOCK RECORDS

From a humble start in 2013 as a community music project to its current status as a globally respected independent record label, Single Lock Records has held firm to its original goal: gathering and releasing interesting, challenging American music regardless of genre.

Based in the Florence/Muscle Shoals area of North Alabama, Single Lock draws on the creative heritage of the Shoals while looking toward the future, bringing together established artists and emerging voices to redefine what music from this region can be. Dreamed up by musicians, founded by musicians, and guided by an artist-first philosophy, the label has always valued fairness, transparency, and long-term creative partnerships.

Single Lock was founded through the partnership of Grammy Award-winning producer, engineer, and musician Ben Tanner, Grammy Award-winning songwriter and performer John Paul White, and entrepreneur Will Trapp. Tanner's work in the studio and White's celebrated career as both a collaborator and solo artist bring a working musician's perspective to the label, while Trapp's support and shared vision have helped create a home where artists are encouraged to make bold, lasting work on their own terms.

What began as a small co-op quickly found an audience. Single Lock's first breakout release, St. Paul & the Broken Bones' Half the City, established the label as a force in independent music, and the years since have brought acclaimed records from Donnie Fritts, Dylan LeBlanc, Erin Rae, Cedric Burnside, the Blind Boys of Alabama, and many others, with releases earning two Grammy Awards and a growing list of Grammy nominations.

The label's artist-first sensibility is more than a philosophy—it's a way of working. Many Single Lock releases feature contributions from the people behind the label, whether through production, engineering, songwriting, or performance. The result is a creative community where artists collaborate freely and records are made with care, trust, and a shared sense of purpose.

That commitment extends beyond the studio. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Single Lock established the Advocacy Fund for Alabama Musicians, providing direct, no-strings-attached relief to working artists and reinforcing the belief that a healthy music community depends on supporting the people who create it.

More than a decade after its founding, Single Lock Records continues to champion singular voices and enduring songs, carrying forward the collaborative spirit of North Alabama while remaining committed to the ideals that started it all.

As The Bitter Southerner wrote in 2019: "Single Lock, as a noun, a commodity, a philosophy, is a collection of great music from all influences and sensibilities, music made without narrow boundaries, without dollar-focused directives, and with 100% artist integrity at its core. You don't have to be an A+ music aesthete or discophile to get it."

Questions? Comments? Contact us at info@singlelock.com.

Single Lock Records is distributed worldwide by Secretly Distribution.

We release the best in Southern American music, post-genre.

IN LOVING MEMORY OF DONNIE FRITTS (1942-2019)