Description: "In this memoir, Rob Miller, co-founder of Chicago's storied Bloodshot Records, tells the story of the unlikely evolution of Bloodshot from a list scribbled on a cocktail napkin into an internationally renowned home for roots music, soul, Americana, and "alt-country," as well as the story of his own evolution from shy, dorky Detroit teenager to DIY label owner. Credited with launching the careers of celebrated musicians such as Neko Case and the late Justin Townes Earle, as well as resurrecting the careers of forgotten legends such as soul singer Andre Williams, Bloodshot had an almost 30-year run as an anchor of Chicago's vibrant independent music scene from the 1990s into the early 2020s. Throughout, the label remained fiercely independent, resisting efforts to pigeonhole their sound or succumb to the music industry's hit machine mentality. With the 2021 sale of Bloodshot, Miller stepped away from the work that defined his life for decades. Written with wry self-deprecation and full of anecdotes from the trenches of indie music, the book offers a scabrous critique of Big Music and a unique behind-the-scenes look at a little label that could"-- Provided by publisher.
Review Quotes: NPR's Book of the Day, December 19, 2025
A 2026 Michigan Notable Book "A thrilling, sensory-filled journey." --Rolling Stone.com, Jonathan Bernstein "Every page a treasure. Not just a must read, it's the most engrossing book since Tamara Saviano's Without Getting Killed Or Caught: The Life and Music of Guy Clark (2016). Reading it brought back a lot of memories, and gives so many backstories to the hundred or so Bloodshot albums that you would have to pry from my cold, dead hands." --No Depression, Amos Perrine "[Miller] recollects his trials and tribulations with quick-witted, Gonzo-like detail, coming back to a main tenet he shares in the very first pages of the book: 'I love music.'" --Chicago Sun-Times, Selena Fragassi "A hugely entertaining account of Chicago's Bloodshot Records. An independent label that was 'too rock for country, and too country for punk'. . . . Brilliantly written with a frenetic, almost gonzo flavour to it. He avoids a chronological blow-by-blow retelling, preferring to alight on instances, happenstances, highs and lows and the grim reality of organising recordings, tours and events, and he does so in a highly entertaining style."--Americana UK "Compulsively readable." --Booklist "I don't think anyone could have done a truer job of describing the times we all had in the Chicago music scene as Rob does here. He is gifted with such a sincere and un-jaded (no matter how hard he pretends. . .) appreciation of what music and community can do and where it can take you. He has never forced the wide-eyed music fan inside him to 'grow up.' Thank goodness!"--Neko Case, musician, author, and producer