Arising from the ashes like a phoenix, Pinecastle Records is back with new ownership, and a number of familiar faces.
The label closed in February of this year when company President Tom Riggs’ health failed, and the family made the decision to focus their energies on addressing medical issues and spending time with their father. The suddenness of the announcement caught the bluegrass industry – and a number of Pinecastle artists – off guard, with several issues still unresolved.
But today (August 11), word comes that the company is resurrected, thanks to Riggs family friend Lonnie Lassiter, a physician, entrepreneur and serious bluegrass fan. Dr. Lassiter has taken ownership of the company, and brought back much of the previous company’s institutional memory in the hiring of Ethan Burkhardt as Vice President of Operations and Matt Hood as Vice President of Public Relations. Both were prominent members of the Pinecastle team.
Cort Riggs, son of Pinecastle founder Col. Tom Riggs, shared a few thoughts about Dr. Lassister and the revival of the label.
“Many of you may have met Lonnie at festivals or the IBMA convention with my father and the staff of Pinecastle. He is a fan of our music and plans to continue to expand the catalog with new releases and exciting compilations of the vast Pinecastle catalog. In what I feel is a solid vote of confidence, several of the Pinecastle staff have signed on to help Lonnie grow the label. I am thrilled to see the label in capable hands and look forward to the great music to come!”
The new Pinecastle mailing address is…
Pinecastle Music
2881 NC 108 HWY E.
Columbus, NC 28722
…and a new web site will be operational soon. In the meantime, you can reach Ethan and Matt by email.
Ethan Burkhardt – ethan@pinecastlemusic.com
Matt Hood – matt@pinecastlemusic.com
Wonderful news for the bluegrass industry. We hope to have updated information soon about artists signed to the original Pinecastle, as well as product for existing titles at the time of the shutdown in February.
UPDATE 8/12: Ethan Burkhardt has confirmed that the new Pinecastle Records owns the masters to all previous Pinecastle releases, and that they will be getting them back into print as they move forward. He also mentioned that under this new ownership, they are not contractually obligated to any of the prior Pinecastle artists, but we presume that they will be in discussion with them soon.
