A PHOTO-HISTORY OF SALT LADY RECORDS

Salt Lady Records Pre-History Cousins Bruce & Jonathan Rundman had been writing songs and performing together since high school. The first publically available recording by either of them was Jonathan's solo debut 28 Days in the Yellow Room (pictured left). This cassette was released in Fall of 1992 on This Here Music, a label operated by Richard Colligan (now Richard Bruxvoort-Colligan of the band The River's Voice). The release of 28 Days got the Rundman cousins talking about starting their own label, and by 1993 the wheels were in motion. Jonathan and Bruce are shown here (right) performing at Concordia College in St. Paul, MN, Spring 1993.

The birth of Salt Lady Records The Summer of 1994 was spent recording the first two releases for the new label. Bruce and Jonathan had written a series of songs together and began recording them via the US Mail. Jonathan recorded drums in Oregon with drumer Lowell Michelson (who would eventually record his own album on Salt Lady), and mailed the drum tracks to Bruce in Chicago who added his vocals and guitar. Bruce then returned the tapes to Jonathan for more vocals and guitars, and final mixing. After this process Jonathan flew to Iowa to record his next solo project. Both albums were manufactured and available for sale in December of 1994. The first official release on the new Salt Lady label was Bruce and Jonathan's duo album Seven Summers, recorded under the band name The Chandlers. Jonathan's second solo album Wherever was Salt Lady Records' release #2. Both of these albums are now out of print.

Jonathan and Bruce (pictured left in 1997) toured solo and together for two years in support of Seven Summers and Wherever, and by 1997 they were releasing two more solo projects. Jonathan's Recital and Bruce's Life Stories continued to reach larger audiences for Salt Lady Records. Once again, both releases featured the fabulous drumming of Lowell Michelson (pictured right during the Recital sessions), who appears on more Salt Lady releases than any other instrumentalist.

Salt Lady Records was fairly established by 1998, and began branching out into more experimental directions. That Fall the label released the album May by prog/garage/grunge trio The Muckrakers, featuring David Casimir, Todd Berg, and Jonathan Rundman (pictured left, in the only band photo featuring all three members!). That Fall also brought the release of the first compilation album from Salt Lady Records. Grace & Peace was a benefit CD recorded to help fund a building project at Fortune Lake Lutheran Camp (pictured right) in Crystal Falls, MI. Classic campfire tunes were recorded, along with an amazing interpretation of the Bruce Cockburn song "For The Birds" performed by Jeff Krebs.

Salt Lady Records nearly had an offical all-artist tour in the Fall of 1998. David Casimir (of The Muckrakers) and Jonathan and Bruce Rundman played a series of shows in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, along with Chicago songwriter Beki Hemingway and her guitarist Randy Kerkman (pictured left at the Oasis Gallery in Marquette, MI). Beki's full-length debut CD Too Much Plenty was recorded and released in 1999.

As the millennium turned in the year 2000 Salt Lady Records released Jonathan Rundman's epic 52-song double-CD concept album Sound Theology (Jonathan in 2000 pictured left, with recently shorn hair), and also welcomed more new artists onto the label's roster.

Pianist Joel Setterholm and percussionist Lowell Michelson (pictured left) presented their instrumental Christmas album Clarity, and songwriter Todd Miller (pictured right with Jonathan Rundman) made his solo debut with There From Here in the Fall of 2000.

2001 found Jonathan Rundman releasing an album of live performances entited Field Recordings, and he worked with Beki Hemingway to produce the special limited edition Christmas album Present. Beki Hemingway began a full-time music career and released her solo follow-up album Words For Loss For Words in 2002, which was recorded with Nashville pop genius John Mark Painter. More Salt Lady Records compilation CDs were conceived in 2003, including the quirky and heartfelt Styx Tribute Album with the clever title Too Much Time On Our Hands (pictured left). Americana and power pop artists including Jonathan, Bruce, Beki, Jeff Krebs, Dag Juhlin, Tom Freund, and Jim Roll offered their interpretations of classic Styx tunes. When the real guys in the band Styx heard it, they called it "refreshing!" That same Summer saw the debut of the label's first artist sampler Extra Credit (also pictured left). This 22 song collection provided highlights, unreleased songs, and remixes from the entire Salt Lady Records catalog.

Jonathan and Bruce Rundman (pictured left, Summer of 2003) worked nearly around the clock for a week in June of 2003 to record Bruce's long awaited new solo album. The CD True North was released later that Summer. By late Fall, Jonathan began listening through hours and hours of very early recording experiments dating back to his teenage years. After much remixing and audio restoration, Jonathan Rundman (pictured right, in the initial 1992 promo photo) completed the reissued version of his 1992 debut album, re-titled Eleven Years and 28 Days in the Yellow Room, featuring 14 bonus tracks! The album was formally reissued in January of 2004.

Todd Miller (pictured left) returned with a fine new solo album Dongegal in Spring of 2004, and performed with Beki and Jonathan at various shows around the country. Jonathan Rundman worked with Beki Hemingway and producer/engineer Randy Kerkman (pictured right) on a harmony-laden duet CD entitled Tennesota, released just in time for a prime performance at the Cornerstone Festival in July 2004.

Most recently, Jonathan Rundman, released a new solo album Public Library, four years after Sound Theology. The album was produced by Walter Salas-Humara and features backing instrumentation from The Silos. CLICK HERE for the recording session diary and photos .

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