Includes index

Introduction. Hoist the Black Flag -- SIDE A. Don't Conform, Be Like Us ; My Cleanest Dirty Shirt ; Jams, Kicked Out ; Everybody's Heard about the Bird ; "A Serious Matter" ; Knocking Off Hats ; Journey to Chore ; Holy Cow, Whattasetta ... ; Haunting Taverns ; The Squares Will Rule ; All Alone and Lost ; Dig! ; Riotous Overdrive ; A Pair of Brown Shoes ; The Venal Snake Pit -- SIDE B. A Long Plastic Hallway ; Son of a Jackal's Eyeball ; One Never Knew ; So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star? ; Rod & the Shades Walked into a Studio ... ; Shut Up and Play ; Get Offa My Lawn ; Beware the Wrath of Eyjafjallajökull ; In Praise of the Flip Phone ; A Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of Music and the Sublime, Or, Music as Dumpster Pizza ; The Gospel According to Joe -- Epilogue

"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" --