Surviving as an independent record label in the constantly trend- shifting music business for two decades is indeed a remarkable feat, but the Hoboken, NJ-based Bar/None has a lot more to celebrate than just its survival. The label continues to be a vital player on the indie scene, with a current roster featuring such artists as Architecture in Helsinki, the Spinto Band and the soon-to-be-released The Slip, who can’t make the party since they’ll be on the road with My Morning Jacket.

You can say that Bar/None Records has always remained one step ahead of the curve, but the truth is, no one at the label was ever really trying just to anticipate the next big thing. They did A&R the old fashioned way: they listened to music, they fell in love with it, they shared their unique and quirky discoveries with the rest of us.

Co-founders Glenn Morrow and Tom Prendergast would probably admit they didn’t go into this back in 1986 with a real business plan, but they did have passion, a certain fearlessness and, we know now, really good musical instincts. Their first joint effort as record company owners was the debut album from They Might Be Giants, which instantly put the label and the band on the indie rock map (as well as on MTV).

That label-establishing, left-field hit set the tone for everything that followed over the next two decades. Just dip into the online catalogue and you will find lots of surprises, acts that Bar/None had championed long before the pundits of the blog-o-sphere were even old enough to buy CDs at their neighborhood brick-and-mortar record store, including the earliest recordings from Of Montreal and the pastoral sound of Lullaby For the Working Class, which featured Ted Stevens of Cursive/Mayday and the young Mike Mogis, the producer behind Bright Eyes and all things Saddle-Creek. Then there was the unforgettable Space Age Bachelor Pad Music of Esquivel! (yes, that’s where the now-famous expression comes from): Arto Lindsay’s sexy, iconoclastic take on bossa nova music: an acoustic solo album from the KLF’s mad genius Bill Drummond; the debut disc from the moody yet dashing British quintet Tindersticks; the chart-topping “A Girl Like You” from the brilliant Edwyn Collins; and heartbreakingly beautiful songs from Freedy Johnston, who made Bar/None his first home.

There were times, we admit, when it looked as if Glenn & Co. couldn’t possibly stick it out another month, that the dream might truly be over, the delicate balance between profit and loss having suddenly gone all out of whack. Then something miraculous would happen, the most unlikely project would connect with a real audience. The Langley School Music Project came along at one of those moments, and it illustrated just what makes Bar/None so special. The album, rescued from thrift-shop obscurity, wasn’t marketed as kitsch – it was an album to seriously fall in love with, not laugh at -- an improbably affecting collection of classic rock numbers performed by a choir of school kids. Glenn’s eyes would mist up when “Desperado,” sung by a preternaturally expressive ten year-old, came on the office sound system, and soon sensitive souls all around the world found themselves reaching for the tissue box too. If you’re not afraid to wear your heart on your sleeve, then Bar/None has always been the label for you.

Following the success of the Langley School, Bar/None was back on a roll, with Japanese duo Puffy AmiYumi, who landed their Cartoon Network animated TV series after the release of their first Bar/None disc; NYC bossa nova trio Mosquitos, whose “Boombox” became the most oft-licensed track in Bar/None history; plus Mason Jennings, Evan Dando and the inimitable Trachtenburg Family Slide Show Players. And that’s merely mentioning a few.

So let’s take a minute to salute the taste, the perseverance, the blind faith and dumb luck that has made Bar/None Records a part of our lives for twenty years. Then, let’s get back to work.

-Michael Hill
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Saturday, November 11th, 2006
Bar/None Records 20thAnniversary Party

Featuring Birdie, Brian Dewan, David Driver, DJ Gerald from The Burnside Project, DJ No Ice (Cameron from Architecture in Helsinki), Drink Me, Freedy Johnston, Jason Trachtenburg, Kate Jacobs, Mary Lee’s Corvette, Mendoza Line, Mosquitos, Oppenheimer Mixes, Otis Ball Videos, Profesor & Maryann, The Sharp Things, They Might Be Giants, and a Medley of Surprises from Bar/None’s past, present, and future.

Supreme Trading
213 North 8th Street (Driggs & Roebling) Brooklyn, NY 11211

6pm Doors
7pm Show
$10 Admission

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More Bar/None tour dates:

Architecture In Helsinki
Nov. 3 Fri 06 New York,NY Irving Plaza supporting clap your hands say yeah

Birdie Busch
Oct. 30 Mon 06 Grand Rapids,MI One Trick Pony

Freedy Johnston
Feb. 2 Fri 07 Saratoga Springs,NY Caffé Lena

Petra Haden
Oct. 24 Tue 06 Pittsburg,PA Warhol Museum
Oct. 25 Wed 06 Boston,MA Boston Museum of Fine Art
Oct. 26 Thu 06 Philadelphia,PA World Cafe Live
Oct. 27 Fri 06 New York,NY Tonic
Oct. 28 Sat 06 Buffalo,NY SoundLab

The Slip
Oct. 27 Fri 06 Fall River, MA Narrows Center For The Arts
Nov. 7 Tue 06 Seattle, WA Crocodile Cafe
Nov. 9 Thu 06 Portland, OR Dante's
Nov. 10 Fri 06 Ashland, OR The Mobius
Nov. 11 Sat 06 San Francisco, CA The Independent
Nov. 15 Wed 06 Boulder, CO Fox Theatre
Nov. 16 Thu 06 Denver, CO Bluebird Theater
Nov. 17 Fri 06 Fort Collins, CO Aggie Theatre
Nov. 18 Sat 06 Omaha, NE Sokol Underground
Nov. 20 Mon 06 Milwaukee, WI Shank Hall
Nov. 21 Tue 06 Madison, WI Cafe Montmartre
Nov. 24 Fri 06 Chicago, IL Riviera Theatre appearing with My Morning Jacket
Nov. 25 Sat 06 Indianapolis, IN Clowes Memorial Hall appearing with My Morning Jacket
Nov. 27 Mon 06 Washington, DC 9:30 Club appearing with My Morning Jacket
Nov. 28 Tue 06 Washington, DC 9:30 Club appearing with My Morning Jacket
Nov. 30 Thu 06 New York, NY Roseland appearing with My Morning Jacket
Dec. 1 Fri 06 Philadelphia, PA Electric Factory appearing with My Morning Jacket
Dec. 2 Sat 06 Boston, MA Avalon appearing with My Morning Jacket
Dec. 3 Sun 06 South Burlington, VT Higher Ground
Dec. 29 Fri 06 Providence, RI Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel
Oct. 20 Fri 06 St. John,NB Nep-Tunes
Oct. 21 Sat 06 Halifax,NS The Attic
Oct. 28 Sat 06 Great Barrington,MA Club Helsinki
Oct. 31 Tue 06 New York,NY CMJ Day Stage Show: 2:00 PM
Nov. 1 Wed 06 New York,NY CMJ @ Tonic
Nov. 12 Sun 06 Los Angeles,CA Knitting Factory
Nov. 22 Wed 06 MINNEAPOLIS,MN 7th Street Entry

The Spinto Band
Oct. 19 Thu 06 New York,NY Irving Plaza
Oct. 20 Fri 06 Philadelphia,PA Starlight

Previously
They Might Be Giants playing Southpaw