Help Small Stone Records Recover From The Detroit Flood

The recent flooding in Detroit has destroyed many homes, businesses, roads, schools, and yes – even record labels. We urge everyone with the ability to donate anything to offer their aide as soon as possible, but there is one specific cause we felt needed to be brought to your attention.

Small Stone Records has been a mainstay of the hard rock scene in North America for quite some time. We do not cover their releases as often as we probably should, but we respect their hustle and – as business owners ourselves – can appreciate how horrifying it would be to arrive at work one morning to find a foot (or more) of water from the previous night’s rain. That is exactly what happened to Scott Hamilton, owner of Small Stone, and now some diehard fans have launched a crowdfunding page to help the label get back on their feet. A recent post from The Obelisk details the horror:

“It was painful last week to see the pictures of the Small Stone Records offices, flooded out from powerful storms that tore through the Detroit area. Still sealed label product floating through dirty water, files and CDs, the fruit of countless hours of work on the part of label owner Scott Hamilton, simply ruined. In one of the pictures, however, you can also see a floating vacuum cleaner, and that’s also important, because it reminds us that more even than being where kickass riffs come from, this is somebody’s home.

Scott is somebody whose tastes and whose efforts have helped greatly to shape the course of American heavy rock in the last decade-plus. Whether you’re a fan of Dixie Witch or roadsaw or Sasquatch or Wo Fat or anyone else on his enviable roster, chances are even if you don’t listen to those bands, someone in a band you listen to does. Small Stone has become the standard-bearer, and you can see the influence it has had not only in bands going for ‘that Small Stone sound,’ but also in labels who have come up in the last several years wanting to support the music they’re passionate about in a similar way.

But again, this is about more than music. It’s Scott’s house too, and that’s why it’s so important that this community comes together to help him out. You and I are part of a worldwide subculture. Don’t believe me? Go to a show anywhere and look around you. It’s the same every place you go, and that’s no mistake. One of our own – someone who’s directly participated in making this weird, ongoing thing to which we belong – needs our help. Frankly, that should be enough to make you want to get involved.”

Click here to donate to Small Stone’s recovery. Music is a community, and that means we pick each other up when someone falls down. That time is now.

James Shotwell
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