The Hours Are Long, But the Pay Is LowThe Hours Are Long, But the Pay Is Low

"The music business is not a meritocracy: it is a crapshoot taking place in a septic tank balanced on the prow of the Titanic, a venal snake pit where innovation, creativity, and honest business practices are actively discouraged."

Rob Miller arrived in Chicago wanting to escape the music industry. In short order, he co-founded a trailblazing record label revered for its artist-first approach and punk take on country, roots, and so much else. Miller's gonzo memoir follows a music fan's odyssey through a singular account of Bloodshot Records, the Chicago scene, and thirty years as part of a community sustaining independent artists and businesses.

Hilarious and hundred-proof, The Hours Are Long, But the Pay Is Low delivers a warm-hearted yet clear-eyed account of loving and living music on the edge, in the trenches, and without apologies.| Cover Title Page Copyright Contents Prelude Introduction: Hoist the Black Flag Side A 1 Don't Conform, Be Like Us 2 My Cleanest Dirty Shirt 3 Jams, Kicked Out 4 Everybody's Heard about the Bird 5 A Serious Matter 6 Knocking Off Hats 7 Journey to Chore 8 Holy Cow, Whattasetta . . . 9 Haunting Taverns 10 The Squares Will Rule 11 All Alone and Lost 12 Dig! 13 Riotous Overdrive 14 A Pair of Brown Shoes 15 The Venal Snake Pit Side B 16 A Long Plastic Hallway 17 Son of a Jackal's Eyeball 18 One Never Knew 19 So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star? 20 Rod & the Shades Walked into a Studio . . . 21 Shut Up and Play 22 Get Offa My Lawn 23 For a Few Dollars Less 24 Beware the Wrath of Eyjafjallajokull 25 In Praise of the Flip Phone 26 A Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of Music and the Sublime, Or, Music as Dumpster Pizza 27 The Gospel According to Joe Epilogue Acknowledgments Appendix A. A Way There Always Is: Tour Manager Words of Wisdom Appendix B. Delilah's Country Night Playlist Appendix C. The Unhappy Hour Appendix D "It's Genuis!": Greatest Hits from the Demo Wall of Shame Appendix E. Random Things I Hated Appendix F. A Box Full of Letters Appendix G. Bloodshot's Yard Dog Party Lineups during South by Southwest Index Back Cover | "I don't think anyone could have done a truer job of describing the times we all had in the Chicago music scene as Rob does here. He is gifted with such a sincere and un-jaded (no matter how hard he pretends. . .) appreciation of what music and community can do and where it can take you. He has never forced the wide-eyed music fan inside him to 'grow up.' Thank goodness!"
—Neko Case, musician, author, and producer
"The Hours Are Long, But the Pay Is Low delivers a gripping insider's account of a truly special moment in music and culture. Thanks, Rob, for living to tell the tale."
—Rhett Miller, Old 97's
"Wow, what a great read/ride. I found Rob Miller's journey through the music industry fascinating and fun, and when not giggling I was laughing out loud. While obvious in hindsight, the marriage of punk and country was anything but. Yet Miller and his cohorts identified with the punk attitude coursing through many of their favorite bands in Chicago's underground country scene and thought they could help introduce their music to a wider audience. With instinctual grassroots marketing and a commitment to treat their bands fairly, they outmaneuvered the corporate vultures circling overhead. The musical husbandry of Bloodshot Records produced many musical masterpieces over the next twenty-five years. Bloodshot made the world a better place, and Miller was at the center of it all."
—Jeff Nelson, Minor Threat and cofounder of Dischord Records
|Rob Miller is the cofounder and former co-owner of Bloodshot Records. His website is...