UMG Nashville’s Cindy Mabe aligns with legendary songwriter/producer T Bone Burnett to revive iconic Lost Highway Records. The boutique, alt-country label focused on artistry above mass appeal was known for its culture defining artists including Elvis Costello, Kacey Musgraves, Hayes Carll, Lucinda Williams, Lyle Lovett, Robert Earl Keen, Ryan Adams, Ryan Bingham, Tift Merritt, and Willie Nelson among others, plus projects including the Grammy Award-winning Album of the Year, O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack produced by Burnett that started it all.
“I’ve been thinking about reopening Lost Highway for a long time,” says Mabe. Sharing the news exclusively with Billboard, Mabe continues, “It just feels like something is missing from the marketplace,” and when Burnett asked her to come to his studio to listen to the new Ringo Starr project he was working on, it all clicked. “It hit me that ‘O Brother’ was kind of where Lost Highway started and that was T Bone. Here he was presenting this beautiful record and telling me all the reasons he was doing the record. It was exactly the mentality needed for Lost Highway. After that initial meeting, I brought the idea of partnering on Lost Highway to him, and Ringo felt like the first project that should come from Lost Highway.”
Burnett’s response, “I thought it was a great idea! It’s something that’s really needed right now.”
Mabe had found a kindred spirit up for the task as reestablishing the imprint means holding it to the same high standards with significant stories and impactful artists. Burnett explains to Billboard, “This is going to be an inclusive label, it’s not going to be just country music. It will be what I call American music which includes blues, rhythm and blues, country music, folk music, rock n’ roll music. The idea is that it’s all going to be the good stuff.”
Lost Highway returned with its first new release since 2012 with Ringo Starr’s Look Up album on Jan. 10. The beautifully optimistic album has garnered widespread critical acclaim from around the globe.
“Ringo and T Bone have talked about the inspiration and the shared passion poured into this album, the players, the collaborators, and it’s so intentional and full of heart and positivity that takes you completely back to the roots of both Ringo Starr and country music,” says Mabe. “I can’t think of a better project to relaunch Lost Highway, and I’m incredibly proud of this release and the opportunity to put something so special in the world right now.” (Billboard 01/10/25)
In ushering in this new chapter for Lost Highway, Mabe holds the original intention of the label as a keystone while building new avenues for artists to get their music heard. There is much in store for Lost Highway including plans for film and tv, highlighting and reissuing select catalog, and soon to be announced new artists and music.
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