Coast Road Records

Coast Road Records was founded in 2004.

In 2004, iTunes was a year old. Spotify was still two years in the future. The music landscape was changing, but it was early days.

After a decade in the music business, three different record deals behind him, and a lot of hard-earned experience under his belt, Christopher "Preacher Boy" Watkins knew that for his next release, he wanted something different—control.

Coast Road Records was born from a desire to put artists in charge; to foster independence achieved through knowledge, visibility, transparency, ownership—the ability to shape one’s own destiny through informed action.

In 2004, that required navigating an evolving industry.

At that time, digital represented only a fraction of market share in 2004. Full-length CDs accounted for 90% of music sales. So Watkins inked a distribution deal with RedEye for his fledgling label, putting Coast Road Records in the company of independent luminaries like YepRoc, Kill Rock Stars, Drag City, and more.

“Demanding to be Next”—the debut release on Coast Road Records—would prove to be Preacher Boy’s most uniformly praised release to date, securing accolades from Amplifier, The Stranger, Blues Access, Sing Out, and more. Coast Road Records was on the map, and has served as Preacher Boy’s record label ever since.

In addition to providing an ongoing home for Preacher Boy's releases, Coast Road Records also features artists including punk n' rollers The Recoils, literary garage rockers The Nob Hill Mariners, and blues-rock power trio The Alternative Zen Blues Trial.

Coast Road Records is music of quality. Independent to the bone.