We’re fortunate that we didn’t have to start with a completely blank slate in trying to gather lists of Indiana musical artists and businesses.  However, it’s never been done in a form this comprehensive.

We’d like to thank a number of pioneers who’ve laid the groundwork for this project.

Longtime Indiana music historian, musician and photographer Larry Goshen has written three books that lay the groundwork for statewide documentation of Indiana artists.  We are indebted to his pioneering efforts, and to the late Howard Phillips, an Indiana musician, record seller and self-described Indiana music archivist, who routinely offered records and information to those who were interested. Thanks also to Indianapolis DJ Kyle Long whose detective work on Indianapolis area music history is unparalleled; Kyle has shared much of his knowledge via NUVO Newsweekly, Facebook and his Cultural Manifesto radio show on WFYI-FM.  David Leander Williams’ two books on Indianapolis Jazz and Indianapolis R&B have also been very helpful; Aleta Hodge’s book on Indiana Avenue has added to our knowledge base as well.

Vinyl record enthusiasts Tim Cox, Rick Wilkerson and Jason Yoder created lists of Indiana 45 and LP releases that have proven invaluable in our efforts to properly document Indiana music. Each of these lists took many years of research to compile via collecting vinyl records and tracking down possible Indiana releases on eBay and the internet in general; those lists, combined with Larry Goshen’s books, form the backbone of the artist listings.

Without the existence of Discogs.com, the project would not be nearly as possible.  We are able to use Discogs to add information, correct misconceptions and verify what we think we know.  Sites like Wikipedia.com and Allmusic.com, among others, have also been immensely helpful.

Several authors have written books on aspects of Indiana music, and we will attempt to acknowledge them in the near future.  There are articles and websites focused on specific Indiana music topics, which we will connect to in the listings.

All of these efforts, and others, have contributed to the knowledge base we are working from to construct this site, which is at this time being done by a small group of volunteers.