This is the age of artificial intelligence and streaming, where music is accessed and consumed through virtual means. In many cases, cell phones and various mobile devices are the platforms by which many people listen to and experience music and movies.
Arguably, it would be safe to assume that, by and large, as traditional methods of consuming and enjoying music and media become less physically tangible and more mercurial, vinyl and compact disc sales have dramatically tapered off. And to a great extent that is the case, but High Moon Records and label owner George Baer Wallace have tapped into a specialty market that is changing the game regarding music collecting and consumerism.
Wallace started the boutique reissue label with the late French New York City music maven JD Martignon in 2010. Martignon moved from Paris to N.Y.C in the early 1970s and immersed himself in the, then, burgeoning rock and art scene. For many years he owned a world renowned retail store called Midnight Records. Young Wallace had befriended Martignon in the early 2000s and was a frequent customer at the store. After Martignon lost his lease he set up shop for a time out of his apartment. And eventually the two had a meeting of the minds and decided to expand their love of obscure and hard-to-find records and artists and give their product a platform.
What makes High Moon Records different from a lot of other music distribution entities is that they are an independent label with a heart and creative vision. All their releases feature deluxe packaging, extensive liner notes by authoritative journalists and, often, the artists themselves. Many of the label’s catalog spotlight rare photos and never-before-seen artwork. And most albums get the immaculate re-mastered audio treatment, with additional bonus material.
High Moon Records’ mission is all about championing artists that are legendary, that never got a proper promotional push from their initial record labels back in the day and just artists and bands that, for whatever reason, slipped through the cracks and never got that big break. But the “heart” comes in where Wallace, his associate Patrick Whaley, and their team lovingly give these artists and projects the professional attention they deserve.
The majority of the album releases that you’ll find on the High Moon Records imprint are artists and bands from the ‘60s and ‘70s. And many of them are folks whose careers were birthed out of creative hubs and scenes like San Francisco, Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles, and New York City. The label’s roster consists of seminal singer-songwriters like Terry Dolan and Laurie Styvers, proto-garage rockers Sons of Adam and The Final Solution, progressive racially-integrated rock/R&B bands like Love and Sly & The Family Stone, alternative underground soul singers like Lotti Golden, The Byrds’ Gene Clark, psychedelic Bay Area siren Jeannie Piersol, and one of the first progressive and diverse all-female rock acts Ace of Cups.
“Our audience is pretty diverse,” says Wallace. “It is, geographically, pretty wide where we get a lot of customers overseas from Europe, Japan, and South America. We’ve done analytics and we get emails from people in their 20s and 30s right up to the baby boomers. But I think it’s true that people overseas seem to appreciate American music sometimes more than Americans do. And it’s tough because a lot of the musicians that we release are just not that well known. But we do all we can to get their music spread as wide as possible.”
No doubt, the recent release of the 2025 documentary on Sly Stone entitled Sly Lives (The Burden of Black Genius) has proven to be a major boost for the High Moon Records roster. Although the indie label has no formal ties to the Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson directed film, it certainly has made a significant impact on music maven/producer Alec Palao’s rare issued release of Sly & The Family Stone’s album The First Family: Live at Winchester Cathedral 1967. The silver packaged live recording captures Sly ( Sylvester Stewart) Stone and the classic Family Stone lineup performing at one of their first recorded events. It is a fascinating look at a band that was on the cusp of influencing and changing the culture of that moment and many generations to come.
“Our most recent release, with Sly & The Family Stone is kind of a household name in the rock, soul and funk worlds,” says Wallace. “So the sales, with streaming, have been selling upwards of 10,000 copies. Now that doesn’t sound like very many, but for us that’s a lot.”
Three of the label’s other flagship artists that really got the ball rolling, if you will, are Terry Dolan, Arthur Lee’s Love, and Ace of Cups (pictured). Every band and artist on their roster has an amazing story, but these three in particular seem to typify the stylistic essence of what High Moon is all about.
Dolan was a San Francisco-based musician that recorded, what was to be, his debut album for Warner Brothers in 1972. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, this “lost masterpiece” was never released. It was produced by legendary British session keyboard player and sideman Nicky Hopkins and also featured contributions from a laundry list of musical celebs, including The Pointer Sisters, Neal Schon ( Journey/Santana), John Cipollina ( Quicksilver Messenger Service), and Prairie Prince (The Tubes/ Todd Rundgren). “It’s still kind of an unsolved mystery why Warner Brothers pulled it back then,” says Wallace. “But this self-titled debut album got such universally rave reviews from veteran NPR non-commercial music people, podcasters, and WXPN in Philadelphia.”
Love was a Los Angeles band that was formed in 1965 by the late Arthur Lee. They broke through the charts with hits like “Little Red Book” and “7 and 7 Is,” but while they continue to be influential to many contemporary artists and fans, arguably, they have virtually retained a cult-like status. With the re-release of the original 1974 RSO Records rock/R&B classic “Reel-to Real” and the never-before-released proto-alternative masterpiece “Black Beauty,” Wallace’s commitment to Lee, his widow Diane Lee, and the plethora of devotees everywhere is manifested in the beauty and tender loving care bestowed on the David Fricke/Ben Edmonds booklet commentary and pristine audio fidelity.
Ace of Cups was one of those Bay Area groups that emerged in the late ‘60s and shared bills with everyone from The Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane to Jimi Hendrix. The fact that they were an all female ensemble that wrote and performed all their own tunes was even more impressive, considering the time. But the band-family began to unravel when members of the group started having children and their own families. However, after nearly 50 years, and with the assistance of producer Dan Shea and, again, Alec Palao, the members of these female folk, blues and gospel-tinged trailblazers dropped a long overdue self-titled album of their un-released original songs in 2018. That album featured guest spots from their friends Buffy Saint-Marie, Bob Weir, Taj Mahal, and Peter Coyote. On the strength of that release, Ace of Cups enjoyed a revival which landed them on the Today show as well as being the subjects of a short documentary produced by KQED called The World’s Forgotten Band. They followed things up in 2020 with the High Moon Records’ release “Sing Your Dreams,” which featured contributions from Jackson Browne, Sheila E., and Jack Casady.
“That KQED documentary got over eight million views. But when COVID hit, we could not capitalize on the progress we made at that time,” concludes Wallace. “But it’s still amazing and I still love that music. We’re still trying to get their story out in the world, and I think we will.”
For more information on their entire roster of artists and releases please go to highmoonrecords.com.
