The label was founded in May 1997 by Bloodshot Records co-founder Eric Babcock, Yvonne Jones, and Larry Lipson.
[2] Babcock's stated motivation for starting the label stemmed in part from his desire to release "more traditional and rootsy-sounding" music by relatively little-known artists.
[3] It was also influenced by Bloodshot's refusal to release "The Neighborhood is Changing", the debut album by Tom House.
[4] He has also recalled that while he was working at Bloodshot, he was looking through dozens of albums by such artists, and was surprised that they hadn't been released locally yet.
[1] In 1999, Babcock founded the Nashville-based Catamount Records,[5] and, as of 2004, had since left Checkered Past to run it.