In the spring of 2020, I joined a songwriting group with several of my friends from North Dakota. We had known each other for decades and our bands used to play shows together in the late 1990's. We were scattered throughout the midwest, but connected online and agreed to write and record a song every week and provide each other with feedback, Six months later we each had written several dozen songs and had a collection of demos.
Several members of the songwriting group continued to meet to discuss recording, mixing, mastering, and music promotion. Music distribution to streaming platforms requires musicians to use a "label name" even if they are independent artists. And so... Knife River Records was born.
The Knife River runs past our hometown of Beulah, North Dakota. Plus we really liked the way the name sounded. And in the music business "sounding good" most important reason to do anything.