
The Hours Are Long, But the Pay Is Low: A Curious Life in Independent Music
by
Rob Miller
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9780252088964
Publication Date: 11/25/2025
Edition Description: First Edition
“The music business is not a meritocracy: it is a crapshoot taking place in a septic tank balanced on the prow of the Titanic, a venal snake pit where innovation, creativity, and honest business practices are actively discouraged.”
Rob Miller arrived in Chicago wanting to escape the music industry. In short order, he cofounded a trailblazing record label revered for its artistfirst approach and punk take on country, roots, and so much else. Miller’s gonzo memoir follows a music fan’s odyssey through a singular account of Bloodshot Records, the Chicago scene, and thirty years as part of a community sustaining independent artists and businesses.
Hilarious and hundredproof, The Hours Are Long, But the Pay Is Low delivers a warmhearted yet cleareyed account of loving and living music on the edge, in the trenches, and without apologies.
Rob Miller arrived in Chicago wanting to escape the music industry. In short order, he cofounded a trailblazing record label revered for its artistfirst approach and punk take on country, roots, and so much else. Miller’s gonzo memoir follows a music fan’s odyssey through a singular account of Bloodshot Records, the Chicago scene, and thirty years as part of a community sustaining independent artists and businesses.
Hilarious and hundredproof, The Hours Are Long, But the Pay Is Low delivers a warmhearted yet cleareyed account of loving and living music on the edge, in the trenches, and without apologies.
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