In 1993 Mark Humphreys, a Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter who was fed up and frustrated with a record industry that ignored his work and the work of so many other singer/songwriters living and working in its shadow, decided to record and release an album on his own. And in August of that year Trough Records was born.

After releasing his first two independent albums on the label, beginning in 1997, Humphreys started to invite some of his favorite wildly talented colleagues and friends to join him on the label. The concept was to provide independent artists working in and around Southern California an identity; to create their own space in the then-burgeoning Americana music marketplace. It would be a unifying symbol under which each artist would completely own and control their work and still share a common identity with a brand dedicated to represent diverse and high-quality music from Southern California.

Trough Records continues to champion an eclectic group of top-notch artists to represent the label and the diversity of the Southern California songwriting community. Trough is now recognized as the home for artists of wide-ranging yet equally superior talent.

Since 1993, Trough has released more than three dozen titles, all of which are completely owned and controlled by the artists. Each act pays for the costs of their albums, and Trough releases them, providing promotional assistance to each artist. The label does not own any part of any of the albums it releases. Each act has the freedom to do whatever they want with their recordings. The benefit to the label is that the presence of each artist enhances its reputation, which in turn enhances the reputation of everyone associated with it.

Over the years, some of our artists have moved away from Southern California - and some pursue their own careers away from the label - but wherever they go, as long as they want a home, they have one here with us.

Thank you for supporting independent music!