Like most great ideas, the concept for Broke & Hungry Records was born in a bar. A juke joint, to be precise. But unlike most great ideas, this one went from half-baked bar babble to stark reality at a juggernaut’s pace.

In early October 2005, Broke & Hungry Records founder Jeff Konkel first slurred aloud the idea of starting a country blues label. Less than a month later Broke & Hungry Records was registered as a limited liability company in the State of Missouri. Two weeks after that the label cut its first CD, Back to Bentonia by “Jimmy Duck” Holmes. That CD will be released worldwide on April 18, 2006 – six months after the hangover wore off.

Broke & Hungry Records is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, a city well known for its contribution to blues music. But the label’s initial focus is on capturing the rough, country blues sounds that have emanated from the Mississippi Delta for nearly a hundred years. These were the blues that first captured the attention of the label’s founder when he began immersing himself in the music during his late teens.

Konkel is a veteran public relations practitioner and avowed blues fan. He has no experience in the music industry. There are some who contend he has no business in it.

Back to Bentonia is just the first of many releases planned by the label. It will be followed in short order by a stunning country blues release featuring Wesley Jefferson and Terry “Big T” Williams, two Clarksdale, Mississippi natives who are better known for their thundering, electrified work. Blues fans who are only familiar with that side of these two veteran artists are likely to be stunned by their upcoming release.

Broke & Hungry Records releases will be available in select stores and through online retailers as well as through the label’s own Web site.

For more information on Broke & Hungry Records or any of its artists or releases, contact us at info@brokeandhungryrecords.com