High Dive Records

High Dive Records is an independent record label based in Kansas City, Missouri. Jeff McCoy founded the label in January 2013 to issue Little Leaves, an album by the ACBs. What began as a release project developed into a broader platform for artists connected with the Kansas City area and Lawrence, Kansas. The label’s catalog is centered on independent rock and adjacent local-scene music. Its roster has included the ACBs, Arc Flash, Berwanger, Bonzo Madrid, Bummer, the Burning Peppermints, the Conquerors, the Creepy Jingles, Dressy Bessy, Drugs & Attics, Empty Moon, the Fog, Fourth of July, Fullbloods, Ghosty, Jim Button & the Beholders, Organized Crimes, Paddlefish, PINKO, Psychic Heat, Rev Gusto, Rooftop Vigilantes, Sex Snobs, Shy Boys, Snacky, HXXS, Ebony Tusks, Dooms, Those Far Out Arrows, Koney, the Whiffs, Y God Y, ThighMaster, Greg Wheeler & the Poly Mall Cops, and Miss Boating. The artist list indicates a regional-label model rather than a narrowly defined genre imprint. High Dive’s output includes albums, extended-play or single-oriented projects, split releases, live recordings, and compilations. Catalog entries range from the ACBs’ inaugural Little Leaves to releases such as Shy Boys, Darkness USA by the Fog, The Shark by Empty Moon, Holy Terror by Bummer, Demonios by Berwanger, and Manic Fever by Greg Wheeler & the Poly Mall Cops. Compilation projects such as Belly Flop and The Deep End broaden the label’s role from releasing individual artist records to documenting a community of performers. The label’s significance is primarily regional and cultural. It provides a common release identity for musicians from the greater Kansas City area and nearby Lawrence, while its catalog reflects the breadth of the local independent-music ecosystem. Publicly available reference material does not establish a corporate parent, ownership group, financial figures, formal distribution arrangement, current executive structure beyond the founder, or a separate official website URL. High Dive Records is therefore best characterized as an independently operated local-to-regional music label whose principal brand assets are its artist roster and numbered release catalog.

High Dive Records was founded in January 2013 in Kansas City, Missouri, by Jeff McCoy. The immediate purpose of the label was to release Little Leaves by the ACBs. This origin places the label within the independent Kansas City music infrastructure: it was created around a specific local release rather than as a documented subsidiary of a large entertainment company. After its initial release, High Dive expanded its scope to include additional acts from the greater Kansas City area and from Lawrence, Kansas. Its roster came to encompass a wide range of independent groups and solo projects, including the Conquerors, Ghosty, Shy Boys, Organized Crimes, Empty Moon, Bummer, Fullbloods, Psychic Heat, Dressy Bessy, Ebony Tusks, and Greg Wheeler & the Poly Mall Cops. The breadth of the roster suggests that the label functioned as a shared platform for a regional scene rather than as a narrowly specialized imprint. The label’s catalog is organized through numbered HDR releases. Early entries include HDR-001, the ACBs’ Little Leaves; HDR-002, Fourth of July’s Empty Moon; HDR-003, Ghosty’s self-titled release; and HDR-004 and HDR-005, two Shy Boys projects. Subsequent entries document a continuing sequence of artist albums and related releases. The catalog also includes split projects, such as the Bummer/PINKO split, compilations including Belly Flop and The Deep End, and live material such as Greg Wheeler & the Poly Mall Cops’ Live At The Lift. Over time, the catalog developed into a record of the Kansas City-area independent music community. Releases associated with the label include The Fog’s Darkness USA, Empty Moon’s The Shark, Organized Crimes’ Bel Ray Flats and Soft Angeles, the Conquerors’ You Must Be Dreaming, I Don’t Know, and Wyld Time, Rev Gusto’s Burnt Out Friends, Bummer’s Spank and Holy Terror, Berwanger’s Demonios, and the Whiffs’ Take A Whiff. Later catalog entries include projects by HXXS, Dooms, Koney, Miss Boating, and others. Public reference material provides no confirmed financial history, ownership transaction, corporate parent, public-company status, or comprehensive account of distribution and commercial operations. It also does not identify a current management team beyond the documented founder. Accordingly, the label’s documented history is best understood through its foundation, regional artist network, and continuing numbered catalog. Its role is that of an independent cultural and release platform serving musicians associated with Kansas City and Lawrence.

• 2013

  High Dive Records is founded

  [1]High Dive Recordsen.wikipedia.org

  Jeff McCoy establishes High Dive Records in Kansas City in January 2013 to release the ACBs album Little Leaves.

• 2013

  The catalog begins with HDR-001

  [1]High Dive Recordsen.wikipedia.org

  The ACBs’ Little Leaves becomes the first identified release in the label’s numbered HDR catalog.

• Expansion across the regional scene

  [1]High Dive Recordsen.wikipedia.org

  The label expands beyond its initial project to represent artists from the greater Kansas City area and Lawrence, Kansas.

An independent Kansas City-area label documenting and promoting local and regional rock-oriented artists, with connections to the Lawrence, Kansas music scene.

• Album · 2013

  The ACBs - Little Leaves

  The release that prompted Jeff McCoy to establish High Dive Records and the first entry in the label’s documented HDR catalog, identified as HDR-001.

• Album

  Shy Boys - Shy Boys

  A self-titled release by Shy Boys and the fourth numbered entry in the label catalog.

• Album

  The Fog - Darkness USA

  A High Dive Records release by the Fog, listed as HDR-006 and representative of the label’s rock-oriented regional catalog.

• Album

  Empty Moon - The Shark

  An Empty Moon release listed as HDR-007 in the label’s numbered catalog.

• Album

  Bummer - Holy Terror

  A Bummer album included among the label’s later numbered releases and part of its Kansas City-area artist output.

• Compilation

  Compilation - Belly Flop

  A compilation release that extends the label’s function beyond individual artist albums to documenting multiple acts associated with its scene.

• Album

  The Whiffs - Take A Whiff

  A release by the Whiffs listed as HDR-025 in the High Dive Records catalog.

• Compilation

  Compilation - The Deep End

  A compilation identified as HDR-048, reflecting the label’s continuing interest in presenting its broader artist community.

• Live recording

  Greg Wheeler & the Poly Mall Cops - Live At The Lift

  A live release by Greg Wheeler & the Poly Mall Cops, listed as HDR-049 and demonstrating the catalog’s inclusion of concert recordings.

1. 1High Dive Recordsen.wikipedia.org