Empowering the ArtistProducer and musician George Howard founded his first independent label, Slow River Records, in 1993. In 1995, Slow River entered into a co-venture with Rykodisc, one of the world largest independent labels. In 1999, he became president of Rykodisc where he signed and/or guided the careers of artists such as Kelly Willis, Robert Cray, Josh Rouse, Kelly Joe Phelps, Jess Klein, The Slip, Catie Curtis, the Tom Tom Club, Future Bible Heroes, Chuck E. Weiss and many others. He further developed Rykodisc catalog holdings including, Frank Zappa, Medeski Martin and Wood, Morphine, The Tradition Catalog, Bill Hicks, Richard Buckner, and others. His production credits include Kelly Joe Phelps, Chuck E. Weiss (with Tom Waits), Jess Klein, Matthew, and Peter Bruntnell.