What is now Pleasant Green Records was established by Geoff Logsdon in the spring of 1995. Geoff was a member of the band Roots of Consciousness (who released one disc on the Syn-Phonic label) at the time, and had also struck up a friendship with the boys in the band Echolyn. Through these associations he was inspired to try his hand at the business end of music by starting his own label.

Originally conceived as a reissues-only label, Pleasant Green began life as Zarathustra Progressive Recordings-the unwieldy moniker the result of reading too much Nietzche! Geoff was able to track down the members of the obscure-but-legendary St. Louis, MO band Surprise. Their 1977 album, “Assault On Merryland,” became the first and only CD released on the Zarathustra imprint. The release was thankfully very well received by longtime progressive music fans and critics alike.

Almost a year later, when the members of Echolyn took a temporary hiatus, Geoff began to lobby Echolyn members Ray Weston, Paul Ramsey and Brett Kull to allow him to release the new recordings they were working on under the name Still. Late in 1996, while on a trip to Georgia to play a couple of shows with Athens group Volaré, they agreed to let him do so!

So with the ‘reissue label’ plan unceremoniously dumped, Geoff took the opportunity to change the name of his label to something more personally relevant. He decided on Pleasant Green, which was the name of the farm owned by his first ancestor to arrive in the United States.

The Still CD, “Always Almost,” was released in January 1997, and the band’s next disc, “God Pounds His Nails” (with the name of the band now Always Almost), followed in October 1997. Guest keyboardist on the “GPHN” sessions was Geoff’s friend Patrick Strawser from the aforementioned group, Volaré. Geoff had also become close to Volaré’s drummer, Brian Donohoe. Soon Pat, Brian and Geoff were discussing the release of Volaré’s cassette-only material recorded prior to their Laser’s Edge album, “The Uncertainty Principle.” This material, augmented by new, unreleased and live tracks came out in September 1999 as the CD "Memoirs..."

It was through Brian Donohoe that Pleasant Green acquired its other ‘employee’ when Geoff met and married Brian’s friend Kelli in July 2000! Kelli’s computer and design skills became an invaluable addition to the label. She designed and maintains the Pleasant Green Records website, and is responsible for linking the label to other websites and getting airplay for the bands on various radio shows. Earlier in 2000, Geoff and Brian were collaborating on the release of new material by RIO/Canterbury legends Rascal Reporters. These discussions picked up speed with the addition of Kelli to the fold, as she was already a huge Rascal Reporters fan, and friend to head Reporter Steve Gore (yes, it is a small world). The long-awaited Rascal Reporters CD, “The Foul-Tempered Clavier,” was released in May 2001 with a beautiful package designed by renowned artist Michael Bennett (and a cover photo found by Kelli on Ebay!).

And there you are! That is as far as the label biography goes at this point! Please, browse the site! And if you have any questions or comments don’t hesitate to send an email!