Temple US Records

Temple US Records is a United States-based record-label imprint associated with Robin Morton, the producer and folk-music entrepreneur who founded the Scottish Temple Records label. The American operation was created in response to the growing popularity of Temple artists in the United States, particularly the Battlefield Band, and was based in Arlington, Massachusetts. Its role was to provide a North American platform for recordings connected with Morton's broader Temple label activities. The imprint belongs to the traditional and contemporary folk-music sector rather than the mainstream commercial recording business. Its catalogue and associated activities have centered on acoustic Scottish music, recordings by folk performers, and historically important repertoire. The label's wider creative context includes Scottish traditional music, Scottish Gaelic performance, instrumental music, and archival releases. Temple's output has therefore combined new recordings by active artists with material that preserves earlier Scottish musical traditions. Temple US Records grew out of the work of Temple Records, founded in Scotland in 1978 by Robin Morton. Morton had previously performed with The Boys of the Lough and worked as a producer for Topic Records. He established the Scottish label after Topic declined to record Alison Kinnaird, a clarsach player whose first album, The Harp Key, became a highly successful traditional-music release. The early success of Temple Records and its association with the Battlefield Band created a foundation for international expansion. The Battlefield Band was among Temple's early signings and became an internationally recognized Scottish folk group. Morton later became the group's manager, and the band's success in the American market helped motivate the creation of Temple US Records in the mid-1980s. The American imprint consequently functioned as an extension of the Temple label's transatlantic folk-music strategy, making recordings more accessible to listeners and distributors in the United States. The Temple ecosystem also supported projects such as Mac-Talla, a Scottish Gaelic group formed in 1992 at Morton's suggestion from musicians connected with the label. In addition to contemporary artists, Temple-associated releases have included historic recordings by the Scottish fiddler James Scott Skinner. These activities illustrate the imprint's broader cultural positioning: it was not simply a distribution outlet for one successful act, but part of a label operation dedicated to documenting, developing, and circulating Scottish traditional music. Publicly available reference material provides limited detail about Temple US Records' later corporate structure, release chronology, present ownership, executive leadership, and current operating status. No reliable current website, ticker, financial information, or formal parent-company relationship is established in the supplied sources. The imprint is therefore best described as a historically significant American-associated arm of the Temple Records operation, with its precise current status requiring further verification.

Temple US Records emerged from the Scottish folk-label enterprise created by Robin Morton. Morton, a former member of The Boys of the Lough and a producer associated with Topic Records, founded Temple Records in 1978 after a recording opportunity for clarsach player Alison Kinnaird was rejected because the project was considered commercially risky. Morton's decision to release Kinnaird's first album, The Harp Key, established the label and demonstrated an audience for carefully produced traditional Scottish music. Temple Records soon developed a reputation for acoustic Scottish traditional music. One of its early signings was the Battlefield Band, which went on to achieve international recognition. Morton became the group's manager in 1980, and the band's growing profile in the United States exposed the Temple catalogue to a larger American audience. The band's commercial and touring success in America was a principal reason for establishing Temple US Records. The American imprint was based in Arlington, Massachusetts, and served as the United States-facing extension of the Temple operation. Its purpose was to help circulate recordings by current folk artists in the American market while maintaining the cultural and stylistic focus of the Scottish label. The available reference material places the creation of Temple US Records in the mid-1980s in connection with the Battlefield Band's American success, although it also describes Morton as having founded the American operation in the late 1970s. Because these dates conflict, the exact founding year is left unspecified. Temple's associated catalogue was broader than the work of a single group. The label released recordings by contemporary folk musicians as well as historic material connected with Scottish musical heritage, including recordings by James Scott Skinner. Morton's involvement also extended to the creation of Mac-Talla, a Scottish Gaelic supergroup formed in 1992 at his suggestion and composed entirely of artists associated with the label. Such projects reinforced Temple's role in developing and preserving Scottish traditional and Gaelic music. Temple US Records is consequently best understood as a specialist American imprint within a transatlantic folk-label network, rather than as a separate mass-market record company. It connected Scottish artists and repertoire with listeners, distributors, and cultural audiences in the United States. The supplied sources do not establish a complete release list, a current management team, a formal legal parent, or whether the imprint remains actively issuing recordings. Those aspects require additional documentation.

• 1992

  Mac-Talla is formed

  [1]Temple Records (1978 UK label)en.wikipedia.org

  Robin Morton suggests the formation of Mac-Talla, a Scottish Gaelic group made up of musicians associated with the Temple label.

• 1980

  Robin Morton becomes Battlefield Band manager

  [1]Temple Records (1978 UK label)en.wikipedia.org

  Morton takes on management of the Battlefield Band, one of the important early acts associated with the Temple label.

• 1978

  Temple Records is founded in Scotland

  [1]Temple Records (1978 UK label)en.wikipedia.org

  Robin Morton establishes Temple Records after deciding to release Alison Kinnaird's debut album, The Harp Key, when the project was not taken up by his former production association.

• Temple US Records is established for the American market

  [1]Temple Records (1978 UK label)en.wikipedia.org

  The Temple operation creates a United States-based imprint in Arlington, Massachusetts, prompted by the Battlefield Band's success with American audiences. The supplied reference places this development in the mid-1980s, while another statement gives a late-1970s date; the precise year is therefore unresolved.

A specialist folk-music label imprint focused on bringing Scottish traditional, contemporary, Gaelic, and archival recordings to the United States and wider international audiences.

• Music recordings

  Scottish traditional music recordings

  The core of the Temple-associated catalogue consists of acoustic Scottish traditional music. Releases in this area document vocal, instrumental, and ensemble traditions while presenting them in contemporary studio and album formats for audiences in the United States and elsewhere.

• Folk music recordings

  Battlefield Band recordings

  The Battlefield Band was an early and prominent Temple-associated act whose international growth, especially in America, helped lead to the creation of Temple US Records. The band's Temple catalogue formed an important part of the label's transatlantic identity, although not every early album was issued through Temple.

• Gaelic folk music · 1992

  Scottish Gaelic recordings

  Temple-associated releases include work connected with Scottish Gaelic musicians and projects. Mac-Talla, formed in 1992 from Temple artists, exemplifies the label's support for Gaelic-language and culturally rooted Scottish music.

• Archival recordings

  Historic Scottish music recordings

  The broader Temple operation also issued historic recordings, including material by James Scott Skinner. These releases complemented new folk recordings by preserving and recirculating important elements of Scotland's musical heritage.

• Creation of a United States imprintStrategy

  Background

  The Battlefield Band's success in the American market created demand for a stronger United States presence for Temple-associated recordings.

  Action taken

  Robin Morton established Temple US Records in Arlington, Massachusetts, as an American-facing label operation.

  Aftermath

  The imprint extended Temple's distribution and artist-development activities across the Atlantic, although the available sources do not provide detailed sales or release data.

  Source

1. 1Temple Records (1978 UK label)en.wikipedia.org