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Document Records is an independent record label in Scotland that specializes in reissuing vintage blues and jazz.
The company has been recognised by The Blues Foundation, being honoured with a Keeping the Blues Alive
Award. Document Records is the only UK-based recipient of the award in 2018. (Wikipedia)
The owners are Gillian and Gary Atkinson and both of them continue to find, compile and release, pre-war blues,
jazz and gospel records with a smattering of ‘old timey’ country music thrown in for good measure. Ian McKenzie
spoke to them on the telephone

BiTS: What I want to do, of course, is talk to
you about Document Records and its history,
so if you're ready, we'll make a start.

Gary: Right, where do you want to begin?

BiTS: Where do you want to begin?

Gary: Well, I suppose as far as Document goes
and the acquiring of it and the running of it
and all the rest of—it starts long before we took
the company over which was in 2000. We
started to have meetings and discussions in
1999, but for both Gillian and me, the lead up
was the interest, fascination and love of this

music, it began a lot further back than that.
Gillian and Gary Atkinson
Gillian is from Cheshire and I'm from Hull on
the East Coast, so despite the fact that many
miles separated us, there we were as kids doing our own thing but both stumbling upon this music. I

didn't stumble as quite as much because my father was a big jazz and blues fan, so the music was
always there. It was a little bit different for Gillian and I'm sure she'll tell you a little bit about that
in a sec, but yes, I was aware of the music right from the very beginning. My father had records both
LPs and 78s by the likes of Big Bill Broonzy, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, Jessie Fuller, and many
others, so I was kind of brought up on it. In fact, I thought it was odd when I started to go round
friends’ houses that they didn't have this music in their houses too. Right from the beginning, I was
aware of it. My father told me something about it although he loved the music and he bought the

records, but he wasn't an expert on it, although he had a very good layman's understanding of what
it was about.

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