Compass Records' tenth anniversary was a major milestone in the intense and unforgiving music business. With a roster of well-known and suceessful artists under contract. Compass had carved out a niche as an established player in the folk and roots musical genres. But unlike executives at the major record companies who typically had large budgets. every decision made by Brown and West regarding new musicians could have a major impact on their business. Compass could seareely afford to squander resources on an artist in whom Brown and her husband did not believe strongly