In 2000 ATO released David Gray's album White Ladder – which contained the hit single "Babylon" – through a joint venture with RCA Records. White Ladder earned Gray a Grammy Award nomination in the Best New Artist category in 2002. Between 2001 and 2006, ATO released albums by My Morning Jacket, Jem, Ben Kweller, Patty Griffin, Mike Doughty, Gov't Mule, and Gomez. ATO dissolved its relationship with RCA Records in 2006, becoming fully independent. During this period, the label hired in-house marketing, radio, and sales personnel and began working more closely with its sister company, Red Light Management. Signings that followed included Rodrigo Y Gabriela, Dawes, Lisa Hannigan, J. Roddy Walston and the Business, Drive-By Truckers, Primus, Old 97s, Caitlin Rose, Old Crow Medicine Show, and, in 2011, Alabama Shakes. Released in April 2012, Alabama Shakes’ debut album, Boys & Girls, was named as one of the year's best albums by many publications, including Rolling Stone and The New York Times. The band received three Grammy nominations including Best New Artist and Best Rock Performance. In addition, Boys & Girls was nominated for Best Recording Package. ATO branched out into other genres, including indie-rock, singer-songwriter, punk, neo-soul and psychedelic-rock. Signings included Brandi Carlile, Benjamin Booker, Okkervil River, Joseph, Hurray For The Riff Raff, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Margaret Glaspy, Nick Hakim, Midlake, Blind Pilot, Rayland Baxter, Allen Stone, and Black Pumas. Old Crow Medicine Show won the Grammy for Best Folk Album in 2014 and Brandi Carlile's The Firewatcher’s Daughter received a Grammy nomination in the Best Americana Album category the following year. In 2015, Alabama Shakes’ second album, Sound & Color, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. It earned the band three Grammy awards, including Best Alternative Music Album. The rising sister trio Joseph hit No. 1 at AAA radio and No. 1 on Billboard's Adult Alternative Songs radio airplay chart with its single “White Flag" in October 2016. Their debut album I’m Alone, No You’re Not debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Heatseekers Chart. Later that year, Margaret Glaspy’s debut album Emotions and Math was recognized by several Year End lists, including Jon Pareles’ New York Times Best Albums of 2016. ATO Records also distributes releases by Phish, Jerry Garcia, and Ween. From 2015 to 2016, the label celebrated its 15-year anniversary by reissuing classic releases such as Patty Griffin's 1000 Kisses, My Morning Jacket's Z and It Still Moves, and Rodrigo y Gabriela's self-titled debut. The label's highest selling releases are White Ladder by David Gray and Sound & Color by Alabama Shakes, both of which have been certified Platinum - for sales of or exceeding 1 million units - by the Recording Industry Association of America. Three other releases have been certified Gold, for sales of 500,000 copies: In Rainbows by Radiohead, Boys & Girls by Alabama Shakes and A New Day at Midnight by David Gray. ATO Records has won nine A2IM Liberia Awards and has been nominated over 20 times over the past five years. In 2020 the label won two award including the Best Metal Album, and Best Punk / Emo Album. ATO Records currently has seven nominations for The Americana Music Association Music Awards 2020, including Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, Song Of the Year, Duo/ Group of the Year, and Emerging Act of the Year. In November 2019 ATO Records artists received seven Grammy Nominations including Best Rock Song, Best Rock Performance, Best R&B Song, Best Engineered Album, Best Contemporary Instrumental Album, Best World Music Album, and Best New Artist. ATO Records artists Rodrigo y Gabriela won the 2020 Grammy for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album for their album 'Mettavolution'.
