| Small Axe |
Article Index for Small |
Website Links For Small |
Information AboutSmall Axe |
|
Small Axe {Link without Title} is a rock band based in rural Saratoga County, New York . The group takes its name from a Bob Marley song on the Wailers ' album, Burnin' , although their hard stoner/garage rock music bears little resemblance to the original Reggae song. The group's roots lie in Saratoga Springs, New York , where D.J. Miller (guitar, vocals) and brothers James "Jimbo" Burton (bass) and Dave Burton (drums) attended school together. After graduating from high school in 1985, Miller attended the University At Buffalo , while Jimbo Burton enlisted in the U.S Army. Upon completing his military time, he, his brother and Adam Lawrence relocated to Buffalo to form a band with Miller, who had taken up guitar while in college. Lawrence was originally envisioned as the group's singer; he did not fill this role, but did give the band its name. He later founded the Hoex Records label, who have released several albums by Small Axe, The Wasted and others. The group played its first live show in Buffalo, opening for the then-equally-unknown Moe. Three years later, Miller and the Burtons relocated to Portland, Oregon, with percussionist Chris O'Connor in tow; O'Connor didn't perform long with the band, but later handled the group's public relations for a brief period. After having limited professional success in Portland, Small Axe returned home to Saratoga Springs. Throughout these early years, the group honed its skill through a near-obsessive dedication to four-track recording. An early self-titled, cassette-only release received wide distribution through word of mouth and fan distribution; it featured many songs that later appeared on the group's compact discs. The band made its formal recording debut in 1994, when the song "Holy Ways" appeared on a multi-artist 7-inch single released by Shithouse Rat Records, who also released the full-length ''A Shot to the Body'' in 1997. Two years later, as the band prepared to record the follow-on album, drummer Dave Burton was replaced by Thom Hall (a.k.a. T.B. Hall), a Central New York native who had also played with Squid, Kate Mosstika and other bands, and had spent some time working in New Orleans before returning to New York. Hall made his recording debut with Small Axe on 1998's ''A Blow to the Head,'' which also featured a few older cuts with Dave Burton (now handling the band's video and web productions) on drums, and was released under Adam Lawrence's Hoex imprint. The Miller-Jimbo Burton-Hall lineup also recorded 2000's ''Speaker Eater'' and ''Ride to the Bottom'' (2003) for Hoex Records, although Burton had left the band before the latter disc's release to pursue his new project, Blackloud {Link without Title} . Burton was replaced by Orien MacDonald (bass, cello), who recorded the album ''Public Thief'' (as yet formally unreleased in early 2006) with Small Axe. MacDonald, in turn, was replaced by Kelly Murphy (bass, vocals) in 2005. Murphy also works with Hall in the Empire State Troopers (she sings, he plays guitar), and plays bass and sings with The Wasted. Small Axe toured Alaska in the fall of 2005 and is currently preparing material for a release by the Miller-Murphy-Hall lineup. MEMBERS
FORMER MEMBERS
ALBUMS
|
|
|