Biography All Music Guide Wikipedia
Group Members: Tanya Donelly, Kristin Hersh
All Music Guide:
One of the quietly great college bands from the 1980s, Throwing Muses was formed in 1983 by guitarist/vocalist Kristin Hersh and her half-sister guitarist/vocalist Tanya Donelly with a few friends from high school. In 1986, the group's debut album was put out by the prestigious British label 4AD; Throwing Muses was the first American band to be released on that label. Throwing Muses' angular, anguished, mercurial sound had much to do with Hersh's mental illness (she suffered from a form of bipolarity that caused her to hallucinate), especially on early albums like House Tornado. 1991's The Real Ramona marked a break from the heaviness of the previous albums, with lots of shimmery pop gems penned both by Hersh and Donelly, who contributed at least one song per album throughout her stay in the band. Creative tensions between the two songwriters rose until Donelly left in 1992 to play with the Breeders and ultimately form Belly. That year Hersh re-formed the Muses with drummer David Narcizo and released the band's fourth album, Red Heaven. After that, Hersh released a solo album and toured extensively, leaving fans to wonder about the status of the Muses. In 1995, however, Hersh and the rest of the Muses (Narcizo and bassist Bernard Georges) released University, one of the band's most cohesive and accessible efforts. University was followed by Limbo in 1996. The group's dissolution was announced soon after, with Hersh continuing on as a solo artist. In a Doghouse, a collection of rare early Muses material, followed in 1998. In spring 2000, the Muses reunited for a special event called the Gut Pageant, which featured a set from Hersh, Narcizo, Bernard Georges, and Robert Rust, as well as a solo performance by Hersh, short films by Narcizo, and a picnic lunch hosted by the group. During three weekends in 2002, the trio got together to record another album; released the same day in 2003 as Hersh's The Grotto, Throwing Muses (self-titled, just like their debut) was the group's rawest, loudest album. Donelly provided background vocals on some of the songs. Hersh and Georges subsequently recorded and toured as two-thirds of 50 Foot Wave, and Hersh continued her solo work. In 2011, the Muses assembled Anthology, a double-disc compilation of favorites and B-sides, and toured in support of it.
Wikipedia:
Throwing Muses is an alternative rock band formed in 1981 in Newport, Rhode Island, that toured and recorded extensively until 1997, when its members began concentrating more on other projects. The group was originally fronted by two lead singers, Kristin Hersh and Tanya Donelly, who both wrote the group's songs. Throwing Muses are known for performing music with shifting tempos, creative chord progressions, unorthodox song structures, and surreal lyrics. The group was set apart from other contemporary acts by Hersh's stark, candid writing style; Donelly's pop stylings and vocal harmonies; and David Narcizo's unusual drumming techniques eschewing use of cymbals. Hersh's hallucinatory, febrile songs occasionally touched on the subject of mental illness, more often drawing portraits of characters from daily life or addressing relationships.
Early group history
Hersh enlisted her stepsister, Donelly, to help form the group while they were attending Rogers High School. The two served as guitarists, lead vocalists, and songwriters for the group; drummer David Narcizo joined shortly thereafter. Hersh originally named the group "The Muses". Since the band was no longer composed of only female musicians after Narcizo joined, they decided to shift to a name with fewer gender-specific connotations, "Throwing Muses". (More recent interviews with Kristin state that they were never called "The Muses" or "Kristin & The Muses.")
Early recordings were made in 1983 but not released. A self-titled EP was released in 1984 on their Blowing Fuses label. The group self-released a set of demos in 1985, later known as The Doghouse Cassette, garnering a number-one college radio hit, "Sinkhole," that year. The demos came to the attention of Ivo Watts-Russell, who signed them as the first U.S. band on the 4AD Records label and released their self-titled debut album in 1986.
The group also co-released some of their later albums on Sire/Reprise Records and Rykodisc. With cover stories about them published in most major British music publications of the 1980s, they became one of the first successful alternative rock acts to be led by two female singer/guitarists.
The band's personnel has changed over the years. Bassist Leslie Langston left after 1990, replaced by Fred Abong, but returned briefly to record tracks on Red Heaven in 1992. Donelly left Throwing Muses after 1991's The Real Ramona, first to perform in The Breeders and afterwards to form Belly. Abong left in 1991, soon joining Belly, and was succeeded by Bernard Georges in 1993. Since 1992, the group has been a trio composed of Hersh on guitar and vocals, Georges on bass, and Narcizo on drums. During the mid-1990s, Hersh also began a solo recording career, releasing the album Hips and Makers, alongside her band work.
Later work
In 1995, the new lineup released University, recorded in New Orleans; the album included "Bright Yellow Gun," a single garnering airplay on commercial radio stations. The album's radio exposure led to long feature articles in Rolling Stone and other major music magazines. Following the 1996 album Limbo, the band announced it was going on indefinite hiatus due to the high financial overhead of being a full-time recording and touring band.
Hersh continued her solo career during this period, releasing several well-received albums and EPs. Yet her enthusiasm for Throwing Muses remained high; the band recorded new versions of several early songs for inclusion in the double-CD In a Doghouse compilation comprising the self-titled debut album, the Chains Changed EP, and the Doghouse Cassette. The band regrouped to perform special "Gut Pageant" events in 2000 and 2001, and released an album in 2003, entitled Throwing Muses. Donelly made her first appearances with the group in a decade at the 2000 Gut Pageant, also singing backing vocals on several tracks on the 2003 album. The group toured the U.S. and Europe briefly in 2003 to support the album, with appearances by Donelly on guitar and vocals in a couple of the tour's shows. In 2005 and 2006, the band played a number of shows across North America and Europe.
Hersh and Georges formed a new band, 50 Foot Wave, with drummer Rob Ahlers in 2003, while Narcizo returned to his graphic design company and his occasional musical project Lakuna. Donelly continues to record as a solo artist.
In 2009, the band reformed to tour Europe. They also performed the R.E.M number 'Perfect Circle' during a tribute night to the band at Carnegie Hall, New York on March 11, 2009.
In 2011 the band recorded a demo for their next album. The demo is available for download through CASH Music.
