Biography All Music GuideWikipedia
All Music Guide:
Cincinnati, OH's the Greenhornes earned a devoted following during the garage rock boom of the 2000s, but while the band was clearly influenced by classic blues-based acts of the '60s (the Yardbirds, the Rolling Stones, the Kinks) and first-era garage rock (the Sonics), their instrumental skill and songwriting chops put them well ahead of most of their peers. The Greenhornes were formed in 1996 by Craig Fox (guitar, lead vocals), Brian Olive (guitar), Jared McKinney (keyboards), Jack Lawrence (bass) and Patrick Keeler (drums); several members of the band had been friends since high school, and they recorded their first demo tape under the name Us and Them. After adopting the handle the Greenhornes, the band cut their debut single in 1998, "The End of Night" b/w "No More," and their first full-length album, Gun for You, appeared in 1999. In 2000, Olive left the Greenhornes to join the Soledad Brothers (where he changed his stage name to Oliver Henry), and Eric Stein became the band's new guitarist. The new lineup of the band recorded their second LP, simply titled the Greenhornes, but by the time they cut 2002's Dual Mono, Jared McKinney was out of the group, and Stein would leave before the year was out. However, the Greenhornes had a valuable ally in Jack White of the White Stripes; he had helped produce a Greenhornes single in 2000, and when the White Stripes' third album became an unexpected breakthrough hit, White championed the band and brought them to the attention of the White Stripes' label, V2 Records. In 2005, V2 released an EP of new material from the Greenhornes, East Grand Blues, as well as a career-spanning compilation, Sewed Soles. A year earlier, White had recruited Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler to play on Van Leer Rose, the album he produced for country icon Loretta Lynn, and when White and Brendan Benson (who produced East Grand Blues) formed their side project the Raconteurs, Lawrence and Keeler were invited to be their rhythm section. The Raconteurs released albums in 2006 and 2008 and toured extensively, while Lawrence also recorded and toured with another White project, the Dead Weather, and as part of the acclaimed Detroit alt-country band Blanche. However, Fox, Lawrence and Keeler reconvened the Greenhornes in 2010; they went into the studio to record a new album, **** (released by White's Third Man Records imprint), and hit the road in support of its release late in the year.
Wikipedia:
The Greenhornes are an American garage rock band from Cincinnati, Ohio, formed in 1996 by vocalist/guitarist Craig Fox, bass guitarist Jack Lawrence and drummer Patrick Keeler. They released their debut album Gun For You in 1999, followed by a self-titled album in 2001. A third studio album, Dual Mono, was released in 2002, with the band taking a small hiatus. The Greenhornes returned in 2005 to release a new EP, East Grand Blues, and a compilation album, Sewed Soles. During this time, Lawrence and Keeler formed The Raconteurs with Detroit musicians and personal friends Jack White and Brendan Benson, leaving very few performances and interaction with Fox. In 2010, the band reunited once again to record a studio album, Four Stars, their first in eight years.
Biography [edit]
The Greenhornes started life as a high school band based in Dearborn County, Indiana, (20 miles west of Cincinnati) called Us and Them, self-releasing a four-track tape. Originally a five piece that included guitarist Brian Olive (who later departed to play with the Toledo-based Soledad Brothers under the alias Oliver Henry) and keyboardist Jared McKinney, The Greenhornes debuted in 1998, issuing their first bit of music on a single, "The End of the Night" backed with "No More," released by Deary Me Records. The following year they released their first full-length album, Gun For You. A self-titled LP followed in 2001. 2002's Dual Mono came after the departure of Olive and McKinney and included guitarist and vocalist Eric Stein, currently guitarist and vocalist of The Griefs. By 2003, the band was down to Fox, Lawrence, and Keeler. 2005 saw the release of East Grand Blues, an EP for V2 Records, which was produced by Detroit musician Brendan Benson. It was quickly followed by the compilation Sewed Soles. The band's collaboration with Holly Golightly, "There Is an End", was the theme song of Jim Jarmusch's 2005 film, Broken Flowers.
Throughout their career, the Greenhornes have toured almost constantly, only taking breaks when the musicians have worked on other projects.
Lawrence and Keeler, along with Detroit musician and producer Dave Feeny, were in the Do-Whaters, the band formed and led by Jack White of The White Stripes for Loretta Lynn's 2004 album Van Lear Rose. Lawrence and Keeler spent all of 2006 at work in The Raconteurs with Benson and White. Lawrence is also the banjo and autoharp player for the Detroit band Blanche, which also includes Feeny, and plays bass in The Dead Weather, a band that includes Alison Mosshart (The Kills), Jack White and Dean Fertita (The Waxwings). Recently, Fox, McKinney, and Olive have been playing together in a new, still-untitled band in and around Cincinnati.
The song "Can't Stand It" was featured in the episode Pie-O-My during season 4 of The Sopranos. The Greenhornes have also contributed the song "Pattern Skies" to the PS2/Xbox video game Destroy All Humans! 2. The group are confirmed to play the ATP New York 2010 music festival in Monticello, New York, in September 2010 at the request of film director Jim Jarmusch.
Four Stars, the band's fourth studio album was released on November 9, 2010.
A seven-song 12" record of demos and outtakes from the recording of the East Grand Blues EP was released as a part of the vault package no. 6 from Third Man Records. This album is not available for purchase in stores, and only a limited number of pressings were made.
