CD On Sale Now

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"Burnt Sienna Brown" by Growwler

Like all wonderphul things in life that seemed bad at first, Growwler began in High School. Ben Schaaff & Davis IL both suffered from "who are all these tools and d-bags around me" syndrome (it effects 10 in 10 people in the world) while attending said unsaid school in Mountain View, California in the early 2000's. One thing offered solace to the annoyance= the band room. They spoke very little at first but soon enough recognized shared affinities and fervency. Early discussions of music theory and how it applies to this amazing new/old concept of rock and roll forged a connection that helped them realized a direction to be had. Soon a Beatles tribute act dubbed California Grass in their Junior year was formed. Lots of acclaim and hot gas followed including a Graduation Concert in which an 8-piece band was formed to help perform "Happiness is a Warm Gun" in its 2:48 entirety. From there they began working on home recordings utilizing basic M-Audio gear and initial versions of GarageBand. A concept album was planned in their graduating year but never actually finished (still to this day).

After finishing high school, Ben & Davis parted ways for a number of years during which the two guys would mature in a musical pilgrimage of sorts. Ben went North to Eugene, Oregon for guitar school and ended up becoming a studio engineer. Davis went South to Santa Cruz, California for college and ended up becoming a singer-songwriter. Via higher schooling, gigging with various respective bands (Grandview, The Chorus, King Kongress, Judo Pony, ladyfinger), and general musical expansion of musical composition, instrumentation, and recordist tendencies they got through their lives. Davis eventually relocated to San Francisco for a 1-year stint starting in 2009 with his new act dubbed ladyfinger and Ben settled into a solid ritual of playing with his group Judo Pony and maintaining/working at a self-started Recording Studio in the Whiteaker District of Eugene. Eventually these 2 friends (I guess you could call them friends at this point) would reconvene back at the mountain.

Enter Winter 2010 and Davis gets word that Ben knows the word. The word is professional recording studio with serious techniques geared towards legitimate music in Eugene OR. Yes please. They finally use their powers for good with the help of the others and record a debut 3-track single under Davis' current band ladyfinger. Release in early 2011, the single "Burnt Sienna Brown" reached a solid audience of fellow bands, friends, family, and various others of the music loving public. The response was good and so then set off the wildfire which is currently still happening right now. They have cut the bullshit and realized the human potential and frailty of life. One must win over the other. So they say let's play together- just the 2 of us- and see what happens. And hence Growwler was borne. A 2-man act that strives to create recordings that bristle with intense saturation and then pop the balloon for just as interesting a visceral live experience.

Is this the Next Big Thing?: