History
Ed McNamara and Joseph Grillo (aka Sid Jagger or Syd Jagger) began songwriting for what would become Garrison in 1997, recruiting drummer Guy D'Annolfo to record a three-song demo cassette recorded with Kurt Ballou. Ed, Joseph, and future bass player Andy White were involved in the Worcester Artists Group/The Space with additional connections made between Andy and Joseph by the lovely smelling Kurt Ballou, resulting in Andy joining Garrison in 1998. The initial group of Ed, Joseph, Guy, and Andy began rehearsing and songwriting at The Space, released an initial 7" on Espo Records, and toured extensively in the US. They signed with Revelation Records and recorded The Bend Before The Break with Brian McTernan at Fort Apache in Boston, MA. Following the release of the Bend Before the Break, Garrison again toured extensively throughout the US while working on their first full-length, A Mile in Cold Water with the consistently pleasant smelling Kurt Ballou.
After the release of A Mile In Cold Water and subsequent touring, Andy and Guy left Garrison to return to graduate school, while Ed and Joseph recruited Jason Carlin, Matt LaVonture, J. Morrissette, Ethan Dussault, and John Ledoux to continue the development of Garrison.
Their next and final
After playing 353 shows, Garrison officially disbanded in 2003, members of Garrison went on to play with Her Heads on Fire, Judas Knife, Rules, Leafminer, The Many Mansions, I Hate Our Freedom, Pointillist, Instruction, Fires, The Fly Seville, Gay for Johnny Depp, Campaign for Real-Time, The Rise Park, Placer, and Kill Verona.
In 2020, Arctic Rodeo Recordings (Germany) re-released The Model, the Hundred reasons split, and various b-sides in the form of an LP titled: TV or the Atom Bomb (the original name of the band before settling on Garrison)
In 2021. Iodine records re-released The Bend Before the Break on vinyl, digital, and cassette with remastered audio, and updated art from Dan McCarthy.
In 2023, Iodine Records re-released A Mile in Cold Water remixed by Kurt Ballou from the original 2" tape on vinyl, and digital remastered by Jack Shilrey and with updated art from Dan McCarthy.
In 2023 the original line up of the band (Grillo, McNamara, White and D'Annolfo) reunited to play 3 shows: The Middle East Downstairs (Cambridge, MA), Ralph's Chadwick Diner (Worcester, MA) and The Wooly (Gainesville, FL) at FEST to celebrate the release.
Revelation Records is an independent record label focusing originally and primarily on hardcore punk. The label is known for releases by bands such as Youth of Today, Warzone, Sick of It All, Quicksand, Side By Side, Chain of Strength, Shelter, Judge, No for an Answer, Gorilla Biscuits, and End of a Year.
Judge is a New York hardcore band formed in 1987 by Youth of Today guitarist John "Porcell" Porcelly and former Youth of Today drummer Mike "Judge" Ferraro.
Bold is an American late 1980s youth crew hardcore band from Westchester County, New York, which, along with bands like Youth of Today and Side by Side, were a part of the Youth Crew and an influence in the late 80s straight edge hardcore scene. The band progressed to a more rock-oriented sound in its later years.
Seven Swans is an indie folk album by Sufjan Stevens, released on March 16, 2004 on Sounds Familyre Records. It is Stevens' fourth studio album and features songs about Christian spiritual themes, figures such as Abraham, and Christ's Transfiguration. The songs are primarily "lush acoustic compositions" with Stevens' banjo. It was recorded and produced by Daniel C. Smith, Sufjan's close friend. The album was released on compact disc by Sounds Familyre Records and vinyl LP; the vinyl was released by Burnt Toast Vinyl.
Russian Circles is an American instrumental post-metal band based in Chicago, Illinois. The band was originally formed by childhood friends Mike Sullivan and Dave Turncrantz after their previous musical projects dissolved. After parting ways with their original bass player Colin DeKuiper in 2007, the trio was rounded out by Brian Cook. The band has gained widespread recognition based on a series of critically acclaimed albums and extensive international touring. Their name is taken from a drill exercise used in ice hockey, a sport Sullivan and Turncrantz grew up playing in their original hometown of St. Louis.
Timothy E. Easton is an American guitarist and singer-songwriter playing rock and roll, folk and Americana music. His latest release, You Don't Really Know Me was released on August 27, 2021.
3 Songs is a 7-inch EP by Washington, D.C., post-hardcore band Fugazi. It was originally released in a collectors edition of 2,000 copies by Sub Pop Records as the December 1989 issue of their Singles Club. Dischord Records gave the record wider release one month later with different cover and label art. Later that year Dischord coupled the 3 Songs EP with the LP Repeater to make up the Repeater + 3 Songs CD.
Orange Island was a rock band based out of the town Clinton, Massachusetts. Orange Island formed in 1996 when cousins Charles Young and Brendan Dickhaut started writing music together and had David Chouinard playing bass guitar. After writing songs together they asked their friend David Gorman to sing for the group. Orange Island wrote and recorded several demos before being signed to the Boston-based record label Iodine Recordings in 2000. The Shape of Calling was Orange Island's debut album and shortly after its release the band started touring the US with many well known bands including Brand New, The Movielife, Breaking Pangaea, Kill Verona and others. in 2002 Orange Island released their follow-up full length titled Everything You Thought You Knew. This album dealt with themes related to struggling with alcoholism and losing a close friend.
Guitar Method is the only album by indie supergroup Kid Kilowatt, initially released by Second Nature Recordings on vinyl in 2003, and later on CD by Hydra Head Records in 2004. It consists of material recorded over a period of three years, including after the band's breakup. Still, it did not see release as a whole for over four years after the last track was recorded.
Beyond Hypothermia is a compilation and the first full-length album by Cave In. Released in February 1998 on Hydra Head Records, it compiles material from early out-of-print releases with new tracks.
Document #8 is the third studio album by the American screamo band Pg. 99. The album was originally released as a vinyl LP on June 13, 2001, through Robotic Empire, with various versions also be released through Electric Human Project and Scene Police. A remixed and remastered edition was released in 2005 through Robotic Empire on CD with two additional bonus tracks, "The Lonesome Waltz of Leonard Cohen" and "The List", the latter being a Filth cover. Both tracks were previously released on Document #9: A Split Personality.
God Fires Man was an American rock band that formed in the summer 2006 in Brooklyn, New York, United States. The band consisted of Arthur Shepherd (vocals/guitar), Joseph Grillo (vocals/guitar), John Wilkinson (bass), and Drew Thomas (drums).
"On My Shield" is a single released by American metalcore band Converge. It was originally made available during the band's European tour in July 2010. The single was self-released by the band, though it was distributed by Converge's labels, Epitaph Records and Deathwish Inc. The physical release does not contain a label catalog number, however Deathwish lists the single as CONCULT01. The song was recorded and produced by guitarist Kurt Ballou at his own GodCity studio between the band's 2010 US and European tours in support of Axe to Fall.
Geoff Palmer, also known by the stage name Geoff Useless, is an American musician from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, now living in Madison, Wisconsin. He played bass and provided backing vocals for The Queers straight out of high school, and played guitar and did lead vocals for The Guts and The Nobodys.
Jesuit was an American hardcore punk band from Virginia Beach, Virginia. Active in the mid and late 1990s, the group released twelve songs but disbanded before recording a full-length album.
Jeromes Dream is an emo band formed in Connecticut and currently based in San Francisco, California, originally active from 1997 to 2001, and again from 2018 onwards.
The Deal is the debut album by American post-metal band Sumac. It was released on digital and CD formats through Profound Lore Records and on vinyl LP via SIGE Records on February 17, 2015. The album was recorded at Aleph and Litho studios in Seattle, Washington between July and August 2014. The album was mixed at GodCity Studios in Salem, Massachusetts by Kurt Ballou. The artwork was a collaborative effort between Aaron Turner and Faith Coloccia.
Rise of the Great Machine is the debut and only studio album by the project Supermachiner. It was released on November 28, 2000, through Undecided Records. The album features artwork created by Jacob Bannon.
"I Can Tell You About Pain" is a single by American metalcore band Converge. It was released on July 25, 2017, as a 7-inch vinyl record via Epitaph and Deathwish, Inc., with the much longer track "Eve" as a B-side. The music video for the song "I Can Tell You About Pain" was directed by Tony Wolski.
This is a chronological list of the production discography of American musician and record producer Kurt Ballou, and doubles as a list of recordings made at GodCity Studio.
