Justin Russo (born June 30, 1976) is an American singer-songwriter-guitarist-pianist from Upstate New York. He began his career as a musician at the age of 18 by joining his older brother's band Hopewell, [1] which focused mainly on psychedelic rock balladry and lengthy "shoegazing" soundscapes. After releasing their first record Contact on Burnt Hair Records, both brothers took a break from their own project and joined indie/experimental band Mercury Rev.
After leaving Mercury Rev in 2001, Russo continued with his brother in the making of several more Hopewell records before leaving to form his own band The Silent League in 2003. [2] During that time he also played and recorded with two New York based bands Timesbold and Grand Mal.
He continues to make records with The Silent League at this time.
Mercury Rev is an American rock band formed in 1989 in Buffalo, New York, with singer/guitarist Jonathan Donahue and guitarist/clarinetist/sound generator operator Sean "Grasshopper" Mackowiak as the only constant members. The band's music has incorporated indie rock, psychedelic rock and American roots, amongst other forms. Mercury Rev have been closely associated with The Flaming Lips, and the two bands have shared historical ties.
David Lawrence Fridmann is an American record producer and musician.
Andrew Patrick Wood was an American musician who was the lead singer and lyricist for the alternative rock bands Malfunkshun and Mother Love Bone. Wood formed Malfunkshun in 1980 with his older brother Kevin Wood on guitar and Regan Hagar on drums. The band used alter ego personas onstage, with Wood using the name Landrew the Love Child. Though the band only had two songs released, "With Yo' Heart " and "Stars-n-You", on the Deep Six compilation album, they are often cited as being among the "founding fathers" of the Seattle grunge movement. During his time in Malfunkshun, Wood started relying heavily on drugs, entering rehab in 1985.
In a Silent Way is a studio album by American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader Miles Davis, released on July 30, 1969, on Columbia Records. Produced by Teo Macero, the album was recorded in one session date on February 18, 1969, at CBS 30th Street Studio in New York City. Macero edited and arranged Davis's recordings from the session to produce the album. Marking the beginning of his "electric" period, In a Silent Way has been regarded by music writers as Davis's first fusion recording, following a stylistic shift toward the genre in his previous records and live performances.
The Kentucky Headhunters are an American country rock and Southern rock band originating in the state of Kentucky. The band's members are Doug Phelps, Greg Martin, and brothers Richard Young and Fred Young. They were founded in 1968 as Itchy Brother, which consisted of the Young brothers and Martin, along with Anthony Kenney on bass guitar and vocals. Itchy Brother performed together until 1982, with James Harrison replacing Martin from 1973 to 1976. The Youngs and Martin began performing as The Kentucky Headhunters in 1986, adding brothers Ricky Lee Phelps and Doug Phelps to the membership.
Deserter's Songs is the fourth studio album by American rock band Mercury Rev, released in late September 1998. British music magazine NME named Deserter's Songs album of the year for 1998. Limited edition copies of the album came in a brown cardboard envelope-like package, with a stamp on the cover postmarked with the release date, as well as two art postcards.
Hopewell is an American rock band. The band was founded by Jason Sebastian Russo, of Hopewell Junction, New York. At 19, Russo joined Mercury Rev, and then struck out on his own with a band named after his hometown.
Robbers on High Street were an American rock band from Brooklyn, New York, which formed in 2002. The band released three studio albums across their ten years together.
Jonathan Daniel Donahue is an American rock musician. He is best known as the frontman and a founding member of Mercury Rev, with whom he has released nine studio albums since 1991. He is also a former member of The Flaming Lips and recorded two albums with the group in the early 1990s.
The Silent League is an American post-rock, chamber pop band from Brooklyn, New York, founded by Justin Russo, formerly of Mercury Rev. Their 2004 debut, The Orchestra, Sadly, Has Refused, featuring Sam from Interpol, Grasshopper from the Rev and a cast of dozens, was released in the US on Chicago's File-13 label, and in the UK in late 2005, on Something In Construction.
Burnt Hair Records was a record label involved with Michigan's space rock alternative music scene in the 1990s. The label is said to have been most responsible for cultivating the Detroit sound of this period. Burnt Hair recorded artists in various experimental genres also known by appellations such as indie pop, indie rock, ambient music, drone music, dream pop and electronica. The label was founded by Larry Hofmann in Dearborn. Burnt Hair released recordings by artists and bands including Windy & Carl, Hopewell, Mahogany, Ten Second Dynasty, Miss Bliss, Tomorrowland, DELTA WAVES, Starphase 23, Füxa, Auburn Lull, Monaural (Band), Gravity Wax, Asha Vida, Flowchart and Alison's Halo.
Grasshopper is an American musician with the band Mercury Rev. He has also appeared with Rev side-project Harmony Rockets, his own band Grasshopper and the Golden Crickets, and as a guest musician on numerous other recordings.
David Baker is an American musician best known as a founding member and the former lead singer of the indie rock band Mercury Rev, formed in Buffalo, New York in the late 1980s, and after as vocalist for Variety Lights.
Jason Sebastian Russo is an American rock musician and writer, currently a MFA student at Bennington Writing Seminars in Bennington, Vermont and a published poet and short story writer. He was a member of Mercury Rev from 1994 to 2001, and rejoined in 2011 for the Don't Look Back concert series Deserter's Songs reunion tour. He founded the psychedelic rock band Hopewell in high school. Hopewell has since gone on hiatus. They released their fifth album, Good Good Desperation, on Tee Pee Records in 2009. He is also leader of the band Common Prayer.
Jim "Motorhead" Sherwood was an American rock musician notable for playing soprano, tenor and baritone saxophone, tambourine, vocals and vocal sound effects in Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention. He appeared on all the albums of the original Mothers line-up and the 'posthumous' releases Burnt Weeny Sandwich and Weasels Ripped My Flesh, as well as certain subsequent Zappa albums. He also appeared in the films 200 Motels, Video from Hell and Uncle Meat.
Bill Whitten is an American musician and writer. He was the founding member, principal songwriter and singer/guitarist for St. Johnny He was also the singer/songwriter/guitarist for Grand Mal.
Grand Mal was an American rock band, formed by Bill Whitten in New York City in 1995 and has recorded for No.6 Records, Slash/London Records, Arena Rock Recording Co., New York Night Train and Groover Recordings.
Jeff Mercel is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, and studio musician, best known for his time in the indie rock band, Mercury Rev.
Dalia Garih Shusterman is a Canadian-American musician, best known as the drummer and backing vocalist for the bands Hopewell, Bulletproof Stockings, and the New Moon All Stars Party Band.