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Curtis Crowe | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Marietta, Georgia, US |
| Genres | Rock |
| Occupation | Drummer |
| Instrument | Drums |
| Years active | 1979-present |
Curtis Hudgins Crowe is the drummer for theAthens, Georgia, rock bandPylon.[1] He is a native ofMarietta, Georgia, and is the middle child of five children. Crowe moved to Athens to attend theUniversity of Georgia art school. His sisterRhett Crowe was later the bass player for the bandGuadalcanal Diary, a fixture on the college music scene back in the 1980s and 1990s. He has also been involved in several other music projects such asStrictly American andDodd Ferrelle and the Tinfoil Stars.
In early 1979, Crowe and his friendBill Tabor sat and listened toMichael Lachowski andRandy Bewley play the same riff over and over in their practice space which was below his apartment in downtown Athens–the original40 Watt Club, named for a single bulb on a wire that hung overhead. Crowe went downstairs and knocked on their door and offered his services as a drummer.[2] He had played drums since he was a little boy and one of his dreams was to someday play in a band. The sound of the band came together after he joined andVanessa Briscoe Hay came aboard as the vocalist. Pylon played several parties and caught the attention ofthe B-52's, who helped them obtain a booking inNew York City which was the major goal of the band at the time. After opening for theGang of Four on their first twoUnited States tour dates, Pylon was able to keep returning to play dates in the northeastern United States and began to record forDB Records in Atlanta, Georgia.[3] They opened for the B-52's inCentral Park, touredEngland in late 1980 and released their first albumGyrate.
Crowe came up with the idea, after seeing some of the clubs that existed in the Northeast, that it was possible to open your own club without too much effort or money, so with the help of his friendPaul Scales, the40 Watt Club opened in downtown Athens above Yudy's Subs in what had been something called the "Crow's nest". The club proved to be very popular and the floor had to be reinforced with portable beams for all the heavy dancing taking place overhead.
Pylon recorded another album and two singles and broke up in 1983 after touring withU2 for a few of the dates on their first American tour. Pylon was becoming too much like a business for some of the members' tastes, so it was agreed to break up and they did.
Crowe married and settled down and finished school. The documentary filmAthens, GA inside/out was released and there seemed to be more interest in Pylon than ever. Pylon reformed, but this time with more business-like practices in place. They recorded another album and toured withR.E.M. and the B-52's.[4] They had a manager. But Pylon broke up again.
Crowe and his wife went on to have two children and he began to work in the film/TV industry as a construction coordinator. He has worked on films likeBlue Crush, where he was responsible for "the rock",Cool Runnings and more recently, the first season ofLost,We are Marshall andCalifornication. He is now divorced, but maintains an amiable relationship with his former wife and children.
Pylon reformed for fun from 2005 to 2009.DFA Records reissuedGyrate on CD, Pylon's first album with bonus tracks, and called itGyrate Plus.
