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 Adam Ritchie and his band inside the DMZSteve Schmidt and Link Smith skating in DMZ parking lotSteve Schmidt, somewhere between the heights and downtownGrove Circle Punx - Andy Conrad, Utrillo, Bryan Spinas, Matthew Thompson, Jason White, Josh Bentley (92)
 added story to The Link Springs Forms Event The Link Springs Forms added story to New Wave Festival added story to DMZ opens added story to DMZ opens added story to New Wave Festival added story to Econochrist forms added story to Hatful Day plays their first show added story to Big Boss Line forms added story to Women's City Club Show  |
Towncraft released  // An amazing product of a small town scene. It took everyone to make it. Every band, every zine, every person. Garage sales, bake sales, benefit shows, and a handful of generous donaters would come together to put this out. I remember kids in Sacramento approaching me at a Jawbreaker show and asking me about their favorite bands on this comp. // I remember tagging along with Theo Witsell when he went to pick up his copy of the record from Burt's house when they first arrived. He was in Drain, so had first dibs I guess. I was really excited to be able to buy a copy before they were "officially" available, and in a lot of ways it was kind of like buying drugs. Anyhow, there was a small pressing of turquoise vinyl that was (I think) only supposed to go to people in the bands on the record. Somehow I ended up with one, whether Burt accidentally sold me one or it got shuffled around in the car ride home, I'm not sure. So in that respect it was like buying really good drugs.
Apologies to Theo, Dave, or Daniel if they got stuck with the black vinyl. I've long since worn the grooves out of the turquoise. // By the summer of 1992, there were dozens of great punk bands playing in LR. Touring acts had taken notice and LR became a regular stop for bigger punk acts. Flyers for riverfront shows plastered the city, every other kid was writing a zine and records from File 13 Records were being reviewed in Maximum Rock and Roll. Burt Taggart, David Burns, Mark Dober, Josh Bentley and Brian Wasson decided something needed to be done to document the burgeoning scene. Meetings were held at Dennys with 30 kids trying to hash out the details, and Towncraft was born.
The album included songs from 10 LR bands (five-0, 12ft6, Chalk, Chino Horde, Drain, Entrance, G, Outlet, Sint, Substance) and a booklet with contributions from 12 local zines. Bake sales, 2-day concerts and garage sales were organized to help pay for the record. Anybody who donated a certain amount got their name on the record. Towncraft came out that winter, got a glowing review in Maximum R&R, and cemented LR's place on the national punk map. // Being a friend of Jason McCloud and a Hatful Day fan, it was natural that I would also be a fan of Chalk. I sponsored them by driving them to a couple of their recording sessions. One at Crystal Studio in Bryant, and one at Trimble Studio in Hillcrest. It was my first window into watching another band work in the studio. They recorded stuff pretty quickly, like we all did in those days, but they just put everything they could into their music. Lots of different styles, and multiple male and female vocals. Lots of bits where they were all singing different parts. That certainly made for something new and interesting. I also remember Jason's dad making him a guitar and a bass, so Chalk had instruments like no other band in Little Rock, or the world for that matter.  Trouble submitting your story? E-mail towncraft@matsonfilms.com Matson Films reserves the right to edit all responses. Please be courteous to your community. |
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12ft6
Brian Wasson
The River
Towncraft
