Crawdad Crash

Crawdaddy at Tallulah Gorge.

Crawdad Crash is the 1-man band of Steve “Crawdaddy” Crawford, original drummer for the Hodads and singer / guitarist for the Fontanels.

Formation

Crawdaddy: "I had always wanted to release my own album, and, in the mid 2010's, I got serious about working towards that goal. I learned how to record music on a laptop, tried to improve on guitar, and started putting more time into writing songs. My theory was that if I wrote 50 songs, maybe 10 of them would be good enough for an album. Plus, I had a bunch of songs I had written before for the Hodads and Fontanels."

"Around 2018, I reconnected with some of the Hodads (Steve, Robbie, and Eric), and we started jamming on covers and some of the new songs I was writing — like "Kick Your Ass", "Rock On", "The Ballad Of Buck-0-Five", "Isn't She Lonely?", and "Catamount Pounce". We thought about possible band names (e.g., Bubblegum Cigar, Bubblegum Buzzsaw, or the Blasting Caps) in case we ever played out, but most of the names were already taken. We never played any shows, and then the pandemic happened, which put a halt to our jams for a while. I still wanted to put my own album out, though; so, Crawdad Crash became a 1-man band out of necessity. Luckily, technology had advanced to allow me to do everything myself. My kids helped me come up with the name Crawdad Crash because they didn't like any of the names I was considering! "

Recordings

Old Red Jeep, New White Snow
Kick Your Ass
Big O Biscuit
 

In late 2021, Crawdad Crash released the rock & roll Christmas song single Old Red Jeep, New White Snow. This was followed in early 2022 with a couple more singles — the hard rock / glam fight song and tailgate anthem Kick Your Ass and the funky dance jam "Big O" Biscuit.

In August 2022, Crawdad Crash released a debut album titled Dawn Of The Crawdad Era, which included all 3 singles to date, along with 13 more originals. It included the Crawdad Crash version of the punk song “Jaded” that Crawdaddy wrote for the Hodads (later released on the Revenge Of The Hodads, Part 2 album). Original Hodads guitarist Eric "Zipper" Wilson was featured on 3 songs — the rock anthem “Vigilante Rock” (an old Fontanels song later released on The First Gig: Live At The Georgia Theatre), “WMSJ Is Now RGC”, and “Rock On”. In addition to “Vigilante Rock”, the debut album included 2 other old Fontanels songs — the Petty-like classic rock of “Driving With My Blinker On” and the garage rock of “Something Bad”. The album also included 2 instrumentals — the surf freakout “Catamount Pounce” and the marching band-ready “Kick Your Ass (Reprise)”.

Dawn Of The Crawdad Era
Dawn Of The Crawdad Era, Part 2
Reign Of The Crawdad
 

In March 2023, Crawdad Crash released Dawn Of The Crawdad Era, Part 2, which includes 13 originals plus 2 covers — a punk pop version of Johnny Nash's "I Can See Clearly Now" and a Mott The Hoople via Bachman-Turner Overdrive version of Nick Lowe's "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding”. Like the debut album, it includes a Hodads song — “No Plans" (from the Revenge Of The Hodads album) — and a few Fontanels era songs — the cowpunk / alt. country of “Elly May”, the Clash-like punk of “A Ringin’ In My Ear”, and “It Just Didn’t End Right”. Other songs include the Chuck Berry tribute “Send More Chuck” (inspired by Berry and an SNL skit), the funky garage rock of “Black Underwear”, and the Skynyrd-esque ode to friends in the “The Ballad Of Buck-O-Five”. The album also includes a shoegazey R.E.M.-like instrumental titled “Monkey Bars”.

In February 2024, Crawdad Crash released Reign Of The Crawdad, which includes 12 new songs. The album contains a reworking of the Hodads' fan favorite "Next Time" (from Revenge Of The Hodads) and a studio version of the Fontanels' "Mirage". There are also 3 choice covers — Huey "Piano" Smith & The Clowns' "Don't You Just Know It", the Impressions' "It's All Right", and Cat Stevens' "If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out".

 

Extended Team

Although Crawdad Crash is essentially a 1-man band, there's an extended team that has been involved along the way. Crawdaddy especially wants to thank the following:

 

Sound & Influences

Crawdad Crash plays a gumbo of rock & roll styles, synthesizing influences from hard rock, country, punk, blues, glam, power pop, R&B, garage and surf. Crawdaddy: "I try to smush everything I like together, use lots of guitar and drums, and make it fun."

Crawdaddy grew up listening to whatever was on AM radio and whatever records his parents or their friends had, which included a little bit of everything — Chuck Berry, Everly Brothers, Ray Conniff, Buck Owens, the Kingston Trio, the Brothers Four, Goose Creek Symphony, Jim Stafford, Ray Stevens, Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, Grandpa Jones, Bashful Brother Oswald, Flatt & Scruggs, Carpenters, Elton John, novelty songs, etc.

Crawdaddy: "In time, I got into music that I chose (i.e., that my parents didn't like!) — ZZ Top, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Deep Purple, Jimi Hendrix, Blue Oyster Cult, Kiss, Cheap Trick, Ted Nugent, Foghat, Blackfoot, Molly Hatchet, Aerosmith, Boston, Kansas, Styx, Rush, Max Webster, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, etc. — mostly southern rock and hard rock at first. Then, later it was louder stuff, instrumental rock / fusion, punk rock, and eventually new wave — AC/DC, Judas Priest, Scorpions, UFO, Def Leppard, Iron Maiden, Pat Travers, Joan Jett, Ramones, Clash, Sex Pistols, Stiff Little Fingers, Elvis Costello, Devo, Cars, Go-Go's, B-52's, XTC, Nick Lowe, Boomtown Rats, Police, Talking Heads, Gary Myrick, Haircut 100, Brian Eno, Jeff Beck, Dixie Dregs, Jean-Luc Ponty, etc. I was in the high school marching band before even being in high school, and my bandmates always turned me on to good music. I also hung out in record stores and religiously read Creem, Rolling Stone, and any other music magazine I could to find new music."

"In college, I enjoyed lots of music that was new or I had missed before — like funk (Prince, George Clinton, Rick James), reggae (Bob Marley, Steel Pulse), old R&B (Sam & Dave, James Brown, Wilson Pickett), power pop (Spongetones, Shoes, Beat, Romantics, Marshall Crenshaw), post-punk college rock (Hoodoo Gurus, Violent Femmes, Gang Of Four, Bangles, R.E.M., Smithereens, Replacements, Husker Du), glam (David Bowie, Slade, Sweet), and the roots rock movement (Blasters, Del Fuegos, Del-Lords, Jason & The Scorchers, Los Lobos, True Believers), which would later have a big impact on the sound of the Hodads."

"Somewhere along the way, I also got into Big Star, the Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers, NRBQ, Mott The Hoople, Neil Young, Fountains Of Wayne, Teenage Fanclub, Matthew Sweet, Uncle Tupelo, Wilco, Son Volt, Jayhawks, Bottle Rockets, Donnas, Fu Manchu, Sword, Steve Earle, Dwight Yoakam, Marty Stuart, Buddy Miller, Lucinda Williams, John Scofield, Charlie Hunter, Bill Frisell, Galactic, New Mastersounds, Lettuce, Woggles, Swingin' Neckbreakers, Man Or Astro-Man?, Booker T. & The MG's, Dick Dale, Link Wray, Ventures, Esquivel, Art Blakey, Horace Silver, Big John Patton, etc. There's too much great music to list everything I've liked that's influenced me, but I tried to list some of the main ones."

"On this website, I've tried to include a lot of information on influences, bands I've been in, and songs I've played because they've all made an impact on me and the Crawdad Crash sound. Plus, I'm a compulsive playlist maker. "

 

Pukes (First Band)

Although Crawdaddy had played drums for years (in a national championship marching band in high school, jamming with friends in college), he didn't really play in a real band until he was in grad school. Crawdaddy: "I moved to Atlanta primarily to go to grad school at Georgia Tech — but also for the music scene. At my very first grad school party, I was asked if I played an instrument, and I said, "Yeah, I play drums." Whoever had asked me (don't remember now) turned and shouted to another person at the party, "Hey — I found a drummer!" That's how I became the drummer for a punk cover band, which consisted of grad students and professors. That serendipitous exchange strangely led to the later formation of the Hodads, the Fontanels, and ultimately Crawdad Crash. Funny how things happen..." Also in the band were Kim King (guitar), Dick Mays (guitar), Jerry Spinrad (vocals), and Geoff George (bass).

Jerry singing.
Jerry singing.
Steve on drums.
Steve on drums.
Dick & Kim on guitar.
Dick & Kim on guitar.

Crawdaddy: "We jammed and practiced at Kim's house, and I remember Kim having a song book of classic punk and new wave songs. That was our bible! It was full of songs by the Ramones, Clash, Sex Pistols, Elvis Costello, etc. We also played a medley of Steppenwolf's "Born To Be Wild" and Sonny & Cher's "I Got You Babe" as "Born To Be Sonny Bono" because Jerry the singer looked a lot like Sonny. We didn't really have a band name but decided on the Pukes due to our repertoire at the last minute when we were invited to play a party at our friend Glenn's house. The rest is history."

Below are few songs from the Pukes' repertoire.

 

Hodads & Fontanels

Hodads press photo
Hodads press photo.
Fontanels at the Georgia Theatre
Fontanels at the Georgia Theatre.

Crawdaddy: "One house party the Pukes played on Stillwood Avenue led to the formation of the Hodads — and eventually the Fontanels. Both bands focused on original material and really enouraged my songwriting. The Hodads and the Fontanels are such huge influences and important parts of the Crawdad Crash story that they each have their own page here to document them adequately."

 

Down The Road Apiece

For many years, Crawdaddy played in a blues / classic rock cover band, which started as a corporate rock band that played company parties and charity events. Many band members came and went, but a core group of four — Andy Merdek (guitar, vocals), Gary Pitts (vocals, harmonica, violin), Joe Bannon (bass, vocals), and Crawdaddy — continued even after none of them worked at the same company anymore. Originally, Crawdaddy had played guitar or occasionally bass when there were other drummers, but he settled in on drums over time. When they played non-corporate events, they called themselves Down The Road Apiece after a Chuck Berry song they played.

Down The Road Apiece at Smith's Olde Bar
Down The Road Apiece (Joe, Gary, Andy) at Smith's Olde Bar.
Crawdaddy on drums with Down The Road Apiece.
Crawdaddy on drums with Down The Road Apiece.

Down The Road Apiece had a very long list of covers they enjoyed playing. Crawdaddy: "I was always amazed at how many songs Andy knew. He had memorized and could sing and play just about any song I could name — as long as it was recorded before 1972! Between Andy, Gary, and Joe, they knew a ton of songs, I could play drums on anything they could remember because it was generally blues, soul, rock — not Rush or anything with a weird time signature." Below are a few songs they played regularly.

 

Sophisticats, TLQ & The Vinyls

Occasionally, Crawdaddy plays drums with whatever band Tim Gillespie has put together. Tim — a childhood friend, high school marching bandmate, and fellow WCU alum — has played trumpet on all 3 Crawdad Crash albums so far and founded the Vinyl Brothers Big Band. He often organizes bands to play at events, such as Western Carolina homecoming parties. The last few gigs like this have been billed as the Sophisticats or TLQ & The Vinyls and have included Terri Lynn Queen (vocals), Tim Queen (guitar), Scott Baker (guitar), and John Luzzi (bass, vocals).

Crawdaddy, Tim Q., John, Terri Lynn, Tim G., Scott
Crawdaddy, Tim Q., John, Terri Lynn, Tim G., Scott.

Below are a few representative songs from the vast repertoire this talented group knows.

 

Terry Funk Railroad

More recently, Crawdaddy has been jamming with former Hodads and friends as Terry Funk Railroad — Bert Cumming (guitar, vocals), Robbie Hensley (drums), Steve Hensley (bass, vocals), Dale Ritchey (guitar, vocals), and Crawdaddy (guitar, vocals).

Terry Funk Railroad at Vinyl
Terry Funk Railroad at Vinyl.
Terry Funk Railroad logo
Terry Funk Railroad logo.
Bert, Dale, Steve, Robbie
Bert, Dale, Steve, Robbie.

Terry Funk Railroad plays whatever loud rock they can remember, including the songs listed below. Crawdaddy: "We mostly play covers but also do some originals from various bands we've been in — Hodads, Fontanels, Crawdad Crash, Buckofive, Dangleleros, etc. It's a lot of fun."

 
 
 
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2024 Crawdad Crash