Artist description 3-piece acoustic rock fronted by 2 very different singer/songwriters.

Music Style Indie Rock, "Thrash-Folk"

Musical Influences Violent Femmes, Bob Dylan, The Monkees, Nick Cave

Similar Artists Violent Femmes, Bob Dylan, The Monkees, Nick Cave

Artist History Formed in New Orleans in 1988, the House Levelers mixed country, power-pop, rap, and rock & roll music into a powerful gumbo, seasoned it with literate lyrics that were strangely funny and/or passionately serious, and then served it all up at their beer and sweat-soaked, no-holds-barred live shows. The band was formed by Grayson Capps (vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica) and Pete Ficht (vocals, bass), who met while studying theatre at Tulane University. These 2 amateur musicians were soon joined by the more experienced Sterling Roig (drums, vocals). His solid playing and powerful harmonies tightened their sound, and they quickly grew into one of New Orleans' biggest alternative acts. The strange mixture of Capps' and Ficht's diverse songwriting styles, along with their stripped-down acoustic set-up, resulted in a unique House Levelers sound - "Thrash-Folk" . Their frenzied live shows, large local following, and significant critical acclaim garnered the band a record deal with a respected local label, Tipitina's Records. They recorded their album, "No Definitions", with legendary producer Jim Dickinson (Big Star, The Replacements) in Memphis, and it was released in 1991. They appeared in USAToday, Sassy magazine and on MTV. The band toured non-stop all over the south and midwest for several years. Roig left the band in 1991, replaced by Mike Barras for the last year of the band's existence. The House Levelers broke up in December of 1992.

Group Members Grayson Capps: vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica; Pete Ficht: vocals, bass; Sterling Roig: drums, percussion and vocals.

Instruments Acoustic guitar, Bass, Drums, Harmonica, Cow.

Albums "No Definitions", 1991. Tipitina's Records.

Press Reviews A punky acoustic trio who bash out makeshift rock n’ roll that’s part teenage frenzy of early rockabilly cats like Eddie Cochran, part the misguided evangelical fervor of Jerry Lee Lewis and part nervous, pent-up hormonal energy of early Violent Femmes.” – CMJ (College Music Journal)

Location New Orleans, LA - USA

Copyright notice. All material on MP3.com is protected by copyright law and by international treaties. You may download this material and make reasonable number of copies of this material only for your own personal use. You may not otherwise reproduce, distribute, publicly perform, publicly display, or create derivative works of this material, unless authorized by the appropriate copyright owner(s).