Artist description Five pale guys from Minneapolis.

Music Style Alternative Country, Insurgent Country, Cowpunk, Y'allternative

Musical Influences Uncle Tupelo, Son Volt, Wilco, Joe Henry, The Jayhawks, Steve Earle, The Flatlanders, Johnny Cash, Richard Buckner, The Meat Purveyors, Split Lip Rayfield, Freakwater, Bad Livers, Bill Monroe, Bob Wills, Milton Brown & His Musical Brownies, The Rolling Stones, Big Black, Shellac, The Replacements, Camper van Beethoven, Gear Daddies

Similar Artists Uncle Tupelo, Son Volt, Wilco, Joe Henry, The Jayhawks, Steve Earle, The Flatlanders, Johnny Cash, Richard Buckner, The Meat Purveyors, Split Lip Rayfield, Freakwater, Bad Livers, Bill Monroe

Artist History Pete Boss, Andy Boss, Joe Labatt & Tony Thomas formed Federal Weights and Measures after the demise of their band Chair. Original Chair members Pete & Andy brought in Tony after his tenure with Five Easy Pieces (the Minneapolis phenomenon, not the current band from California) while Joe was gleaned from the wreckage of Minneapolis punk band Dolt. While Chair had been a straight country band, with a fiddle player & full-time pedal steel guitar player at different times, Federal Weights and Measures was an attempt to move back toward playing rock and roll. Membership has changed over the years and the current line-up is Pete Boss (guitar, accordion, vocals), Tony Thomas (mandolin, banjo, vocals), Joe Labatt (drums), Joshua Hill Lemon (guitar, vocals) and Todd "Truck" Holdman (bass, vocals).The band members bring varying influences giving the Feds a unique blend of traditional country, roots-rock, alternative rock and punk. Past musical projects include Chair (Tony & Pete), Five Easy Pieces, Man Afraid (Tony), Seven O'Clock Sucer (Truck), Dolt, The Freedom Fighters and capital!capital (Joe). Current musical projects include Shy Dragger (everyone) & Carmonlabora (Truck).In the spring of 2000, The Feds signed a record contract with upstart label and on-line distributor, GrooveTone Music. The result is the long-awaited release of Waiting in Your Backyard. The CD was recorded with Tom Herbers over about a year and a half. It features guest appearances from Cherylyn diMond (Meat Purveyors, Sally Timms), and Randy Broughten (Gear Daddies). The CD features a chilling, heart-wrenching blend of alternative rock (The Weightlifter) and down-home country (Drugstore).

Group Members Andy, Pete, Joe, Joshua, Tony, Truck

Instruments Guitars, bass, drums, pedal steel, banjo, accordion, piano, hammond

Albums Waiting in Your Backyard

Press Reviews "Local roots rockers Federal Weights and Measures unleash their hearty new record, "Waiting in Your Backyard'' (GrooveTone Music) at the Turf Club. It's a perfect mix of messed-up insurgent country that sounds like a low-key version of the mayhem of Slobberbone matched by the smartness of Chris Mills. Track five, "The Drugstore,'' is a sweet giddy-up trip into lust from afar, while the slow, longing burn of both "Downsize'' and "Wrecking Ball'' make for a completely intoxicating trip. The band's main lead man, Pete Boss, proves he's a potent songwriter and, along with guest musicians that include pedal-steel guitar player Randy Broughten (Gear Daddies) and the lovely backing vocals of Cherlyn diMond (Meat Purveyors), "Waiting in Your Backyard,'' (available at www.GrooveTone.com) is an intoxicating piece of work." - Amy Carlson - St. Paul Pioneer Press (10/6/00)

Location Minneapolis, Minnesota - USA

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