Early Group History
Hersh enlisted her stepsister, Donelly, to help form the group while they were attending Rogers High School. The two served as guitarists, lead vocalists, and songwriters for the group; drummer David Narcizo joined shortly thereafter. Hersh originally named the group "The Muses". Since the band was no longer composed of only female musicians after Narcizo joined, they decided to shift to a name with fewer gender-specific connotations, "Throwing Muses". (More recent interviews with Kristin state that they were never called "The Muses" or "Kristin & The Muses.")
Early recordings were made in 1983 but not released. A self-titled EP was released in 1984 on their Blowing Fuses label. The group self-released a set of demos in 1985, later known as The Doghouse Cassette, garnering a number-one college radio hit, "Sinkhole," that year. The demos came to the attention of Ivo Watts-Russell, who signed them as the first U.S. band on the 4AD Records label and released their self-titled debut album in 1986.
The group also co-released some of their later albums on Sire/Reprise Records and Rykodisc. With cover stories about them published in most major British music publications of the 1980s, they became one of the first successful alternative rock acts to be led by two female singer/guitarists.
The band's personnel has changed over the years. Bassist Leslie Langston left after 1990, replaced by Fred Abong, but returned briefly to record tracks on Red Heaven in 1992. Donelly left Throwing Muses after 1991's The Real Ramona, first to perform in The Breeders and afterwards to form Belly. Abong left in 1991, soon joining Belly, and was succeeded by Bernard Georges in 1993. Since 1992, the group has been a trio composed of Hersh on guitar and vocals, Georges on bass, and Narcizo on drums. During the mid-1990s, Hersh also began a solo recording career, releasing the album Hips and Makers, alongside her band work.
Read more about this topic: Throwing Muses
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