Rusty Willoughby (born June 30, 1966
Sub Pop. Accessed online 2009-10-06.) is an active American musician born in
Staten Island
Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...
and currently living in
Vashon, Washington
Vashon is a census-designated place (CDP) in King County, Washington, United States. It covers an island alternately called Vashon Island or Vashon–Maury Island, the largest island in Puget Sound south of Admiralty Inlet. The population was 10, ...
, a suburb of
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
. , he has been vocalist, songwriter and guitarist or bass guitarist for several Seattle based bands:
Pure Joy
Pure may refer to:
Computing
* A pure function
* A pure virtual function
* PureSystems, a family of computer systems introduced by IBM in 2012
* Pure Software, a company founded in 1991 by Reed Hastings to support the Purify tool
* Pure-FTPd, ...
(1984–1989, 1997–2004),
[Rusty Willoughby]
KEXP-FM
KEXP-FM (90.3 MHz) is a non-commercial radio station licensed to Seattle, Washington, United States, specializing in alternative and indie rock programmed by its disc jockeys for the Seattle metropolitan area. The station is owned by the non-pr ...
live performance October 5, 2002. Accessed online 2009-10-05. Flop
In computing, floating point operations per second (FLOPS, flops or flop/s) is a measure of computer performance, useful in fields of scientific computations that require floating-point calculations. For such cases, it is a more accurate meas ...
(1990–1995),
Llama (2005–2008), and
Cobirds Unite (2010–). He also briefly played drums for the
Fastbacks
Fastbacks were a Seattle, Washington, punk rock band. Formed in 1979 by songwriter/guitarist Kurt Bloch (born August 28, 1960), and friends Lulu Gargiulo (guitar and vocals, born October 12, 1960) and Kim Warnick (bass and vocals, born April 7, ...
.
He also played with
Kurt Bloch
Kurt Bloch (born August 28, 1960) is an American songwriter, guitarist, engineer and record producer.
Music career
Bloch is best known as songwriter and lead guitarist of Fastbacks, and is a member of The Young Fresh Fellows.
Record Production ...
of the Fastbacks,
Jonathan Poneman
Jonathan Poneman is an American record executive and co-founder of two record labels: Sub Pop and Hardly Art.
Early life and education
The third child of Harold and Beverly Poneman, Jonathan Poneman was born October 9, 1959 in Toledo, Ohio and ...
(co-founder of the record label
Sub Pop
Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the grunge movement. They are often ...
), and Scott Sutherland (of Seattle bands
Model Rockets and
Chemistry Set
A chemistry set is an educational toy allowing the user (typically a teenager) to perform simple chemistry experiments.
History
Forerunners
The forerunners of the chemistry set were 17th century books on "natural magick", "which all exce ...
) in a
Cheap Trick
Cheap Trick is an American rock band from Rockford, Illinois, formed in 1973 by guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson, lead vocalist Robin Zander and drummer Bun E. Carlos. The current lineup of the band consists of Zander, Nielsen and ...
cover band called Sick Man of Europe,
and appeared in the film ''
Hype!
''Hype!'' (1996) is a documentary directed by Doug Pray about the popularity of grunge rock in the early to mid-1990s United States. It incorporates interviews and rare concert footage to trace the development of the grunge scene from its early b ...
'', a documentary directed about the popularity of
grunge rock
Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of p ...
.
Musical style
In a 1999 review of Willoughby's self-titled solo album, Don Yates of
KEXP-FM
KEXP-FM (90.3 MHz) is a non-commercial radio station licensed to Seattle, Washington, United States, specializing in alternative and indie rock programmed by its disc jockeys for the Seattle metropolitan area. The station is owned by the non-pr ...
described his "
Beatlesque
"Beatlesque" () or "Beatles-esque" describes a musical resemblance to the English rock band the Beatles. The term is loosely defined and has been applied inconsistently to a wide variety of disparate artists.
Definitions
To better explain what t ...
songcraft" as "bring
ngto mind the starker side of
Elliott Smith
Steven Paul Smith (August 6, 1969 – October 21, 2003), known professionally as Elliott Smith, was an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and lived much of hi ...
."
[Don Yates]
Rusty Willoughby: Rusty Willoughby
KEXP-FM, June 15, 1999, accessed online 2009-10-05.
Discography
Solo albums
* ''Rusty Willoughby'' self-released, 1999)
* ''Filament Dust'' (self-released, 2009)
* ''Cobirds Unite'' (self-released, 2010)
* ''Adult Soft Record'' (self-release, 2012)
* ''Anti'' (self-released, 2013)
Solo singles
* "Here Come the Weakened" / "And the World Moves On" (
Sub Pop
Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the grunge movement. They are often ...
, 1999, 7-inch vinyl)
Flop albums
*''Flop and the Fall of the Mopsqueezer!'' (
Frontier Records
Frontier Records is an independent record label, started in 1980 in Sun Valley, Los Angeles by Lisa Fancher, a former employee of Bomp! Records and writer of the liner notes for the first album by The Runaways.
History
Frontier Records first ...
- 1992)
*''
Whenever You're Ready'' (
Sony 550
550 Music (originally known as Sony 550 Music) was a unit of Sony Music Entertainment, which operated through Sony Music's Epic Records division while in activity. Launched in 1992, the "550" name was inspired by the address of the Sony building, ...
- 1993)
*''World of Today'' (
Frontier Records
Frontier Records is an independent record label, started in 1980 in Sun Valley, Los Angeles by Lisa Fancher, a former employee of Bomp! Records and writer of the liner notes for the first album by The Runaways.
History
Frontier Records first ...
- 1995)
Flop EPs and Singles
*''The Losing End'' (
Lucky Records
Lucky Records is the name of several different record labels.
Lucky Records - Tokyo
Lucky Records of the 1930s was a record label based in Tokyo, Japan, which specialized in issuing American popular music to the Japanese audience.
Lucky was foun ...
- 1990)
*''Drugs'' (
Dashboard Hula Girl Records For business applications, see Dashboard (business).
A dashboard (also called dash, instrument panel (IP), or fascia) is a control panel set within the central console of a vehicle or small aircraft. Usually located directly ahead of the driver ...
- 1990)
*''Anne'' (1993)
*''We Are You'' (Munster Records - 1993)
*''Regrets'' (
Sony 550
550 Music (originally known as Sony 550 Music) was a unit of Sony Music Entertainment, which operated through Sony Music's Epic Records division while in activity. Launched in 1992, the "550" name was inspired by the address of the Sony building, ...
- 1993)
*''The Great Valediction'' (
Sony 550
550 Music (originally known as Sony 550 Music) was a unit of Sony Music Entertainment, which operated through Sony Music's Epic Records division while in activity. Launched in 1992, the "550" name was inspired by the address of the Sony building, ...
- 1993)
*''Act 1 Scene 1'' (Super Electro - 1995)
*''Place I Love'' (1995)
Pure Joy albums and EPs
* ''Pure Joy'' (Dwindle Music, 1986, EP)
* ''Carnivore'' (
PopLlama, 1989)
* ''Sore Throte, Ded Goat'' (No Threes, 1989 or 1990, EP)
* ''Unsung'' (Flydaddy, recorded 1987, released 1994)
* ''Getz the Worm'' (Flydaddy, 1997)
* ''Gelatin and Bright'' (Book Records, 2003)
Notes
External links
rustywilloughby.com official web site
Willoughby's blogLive performance KEXP-FM, October 5, 2002
* Mike Baehr
Fantagraphics Books
Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and the erotic Eros Comix imprint.
History
Founding
Fantagraphics was found ...
: page includes video of Willoughby performing at the Fantagraphics store February 7, 2009.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Willoughby, Rusty
American rock musicians
Songwriters from Washington (state)
1966 births
Living people
People from Redmond, Washington
People from Staten Island
People from Vashon, Washington