Slowdown Virginia was an

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band from

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

. Formed in 1993, the band recorded and released one album, ''Dead Space'', on Lumberjack Records in 1994, the predecessor to today's

Saddle Creek Records Saddle Creek Records is an American record label based in Omaha, Nebraska. Started as a college class project on entrepreneurship, the label was founded by Mike Mogis and Justin Oberst in 1993 (as Lumberjack Records). Mogis soon turned over his ...

. After playing an influential role in inspiring the later formation of other Omaha bands like Bright Eyes,

The Faint The Faint is an American indie rock band. Formed in Omaha, Nebraska, the band consists of Todd Fink, Graham Ulicny, Dapose and Clark Baechle. The Faint was originally known as Norman Bailer and included Conor Oberst (of Bright Eyes, with whom T ...

, and

Desaparecidos An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person by a state or political organization, or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organiza ...

with their energetic live shows and recordings, Slowdown Virginia broke up in the spring of 1995. A month after breaking up, Kasher, Maginn, and Pedersen regrouped with a new drummer to form

Cursive Cursive (also known as script, among other names) is any style of penmanship in which characters are written joined in a flowing manner, generally for the purpose of making writing faster, in contrast to block letters. It varies in functionalit ...

. Omaha's mixed entertainment venue

Slowdown A slowdown ( UK: go-slow) is an industrial action in which employees perform their duties but seek to reduce productivity or efficiency in their performance of these duties. A slowdown may be used as either a prelude or an alternative to a stri ...

is named in honor of the band.

Biography

The March Hares and formation as Slowdown Virginia (1990–93)

Slowdown Virginia evolved from a five-piece cover band called The March Hares, composed of high school friends Jim Robino,

Tim Kasher Timothy J. Kasher (born August 19, 1974) is an American musician from Omaha, Nebraska, and is the frontman of indie rock groups Cursive and the Good Life, both of which are on the Omaha-based record label Saddle Creek Records. Music Slowdo ...

Matt Maginn Matt Maginn is a musician from Omaha, Nebraska. He plays bass guitar in the indie-rock band Cursive and is a frequent contributor on a number of Bright Eyes records. He was also a founding member of Slowdown Virginia. He also helps run Team Lo ...

, Steven Pedersen, and Casey Caniglia. Pedersen replaced original guitarist Matt Oberst. The band formed around 1990 while the five attended Creighton Prep in

. The March Hares played local shows, mainly performing covers of

The Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in 1978 in Crawley, Crawley, West Sussex. Throughout numerous lineup changes since the band's formation, guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith has re ...

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternati ...

The Pixies Pixies is an American alternative rock band formed in 1986, in Boston, Massachusetts. Until 2013, the band consisted of Black Francis (vocals, rhythm guitar, songwriter), Joey Santiago (lead guitar), Kim Deal (bass, vocals) and David Lovering ...

, and other

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

bands. Eventually the band began writing a few of their own songs. Robino left the band in 1993, and Kasher took over on lead vocals and the group continued as a four-piece. The band renamed itself Slowdown Virginia — likely after Kasher's dog at the time, named Virginia — and started to focus on writing and recording original music.

Active years and ''Dead Space'' (1993–95)

With a sound described as a "heartland Pavement" or

emo Emo is a rock music genre characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of and hardcore punk from the Washington D.C. hardcore punk scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore and pioneered b ...

in the style of

Rites of Spring Rites of Spring was an American punk rock band from Washington, D.C., formed in late 1983. Along with Embrace, and Beefeater, they were one of the mainstay acts of the 1985 Revolution Summer movement Andersen, Mark; Jenkins, Mark (Soft Skull ...

Minor Threat Minor Threat was an American hardcore punk band, formed in 1980 in Washington, D.C. by vocalist Ian MacKaye and drummer Jeff Nelson. MacKaye and Nelson had played in several other bands together, and recruited bassist Brian Baker and guitaris ...

, the band started by recording a five-song cassette demo as cheaply as they could to have something to hand out or sell at live shows. To do so they ended up traveling from Omaha to

Otho, Iowa Otho is a city in Webster County, Iowa, United States. The population was 429 at the time of the 2020 census. Geography Otho is located at (42.424739, -94.149588). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , a ...

, recording at a chicken coop converted into a studio called Junior's Motel. The band continued to travel to record demos at Junior's Motel throughout 1993, mixing the tapes themselves back in Omaha. The band began playing regular shows around Omaha, building a fanbase through live performances and the cassette demos. Knowing that the band was recording demos and had interest from record labels, friend of the band's and fellow Omaha musician

Ted Stevens Theodore Fulton Stevens Sr. (November 18, 1923 – August 9, 2010) was an American politician and lawyer who served as a U.S. Senator from Alaska from 1968 to 2009. He was the longest-serving Republican Senator in history at the time he left o ...

convinced the band to record and put out an LP on

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then rele ...

with a local label, Lumberjack Records, as its third release after

Conor Oberst Conor Mullen Oberst (born February 15, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter best known for his work in Bright Eyes. He has also played in several other bands, including Desaparecidos, the Faint (previously named Norman Bailer), Commander Venu ...

's ''

Water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...

'' on cassette and a release from Steven's own band, Polecat, on

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl m ...

. With the agreement, Stevens set out with the help of Conor and

Justin Oberst Saddle Creek Records is an American record label based in Omaha, Nebraska. Started as a college class project on entrepreneurship, the label was founded by Mike Mogis and Justin Oberst in 1993 (as Lumberjack Records). Mogis soon turned over his ...

to raise the $1,500 it would cost for 500 CDs. The resulting album, ''

Dead Space ''Dead Space'' is a science fiction/horror fiction, horror media franchise created by Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey, developed by Visceral Games, and published and owned by Electronic Arts. The franchise's chronology is not presented in a lin ...

'', was released locally in 1994 and has never been reissued.

Breakup and later influence (1995–present)

Despite recording enough material for a second album, Slowdown Virginia broke up in the spring of 1995. The band played their final show at the Cultural Center in

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Lancaster County. The city covers with a population of 292,657 in 2021. It is the second-most populous city in Nebraska and the 73rd-largest in the United Sta ...

in April of that year. Caniglia had decided to quit making music, and Kasher intended to leave for the University of Kansas. Only a month later, however, Clint Schnase from Pedersen's other band, Smashmouth, joined Kasher, Pedersen, and Maginn to form

. Kasher and the other band members intended to take music and the new band much more seriously, something they felt they didn't do with Slowdown Virginia, "decid ngwith Cursive we would write the best we could, believe in it, and if everyone ended up hating it – well, we would deal with it." Pedersen would depart Cursive in 1998 to later be replaced by Ted Stevens. Slowdown Virginia had a lasting influence on the

music of Omaha Music in Omaha, Nebraska, has been a diverse and important influence in the culture of the city. Long a home to jazz, blues, funk and rock, today Omaha has dozens of subgenres represented, including Latin, alternative rock and hip hop. Omaha's his ...

, specifically the success and enthusiasm around the live shows and releasing ''Dead Space'' locally in inspiring bands that would become the nucleus of Saddle Creek Records. Conor Oberst of

Commander Venus Commander Venus was an American emo band from Omaha, Nebraska. Fronted by Conor Oberst and Tim Kasher, the band also included Todd Fink and Matt Bowen (musician), Matt Bowen of The Faint, Ben Armstrong of Head of Femur (band), Head of Femur and ...

, Bright Eyes and Desaparecidos specifically cites Slowdown Virginia as an influence for going on to make music;

Todd Fink Todd Fink (born Todd Baechle – pronounced "BECK-lee" – on March 3, 1974, in Omaha, Nebraska) is the lead singer of the band The Faint. He attended Omaha's Westside High School. Career Fink was also one of four members of the band Commander ...

and

Clark Baechle Clark Alan Baechle (born April 21, 1981) is an American founding member of the Omaha-based electronic rock band The Faint, along with his brother, Todd Fink. Although he is primarily known for playing drums, he also sings backing vocals and is ...

from

express similar inspiration. The influence of the band's music and live shows played a role in decision to name Saddle Creek's mixed-entertainment complex in Omaha's Near North Side

in their honor. The venue opened in 2007, and in 2010 Slowdown Virginia reunited at the venue without Kasher to play one show with Polecat.

Band members

: guitar, vocals *

: bass, vocals * Steve Pedersen: guitar * Casey Caniglia: drums * Jim Robino: lead vocals (The March Hares)

Discography

* ''Dead Space'' (1994; Lumberjack Records LBJ-03)

References

External links

Slowdown (venue)
official website
Saddle Creek Records
official website. {{Authority control Indie rock musical groups from Nebraska Musical groups from Omaha, Nebraska Saddle Creek Records artists