This Bike Is a Pipe Bomb were a folk punk band from Pensacola, Florida, United States. Their first recording was released in 1997 on Ghostmeat Records. Their later releases have been on Plan It X Records and

No Idea Records No Idea Records is an American independent record label based in Gainesville, Florida which focuses on punk rock and its sub-styles and produces both vinyl records and compact discs. The label also organizes The Fest, an independently operated ...

, but now appear on their own label Plan-It X South. This Bike Is a Pipe Bomb initially started as a new wave band, with

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fo ...

singer David Dondero on drums. They quickly switched to playing

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

, but their

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

roots were evident enough in their music that they became one of the premiere bands at the forefront of the

folk-punk Folk punk (known in its early days as rogue folk) is a fusion of folk music and punk rock. It was popularized in the early 1980s by the Pogues in England, and by Violent Femmes in the United States. Folk punk achieved some mainstream success in ...

genre. They did several US tours including an Alaska tour 2003(?), played at

Geekfest Geekfest is the name of a series of free party, free, all-ages concerts organized by California indie label S.P.A.M. Records, S.P.A.M Records during the 1990s. The first Geekfest was held in June 1996 on the shoreline at Point Molate in Richmond, C ...

, and toured to Europe. On February 3, 2011, This Bike Is A Pipe Bomb announced that it was ending. Rymodee and Terry still write and play together in Zippers To Nowhere, based in Chattanooga. Much of their music is politically oriented. This Bike Is a Pipe Bomb is staunchly pacifist and concerned with the

Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...

of the 1960s and racial equality in general.

Band members

* Rymodee -

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

, harmonica * Terry Johnson - bass,

* Teddy "Ted" Helmick - drums,

jokes A joke is a display of humour in which words are used within a specific and well-defined narrative structure to make people laugh and is usually not meant to be interpreted literally. It usually takes the form of a story, often with dialogue, ...

* Zine author

Aaron Cometbus Aaron Elliott (born May 20, 1968), better known as Aaron Cometbus, is an American musician, songwriter, roadie, and magazine editor, best known as the creator of the punk zine ''Cometbus''. Career Born in Berkeley, California, Cometbus started ...

has been known to play drums for the band on occasion. *

Spot Spot or SPOT may refer to: Places * Spot, North Carolina, a community in the United States * The Spot, New South Wales, a locality in Sydney, Australia * South Pole Traverse, sometimes called the South Pole Overland Traverse People * Spot (prod ...

- fidola

Discography

* ''S/T 7"'' Ghost Meat Records, 1997 ''Out Of Print'' * ''Dance Party With... CD'' Plan-It-X Records, 1999 * ''Dance Party With... 10"'' Troy from Vancouver, 2004 * ''Of Chivalry and Romance in a Dumpster 10"'' Fab Records, 1999 ''Out Of Print'' * ''Black Panther Party 7"'' Arkam Records, 2001 * ''This Bike Is a Pipe Bomb/The Devil Is Electric Split 7"'' Risk Records, 2001 ''Out Of Print'' * ''Front Seat Solidarity LP'' Plan-It-X Records, 2002 ''Out Of Print'' (repressed on No Idea Records in 2007) * ''Front Seat Solidarity CD'' Plan-It-X Records, 2002 * ''Songs Of Our Soil'' CD and zine (self-released), 2002 * ''This Bike Is a Pipe Bomb/Carrie Nations Split 7"'' Shake/Plan-It-X Records, 2004 ''Out Of Print'' * ''Three Way Tie for a Fifth CD'' Plan-It-X Records, 2004 * ''Three Way Tie for a Fifth LP'' No Idea Records, 2005 * ''Convertible CD'' Plan-It-X Records, 2008 * ''Convertible LP'' No Idea Records, 2009 * ''Radon/This Bike Is a Pipe Bomb/Vaginasore Jr./King Friday Split'' Fast Crowd Records, 2008 (contributed the song "Bright One")

Controversy over name

On March 2, 2006, at 5:30 am an

Ohio University Ohio University is a public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confederation and subseq ...

police officer spotted a bicycle attached to the Oasis restaurant bearing a promotional sticker for the band. The officer saw the words "This Bike Is a Pipe Bomb" and became concerned. The area was cordoned off, and part of the campus was closed for several hours. The bicycle was subsequently destroyed by the

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

bomb squad despite assurances from the bike's owner that it was just a sticker. The owner, a graduate student, was initially charged with inducing panic, a misdemeanor. However, the charges were dropped a few days later. Later the student was awarded money for the damages to his bicycle. A similar incident occurred in 2001, when a police officer spotted and detained a woman at an

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

peace rally. Her bicycle was also labeled with the band's sticker. The woman was released after the band's existence was confirmed. On March 14, 2006, Bellarmine Hall at Saint Joseph's University in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, was evacuated because of another bicycle with the band's name painted on it. No charges were filed. On February 16, 2009, Terminal C at

Memphis International Airport Memphis International Airport is a civil-military airport located southeast of Downtown Memphis in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States. It is the primary international airport serving Memphis. It covers and has four runways., effective A ...

was evacuated because of a bicycle with the band's sticker on it. A pilot notified police when he saw the bike, with the band's sticker on it, parked outside of the terminal. Police evacuated the terminal and sent in K9 units; however, no explosive materials were found. Police arrested the owner of the bike but let the owner go a few hours later because he had not committed a crime. After hearing about the incident, the band's lead singer urged fans to use caution when they applied the stickers.

References

External links

Ghostmeat RecordsThis Bike Is a Pipe Bomb collection
at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

's live music archive {{DEFAULTSORT:Bike Is a Pipe Bomb, This Folk punk groups Naming controversies Punk rock groups from Florida Musical groups established in 1997 Musical groups disestablished in 2011