Toenut, latterly known as Tyro, was an American

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 ...

band of the 1990s, based in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

and signed to the

Mute Records Mute Records is a British independent record label owned and founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller. It has featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Depeche Mode, Erasure, Einstürzende Neubauten, Fad Gadget, Goldfrapp, Grinderm ...

label. The band released three records, the last under the name "Tyro", and toured the US and UK between 1995 and 2000.

History

The band was formed in the summer of 1991 in Atlanta, Georgia, by Skipper Hartley and fellow guitarist Richie Edelson. By January 1992, they were playing shows in clubs in Atlanta with a line-up including vocalist Katie Walters and Elephants Gerald adding sampling effects. Hartley's former bandmate Chris Collins moved from

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 census, it is the second-largest city in South Carolina. The city serves as the county seat of Richland County, and a portion of the city ...

to join as bassist, and several drummers joined the band for short periods. In 1993, Toenut recorded their first single, "Heyward"/"Information", released on Half Baked Records. The single was heard by

Mark Kramer Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Finn ...

, who invited the band to his Noise New Jersey studio to record a full-length demo, produced by Steve Watson. In 1994, the band recruited their sixth drummer, Colin English, before signing to

. A modified version of the band's demo from Noise New Jersey was released on Mute in the summer of 1995 as their debut LP, ''Information''. The album received airplay on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

and made the

College Media Journal CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events and online media company, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music Monthly'' and ''CMJ New Music Report''. Th ...

charts, and was followed by a series of singles, including "Danger! Humans Approach", recorded at the Muscle Shoals Easley Studios. The track received airplay from

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

on BBC Radio 1. The band's former high-school colleague Eric Holowacz joined the band as stage producer and manager, and the band toured the Southeast, Midwest, and Northeast United States between 1995 and 1997, often with

Man or Astro-man? Man or Astro-man? is an American surf rock group that formed in Auburn, Alabama in the early 1990s and came to prominence over the following decade. Primarily instrumental, Man or Astro-man? blended the surf rock style of the early 1960s like ...

. During this time, Holowacz created a concert-length stageshow in support of ''Information'', using two

16mm 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical gauge of film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 and 35 mm. It is generally used for non-theatrical (e.g., industrial, educ ...

film projections and two 35mm still slide projections simultaneously. Toenut's second album, ''Two in the Piñata'', was the next Mute release. On April 5, 1997, bassist Chris Collins was killed in an automobile accident as he drove to a show in

Athens, Georgia Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta, and is a satellite city of the capital. The University of Georgia, the sta ...

. Following the accident, Toenut changed its name to

Tyro In Greek mythology, Tyro ( grc, Τυρώ) was an Elean princess who later became Queen of Iolcus. Family Tyro was the daughter of King Salmoneus of Elis and Alcidice, daughter of King Aleus of Arcadia. She married her uncle King Cretheus of ...

and released ''Audiocards'', before disbanding. Edelson and English joined

, Holowacz moved to South Carolina to become executive director of the Arts Council of Beaufort County, and subsequently to Wellington, New Zealand. Hartley and Walters, now married, continue to make music in Atlanta. Edelson works in the music and video production industry in Los Angeles.

Discography

;as Toenut * ''Information'' (Mute Records 1995) * ''Two in the Piñata'' (Mute Records 1997) ; as Tyro * ''Audiocards'' (Mute Records 2000)

References

External links

Tyro site
{{Authority control Alternative rock groups from Georgia (U.S. state) Musical groups from Atlanta Musical groups established in 1991 Mute Records artists