Burn Witch Burn were an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

Celtic rock Celtic rock is a genre of folk rock, as well as a form of Celtic fusion which incorporates Celtic music, instrumentation and themes into a rock music context. It has been prolific since the early 1970s and can be seen as a key foundation of the ...

goth Goth or Goths may refer to: * Goths, a Germanic people Arts and entertainment * Gothic rock or goth, a style of rock music * Goth subculture, developed by fans of gothic rock * ''Goth'' (2003 film), an American horror film * ''Goth'' (2008 f ...

/ Appalachian/

Gypsy {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , po ...

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

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

band based in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

and active between 1994-2001. The band was a side project of

Dead Milkmen The Dead Milkmen is an American punk rock band formed in 1983 in Philadelphia. Their original lineup consisted of vocalist and keyboardist Rodney Linderman ("Rodney Anonymous"), guitarist and vocalist Joe Genaro ("Joe Jack Talcum"), bassist Dav ...

singer and keyboardist

Rodney Linderman Rodney Linderman (born 21 May 1963), also known by his stage name Rodney Anonymous, is an American musician, journalist, and humorist currently based in Philadelphia. He is best known as the lead vocalist, keyboardist and co-songwriter of the ...

History

The band formed in 1994, around the time the

announced their plans to disband the following year after a final tour and album. Taking their name from the 1962 horror film of the same name, Burn Witch Burn was composed of Linderman, his wife Vienna and a cast of additional instrumentalists. They crafted a distinct sound drawing from several forms of folk music (including Irish and Americana styles) and a "

Pogues The Pogues are an English Celtic punk band founded in King's Cross, London, in 1982, by Shane MacGowan, Spider Stacy and Jem Finer. Originally named Pogue Mahone—an anglicisation of the Irish phrase ''póg mo thóin'', meaning "kiss my ...

-esque" punk rock sensibility, with a dark element sufficient to frequently earn them "goth" and "gypsy" tags. This dark edge, reflected in songs of

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

, misery,

alcoholism Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World He ...

, pestilence and the

occult The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mysti ...

, was a sharp left turn from the Dead Milkmen's comedic lyrical motifs, although Burn Witch Burn lyrics were not without their own sense of

black humor Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...

(notable in such songs as "Treetop Flotilla", which includes an anecdote about an abusive,

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

-listening "fake biker".) The band also utilized an array of unique instrumentation, including the

tin whistle The tin whistle, also known as the penny whistle, is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is a type of fipple flute, a class of instrument which also includes the recorder and Native American flute. A tin whistle player is called a whistl ...

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

, banjolin,

bouzouki The bouzouki (, also ; ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', , from Greek , from Turkish ) is a musical instrument popular in West Asia (Syria, Iraq), Europe and Balkans (Greece, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Turkey). It is a member of the long-necked lute fam ...

melodeon Melodeon may refer to: *Melodeon (accordion), a type of button accordion *Melodeon (organ) The pump organ or reed organ is a type of organ that uses free reed aerophone, free reeds to generate sound, with air passing over vibrating thin metal ...

, and

hurdy-gurdy The hurdy-gurdy is a string instrument that produces sound by a hand-turned crank, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin (or nyckelharpa) bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar ...

, in addition to the standard

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

and

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

. The band's first release was a six song demo tape in 1995. 1997 saw a seven-song self-released CD-EP, ''The Burning Times'', which included a cover of

The Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1964. Its classic lineup consisted of singer and guitarist Lou Reed, Welsh multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and percussionis ...

's "

All Tomorrow's Parties "All Tomorrow's Parties" is a song by the Velvet Underground and Nico, written by Lou Reed and released as the band's debut single in 1966. The song is from their 1967 debut studio album, ''The Velvet Underground & Nico''. Inspiration for the so ...

". In 2000, Burn Witch Burn recorded a full-length, self-titled album, released on the Philadelphia-based Razler Records imprint (which was also the home to

Butterfly Joe Anthony Joseph Genaro (born October 15, 1962) is an American musician, best known as the guitarist and co-lead vocalist for the punk rock group The Dead Milkmen. Residing in Philadelphia, Genaro has performed with a number of punk and indie ro ...

, a group featuring half of the Dead Milkmen). The album included re-recordings of much of the band's first two minor releases, some new original material, and a

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

cover, "

Citadel A citadel is the most fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of ''city'', meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. ...

". The group disbanded in 2001. Fergusson and Rodney Linderman later formed the group 25 Cromwell Street, playing in the style of Burn Witch Burn and incorporating several of the latter group's songs into its set.

Discography

* ''demo tape'' (1995, self-released cassette) * ''The Burning Times'' (1997, self-released CD-EP) * ''Burn Witch Burn'' (2000, Razler Records CD)

Compilations

* ''Put Your Tongue To The Rail: The Philly Comp For Catholic Children (Songs of the Jim Carroll Band)''. Performed "Still Life". (1999, Genus Records CD)

Members

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a newsp ...

(1994–2001) * Vienna Linderman - vocals,

(1994–2001) * Bill Fergusson -

, banjolin,

(1994–2001) * Brett - mandolin,

, other stringed instruments (1994–1997) * Rob Piekarski - guitar, mandolin (1997–2001) * Steve Demarest -

(1994–2001) * Todd Yoder -

(1994–2001)

References

External links

Burn Witch Burn fan page

Official Dead Milkmen page

Rodney Anonymous homepage and blog
{{The Dead Milkmen Musical groups from Pennsylvania Musical groups from Philadelphia Musical groups established in 1994 1994 establishments in Pennsylvania