Burning Tree was an American

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

blues rock Blues rock is a fusion music genre, genre and form of rock music, rock and blues music that relies on the chords/scales and instrumental improvisation of blues. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electri ...

power trio A power trio is a rock band format having a lineup of electric guitar, bass guitar and drum kit, leaving out a dedicated vocalist or an additional rhythm guitar or keyboard instrument that are often used in other rock music bands that are quart ...

from

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, United States. The band performed from the late 1980s to the early 1990s. Their self-titled debut album was released on

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

in 1990, produced by

Tim Palmer Tim Palmer may refer to: * Tim Palmer (film historian) (born 1975), English film historian * Tim Palmer (journalist), Australian journalist * Tim Palmer (1943-1997), British technology journalist * Tim Palmer (physicist) (born 1952), English physic ...

History

In the Southern California/Los Angeles underground rock scene, Marc Ford had started out playing in a series of garage bands from the early to mid-eighties. Gray and Dutton had previously played together in the band,

The March ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

. The band Citadel, which later went by the names Citadel Ltd & Head, was led by the guitarist Marc Ford, drummer Doni Gray and lead vocalist Zane Grey. Their former bandmate Jimmy Ashhurst had left and was replaced by bassist Mark "Muddy" Dutton. Citadel eventually disbanded due to disagreements with their singer, and led to the formation of Burning Tree. By the late eighties, Citadel Ltd/Head evolved into the

outfit Burning Tree, a power trio featuring

Marc Ford Marc Ford (born April 13, 1966) is an American blues-rock guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is a former guitarist of the rock and roll band The Black Crowes, the former lead guitarist of The Magpie Salute and the leader of his own b ...

on guitar and vocals, Mark "Muddy" Dutton on bass and vocals, and Doni Gray on drums and vocals. In 1987, Burning Tree was formed. In the earliest version of Burning Tree, all three band members brought in songs and shared vocals, and often switched instruments. Their sound was remembered as being very eclectic and special. The band secured a residency at the

Coconut Teaszer The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, ...

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

, from 1988-89. By the end of 1989, they landed a

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording act (artist or group), where the act makes an audio recording (or series of recordings) for the label to sell and ...

with

Debut Album: 1990

Burning Tree released their self-titled debut album on

in 1990, produced by

. Their debut single "Fly On" was released on October 8, 1990. During the recording session,

Booker T. Jones Booker Taliaferro Jones Jr. (born November 12, 1944) is an American musician, songwriter, record producer and arranger, best known as the frontman of the band Booker T. & the M.G.'s. He has also worked in the studios with many well-known artis ...

made a guest appearance and played the Hammond B-3, featuring his talents on two songs. The studio album failed to capture the sound of the band's dynamic trio. It has been later claimed that their producer did not understand the band and it was evident in the mixing of the final product. The preferred option was to see the band performing live, as that was considered to be the most authentic way to experience them.

Tour: 1990–1991

A commercial failure, but a critical success, ''Burning Tree'' allowed the group to tour extensively throughout most of 1990 and 1991. The band struggled to find an audience in the States during the height of "big hair"

hard rock music Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard rock m ...

, and instead toured England. During their 1990 tour, Burning Tree opened and supported English bands such as The Damned,

The Quireboys The Quireboys are an English rock band formed in 1984 in London, with strong ties to Newcastle. Originally known as The Choirboys, then The Queerboys, billed as The London Quireboys in the United States and Canada, settling at last with their ...

The Dogs D'Amour The Dogs D'Amour are an English bluesey hard rock band formed in London in 1983. Over the years the band has had various line-ups, the only constant being vocalist Tyla. Their music has been described as a mixture of the Rolling Stones, the ...

, and

The Riverdogs The Riverdogs is a rock band, founded in Los Angeles in 1989. Band members ;Current members *Rob Lamothe - vocals, guitars, keyboards (1989–present) * Nick Brophy - bass, guitars, keyboards (1989–present) *Vivian Campbell - guitars (1989-19 ...

, as well as,

The Black Crowes The Black Crowes are an American rock band formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1984. Their discography includes ten studio albums, four live albums and several charting singles. The band was signed to Def American Recordings in 1989 by producer Geo ...

. A limited edition live album ''Live From Leeds'' was released in 1990, and featured Burning Tree's appearance at

The Marquee The Marquee Club was a music venue in London, England, that opened in 1958 with a range of jazz and skiffle acts. It was a small and relatively cheap club, in the heart of London's West End. It was the location of the first live performance b ...

on April 30, 1990. The five track EP consists of a live recording of the four songs "Burning Tree", "Fly On", "Mistreated Lover", "Same Old Story" and a studio version of "Mistreated Lover". The EP sleeve design resembles The Who's ''

Live at Leeds ''Live at Leeds'' is the first live album by the English rock music, rock band the Who, recorded at the University of Leeds Refectory on 14 February 1970 and released on 11 May 1970, by Decca Records, Decca and MCA Records, MCA in the United St ...

.''

Post breakup

Marc Ford

joined

immediately after the breakup from 1992–1997. He has had an extensive solo career and has been involved in a range of collaborations, working with

Ben Harper Benjamin Charles Harper (born October 28, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae, and rock music, and he is known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, liv ...

in 2003. The leader of his own bands: Marc Ford & The Neptune Blues Club, Fuzz Machine and Marc Ford & The Sinners. He joined

The Magpie Salute The Magpie Salute was an American rock band formed in 2016 by the Black Crowes guitarist Rich Robinson. The band also includes former Black Crowes members Marc Ford and Sven Pipien and Moke singer/songwriter John Hogg, as well as Rich Robinson ba ...

from 2016–2019. Ford is currently pursuing a solo career and is a record producer.

Mark "Muddy" Dutton

Mark "Muddy" Dutton recorded and toured with

Gilby Clarke Gilbert J. Clarke (born August 17, 1962) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is known for having a three-year tenure as the rhythm guitarist of Guns N' Roses, replacing Izzy Stradlin in 1991 during the Use Your ...

in Col. Parker and with L. A. Guns. He later toured as the bass player in the

Chris Robinson Brotherhood Chris Robinson Brotherhood was an American blues rock band formed in 2011 by Black Crowes singer Chris Robinson while the Crowes were on hiatus. The original lineup consisted of Robinson (vocals, guitar), Neal Casal (lead guitar, backing voca ...

. Dutton has formed the group Up The Dose, and is a record producer.

Doni Gray

Doni Gray recorded an album with

Izzy Stradlin and the Ju Ju Hounds Jeffrey Dean Isbell (born April 8, 1962), known professionally as Izzy Stradlin, is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He was a co-founder, rhythm guitarist, and backing vocalist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he re ...

. In 2011, Gray joined L.A. Guns.

Reunion shows: 2006, 2014, 2016

In 2006, fourteen years after the disbanding of Burning Tree, Ford unexpectedly reunited with his original bandmates. The trio performed three gigs at the King King in Hollywood, California. The band appeared on Ford's solo album '' Weary and Wired'' released in 2007, and stayed to promote the album. A few years later, Burning Tree reunited for a gig at the

Whisky a Go Go The Whisky a Go Go (informally nicknamed The Whisky) is a historic nightclub in West Hollywood, California, United States. It is located at 8901 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip, corner North Clark Street, opposite North San Vicente Boulev ...

on December 11, 2014 and again on February 19, 2016.

Style

The band has been compared to

The Jimi Hendrix Experience James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this proces ...

and

Taste The gustatory system or sense of taste is the sensory system that is partially responsible for the perception of taste. Taste is the perception stimulated when a substance in the mouth biochemistry, reacts chemically with taste receptor cells l ...

Band Members

– guitar, piano and vocals * Mark "Muddy" Dutton – bass, piano and vocals * Doni Gray – drums, percussion and vocals

Discography

Studio album

* ''Burning Tree'' (1990)

Live album

* ''Live From Leeds'' (1990)

References

External links

Burning Tree
on

Myspace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...

{{Authority control Rock music groups from California 1987 establishments in California