Charles Edward Crawford (born January 26, 1964), known as ed fROMOHIO, is an American musician, best known as the lead singer and guitarist for
Firehose, an alternative rock band he formed in 1986 with former
Minutemen
Minutemen were members of the organized New England colonial militia companies trained in weaponry, tactics, and military strategies during the American Revolutionary War. They were known for being ready at a minute's notice, hence the name. Min ...
members
Mike Watt
Michael David Watt (born December 20, 1957) is an American bassist, vocalist and songwriter. He co-founded and played bass guitar for the rock bands Minutemen (1980–1985), Dos (1985–present), and Firehose (1986–1994). He began a solo ca ...
(bass guitar) and
George Hurley
George Hurley (born September 4, 1958) is a drummer noted for his work with Minutemen and fIREHOSE.
Music career
Early years
Originally from the East Coast, Hurley and his family moved to San Pedro, California, when he was six years old. ...
(drums).
Biography
In 1985, Minutemen vocalist and guitarist
D. Boon
Dennes Dale Boon (April 1, 1958 – December 22, 1985), also known as D. Boon, was an American musician, best known as the guitarist, singer and songwriter of the punk rock trio Minutemen (formed by previous members of the Reactionaries).
He ...
was killed in a van wreck. In 1986, Ed, a recent
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...
graduate and Minutemen fan, heard an erroneous rumor that Watt and Hurley were auditioning new guitarists
from a member of
Camper Van Beethoven
Camper Van Beethoven is an American rock band formed in Redlands, California, in 1983, later based in Santa Cruz and San Francisco. Their style mixes elements of pop, ska, punk, folk, alternative, country, and world music, among other ge ...
. Ed contacted Watt after obtaining his phone number at a show in Columbus, Ohio. Crawford called Watt and talked his way into visiting with Watt while visiting a friend in Southern California.
Watt and Hurley were still very much grief-stricken over the death of their friend and bandmate, and exhibited little interest in starting a new band. While in California, Crawford pestered Watt to meet and play. As Crawford was about to return to Ohio, at the last minute, Watt accepted Ed's offer to jam. Shortly after, Watt offered Crawford a spot in a new band.
Along with Hurley, they formed fIREHOSE. Shortly thereafter, the new band would record their first album, ''
Ragin', Full On
''Ragin', Full-On'' is the first album by American alternative rock band fIREHOSE. It was released after the breakup of the influential punk rock band Minutemen due to the death of the guitarist D. Boon. Like all fIREHOSE albums, ''Ragin', Full ...
'', and started touring. Eventually, he would record four more
LPs with the band.
Crawford sang and played guitar with fIREHOSE until they broke up in 1994 after releasing five albums and touring extensively.
As of 2012, Crawford performed with a band called "Food" which is an
acronym
An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...
for "Far Out Old Dudes".
As of 2019, Crawford lived in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
and played solo acoustic as well as electric gigs around town with his band, the Ed Crawford Trio. He appeared in the 2005 documentary film ''
We Jam Econo''. Since Firehose's break-up, he has also fronted the band Grand National (not to be confused with the UK band also named
Grand National
The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Aintree, Merseyside, England. First run in 1839, it ...
).
Crawford toured with several bands as a hired guitarist, including with the alt-country band
Whiskeytown
Whiskeytown was an American alternative country band formed in 1994 from Raleigh, North Carolina. Fronted by Ryan Adams, the group included members Caitlin Cary, Phil Wandscher, Eric "Skillet" Gilmore, and Mike Daly. They disbanded in 2000 ...
led by
Ryan Adams
David Ryan Adams (born November 5, 1974) is an American Rock music, rock and Country music, country singer-songwriter. He has released 30 studio albums and three as a former member of Whiskeytown.
In 2000, Adams left Whiskeytown and released ...
, the
Chapel Hill band
Southern Culture on the Skids
Southern Culture on the Skids, also sometimes known as SCOTS, is an American rock band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
The band released their debut EP ''Voodoo Beach Party'' in 1984, followed by their self-titled debut album the following ...
, and the Detroit band
Mule
The mule is a domestic equine hybrid between a donkey, and a horse. It is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). The horse and the donkey are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes; of the two ...
. In August 2019, Crawford appeared on the "You Don't Know Mojack" podcast, where he spoke extensively about joining with Watt and Hurely to form fIREHOSE.
["You Don't Know Mojack," Episode 079, August 7, 2019 ]
References
See also
*
Eddie from Ohio
External links
FOOD on Bandcamp
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crawford, Ed
American punk rock singers
American punk rock guitarists
Firehose (band) members
Singers from California
Singers from Ohio
Ohio State University alumni
Living people
1964 births
Whiskeytown members
Guitarists from California
Guitarists from Ohio
American male guitarists
20th-century American guitarists
People from Steubenville, Ohio