Avail
Encyclopedia
Avail is a punk band from Richmond, Virginia
. Originally from Northern Virginia, the band formed in 1987, its members including Joe Banks, Doug Crosby, Brian Stewart, and Mikey Warstler. The only original remaining member, guitar player Joe Banks, teamed up with rival band LDK's (Learning Disabled Kids) Tim Barry. They moved to Richmond in 1990, and soon, after numerous line up changes, put together a solid lineup to release their first album in 1992. Many of their lyrics center around Richmond.
Avail is on 'permanent standby' as per Tim Barry's interview on Dope Sick Radio #40. Tim mentions in the interview "let's just say it's a thing of the past."
Former members:
. They released several studio releases on Lookout! and then went on to Fat Wreck Chords
for One Wrench and Front Porch Stories. Most recently, they have signed on with Jade Tree Records
who has recently re-released the Avail albums Dixie, 4am Friday, and Over the James.
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
. Originally from Northern Virginia, the band formed in 1987, its members including Joe Banks, Doug Crosby, Brian Stewart, and Mikey Warstler. The only original remaining member, guitar player Joe Banks, teamed up with rival band LDK's (Learning Disabled Kids) Tim Barry. They moved to Richmond in 1990, and soon, after numerous line up changes, put together a solid lineup to release their first album in 1992. Many of their lyrics center around Richmond.
Avail is on 'permanent standby' as per Tim Barry's interview on Dope Sick Radio #40. Tim mentions in the interview "let's just say it's a thing of the past."
Members
Avail has five members.- Tim BarryTim BarryTim Barry is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is the former lead singer of the Richmond, Virginia-based punk rock band Avail. In addition to performing with Avail, he was the bass guitarist in the Richmond-based folk punk band Pioneers from 1994-1995...
- Vocals (Drums on first EP) - Joe Banks - GuitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
- Gwomper - BassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- Ed Trask - DrumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
- Beau Beau Butler - CheerleaderHype manA hype man in hip hop music and rapping is a “backup rapper/singer who is also responsible for increasing an audience's excitement with call-and-response chants” according to The Hilltop and author Grant Barrett....
Former members:
- Chuck McCauley - Bass
- DJ Grimes - Bass
- Erik Larson - Drums
- Doug Crosby - Drums
Label Change
Avail self-released their first LP, Satiate on Catheter-Assembly Records. It was later re-released by Lookout! RecordsLookout! Records
-History:Larry Livermore and David Hayes formed the label in 1987. From the start, Lookout released punk rock records, but over time expanded its scope to include various types of pop rock, reggae fusion, acoustic rock, pop punk, and indie rock...
. They released several studio releases on Lookout! and then went on to Fat Wreck Chords
Fat Wreck Chords
Fat Wreck Chords is a San Francisco, California based independent record label, focused on punk rock. It was started by Fat Mike and his ex-wife, Erin, in 1990....
for One Wrench and Front Porch Stories. Most recently, they have signed on with Jade Tree Records
Jade Tree Records
Jade Tree International, Inc. was an independent record label formed by Darren Walters and Tim Owen in August 1991, out of Wilmington, Delaware....
who has recently re-released the Avail albums Dixie, 4am Friday, and Over the James.
Legacy in Richmond
Tim Barry is currently writing and performing solo music. Joe Banks, along with former members Erik Larson and Chuck McCauley, formed The Ghost Run in 2009. Joe Banks, Chuck McCauley and Erik Larson have also teamed up in the band Freeman. Avail is still something of a legend in the punk and hardcore scene in Richmond. Tattoos, graffiti, and sidewalk impressions bearing the "dixie" image are quite common.Full-length albums
- SatiateSatiateSatiate is the first album released by Avail in 1992. Satiate was originally released on the band's own Catheter-Assembly Records, then re-released on Old Glory Records later that year. In 1994, Lookout! Records issued the album on CD with two additional tracks, taken from Avail's 7" release...
- 1992 - Lookout! RecordsLookout! Records-History:Larry Livermore and David Hayes formed the label in 1987. From the start, Lookout released punk rock records, but over time expanded its scope to include various types of pop rock, reggae fusion, acoustic rock, pop punk, and indie rock... - DixieDixie (album)Dixie is the second album by Avail, released on Lookout! Records in 1994. It was re-released in 2006 on Jade Tree Records. Also included on the re-released disc was the Attempt to Regress 7" and Live at the Kings Head Inn.-Track listing:...
- 1994 - Lookout! Records - 4am Friday4am Friday4am Friday is the third studio album by Avail. It is named after the day and time the band received news of Bob Baynor's death . The song F.C.A. was also written about Bob. It was released in 1996 on Lookout! Records and reissued in 2006 by Jade Tree Records...
- 1996 - Lookout! Records - Over the JamesOver the JamesOver the James is the fourth studio album by Avail. It was released in 1998 on Lookout! Records. It was re-released in 2006 by Jade Tree Records...
- 1998 - Lookout! Records - One WrenchOne WrenchOne Wrench is Avail's fifth studio album, and their first full-length album released on Fat Wreck Chords, from 2000.-Track listing:# "Fast One" - 2:03# "Taken" - 2:35# "N30" - 2:16# "Leveled" - 2:22# "New Song" - 2:23# "High Lonesome" - 3:02...
- 2000 - Fat Wreck Chords - Front Porch StoriesFront Porch StoriesFront Porch Stories is Avail's sixth, and final studio album, and released on Fat Wreck Chords in 2002.-Track listing:# "Black and Red" - 2:15# "Blue Times Two" - 2:56# "West Wye" - 2:55# "You" - 2:47# "Gravel to Dirt" - 2:10# "Done Reckoning" - 1:42...
- 2002 - Fat Wreck Chords
EP's
- Who's to Say What Stays the Same - 1989 - Sunspot RecordsSunspot RecordsSunspot Records was a small independent record label from the Washington D.C. area that existed in the early nineties. The Sunspot roster featured bands primarily from the east coast of the U.S.. Several of these bands such as Avail, Shades Apart, 1.6 Band, and Fly went on to have successful music...
- Attempt to Regress - 1993 - Catheter Assembly
- The Fall of Richmond - 1997 - Lookout! Records - split EPExtended playAn EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
with (Young) Pioneers(Young) PioneersPioneers was an influential American folk punk band from Richmond, Virginia, active from 1993–1999.-History:... - 100 Times100 Times100 Times is Avail's first release on Fat Wreck Chords, done so in 1999. It is a re-recording of five songs that were originally released on previous Avail full-length albums by Lookout! Records.-Track listing:#"Order" [ from 4am...
- 1999 - Fat Wreck ChordsFat Wreck ChordsFat Wreck Chords is a San Francisco, California based independent record label, focused on punk rock. It was started by Fat Mike and his ex-wife, Erin, in 1990....
Live
- Live at the Kings Head InnLive at the Kings Head InnLive at the King's Head Inn is Avail's first live album, released on Lookout! Records in 1993.-Track listing:#"Sidewalk" #"Stride" #"Song" #"Observations" #"Predictable" #"Forgotten"...
- 1993 - Old Glory Records - Live at the Bottom of the Hill in San FranciscoLive at the Bottom of the Hill in San FranciscoLive at the Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco is a live album by Avail recorded during a show at Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco in 1997. The show was part of Avail's tour supporting their latest studio album, 4am Friday, which was released in 1996. Live at the Bottom.....
- 1998 - Lookout! Records - V.M. Live Presents...AvailV.M. Live Presents...AvailV.M. Live Presents...Avail is a live album by Avail. It was recorded at the Fireside Bowl in Chicago, on 29 June 1997, less than two weeks after the recording of Live at the Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco...
- 1999 - Liberation RecordsLiberation RecordsLiberation Records is a Southern California record company. It was formed by 16-year-old David Taba in 1994. The label notably discovered and released the debut album of Home Grown and, in 1994, released the classic Punk Sucks compilation...