Split Lip Rayfield
Encyclopedia
Split Lip Rayfield is a vocal and acoustic instrumental group from Wichita
, Kansas
. Though they are sometimes classified as a bluegrass
, alt-country or cowpunk
band, their music draws on a wide array of influences.
The name "Split Lip Rayfield" was inspired by a real-life person of that name who lived in Eaton's hometown of Gumbo, Missouri
, when Eaton was a boy.
The trio of Rundstrom, Eaton and Mardis recorded the album Split Lip Rayfield in 1998; Bloodshot released it that same year.
1999 saw the release of In the Mud
, the first album on which the group performed as a quartet. This album contained fan favorites such as Gottstine's "3.2 Flu", Rundstrom's "Devil", Mardis' "Hounds" and a cover of the George Jones/Melba Montgomery song "Easy Street." The band followed up the album's release with a nationwide tour.
The band's next album, Never Make It Home
, also achieved success, as did the subsequent tour.
Following the Never Make It Home tour, Split Lip Rayfield took a short hiatus so that its members could refocus on family life and side projects. Upon reassembling, the group traveled to New Orleans to make a record with friend and fellow performer Mike West. The resulting disc, Should Have Seen It Coming
, won critical praise.
In 2005, Gottstine left the touring group for personal reasons. The remaining trio continued to tour; however. Gottstine returned in Summer 2006 after Kirk Rundstrom's cancer diagnosis.
In 2008 the group guest wrote various music pieces for an episode of the Adultswim show Squidbillies
entitled, Mephistopheles Traveled Below to a Southern State Whose Motto is 'Wisdom, Justice and Moderation'.
Heavy doses of radiation and chemotherapy were unable to completely reverse the damage, and Rundstrom's health suffered greatly from the treatments. However, by early autumn, he was playing shows again. Kirk was administered doses of intravenous vitamin C. He lived a year and a half longer than doctors expected.
A fully reunited Split Lip Rayfield embarked on another tour, and played what was billed as its "final" show on December 8, 2006, Live at the Cotillion Ballroom
, in Wichita.
Rundstrom died on February 22, 2007 in Wichita. He is survived by his father, wife and two daughters.
The group decided to continue playing without a replacement dedicating each show to Rundstrom. Gottstine rejoined the fold permanently and their first show without Rundstrom was in August 2007.
at the annual Walnut Valley Festival
in Winfield, Kansas
.
Typically, bluegrass musicians played traditional folk
and country
songs on acoustic string instruments. Bands like Split Lip faithfully used traditional acoustic instruments, but played songs that were more closely related stylistically to rock
, punk
or heavy metal
.
Although Split Lip wasn't the first of its kind—other groups like the Bad Livers
came before—a growing number of acoustic "thrash-grass" bands owe a great debt to Split Lip for helping to define the genre.
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...
, Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
. Though they are sometimes classified as a bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
, alt-country or cowpunk
Cowpunk
Cowpunk or Country punk is a subgenre of punk rock and New Wave that began in the UK and California in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It combines punk rock or New Wave with country music, folk music, and blues in sound, subject matter, attitude, and style...
band, their music draws on a wide array of influences.
History
Split Lip Rayfield is a band from Wichita, Kansas featuring Kirk Rundstrom (guitar), Eric Mardis (banjo), Wayne Gottstine (mandolin), and Jeff Eaton (bass). Early on, the group's gimmick was Eaton's homemade one-string bass, named Stitchgiver, built from the gastank of a 1978 Mercury Grand Marquis and a piece of hickory and strung with one piece of Weedwhacker line.The name "Split Lip Rayfield" was inspired by a real-life person of that name who lived in Eaton's hometown of Gumbo, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, when Eaton was a boy.
The trio of Rundstrom, Eaton and Mardis recorded the album Split Lip Rayfield in 1998; Bloodshot released it that same year.
1999 saw the release of In the Mud
In The Mud
In The Mud is the second studio album by the American Bluegrass band Split Lip Rayfield, released in 1999 .-Track listing:All songs written by Kirk Rundstrom except where noted.# "13" – 2:09# "Wrong" – 2:26...
, the first album on which the group performed as a quartet. This album contained fan favorites such as Gottstine's "3.2 Flu", Rundstrom's "Devil", Mardis' "Hounds" and a cover of the George Jones/Melba Montgomery song "Easy Street." The band followed up the album's release with a nationwide tour.
The band's next album, Never Make It Home
Never Make It Home
Never Make It Home is the third studio album by the American Bluegrass band Split Lip Rayfield, released in 2001 .- Track listing :All songs written by Kirk Rundstrom except where noted.# "Movin' To Virginia" – 2:49...
, also achieved success, as did the subsequent tour.
Following the Never Make It Home tour, Split Lip Rayfield took a short hiatus so that its members could refocus on family life and side projects. Upon reassembling, the group traveled to New Orleans to make a record with friend and fellow performer Mike West. The resulting disc, Should Have Seen It Coming
Should Have Seen It Coming
Should Have Seen It Coming is the fourth studio album by the American Bluegrass band Split Lip Rayfield, released in 2004 .-Track listing:All songs written by Kirk Rundstrom except where noted....
, won critical praise.
In 2005, Gottstine left the touring group for personal reasons. The remaining trio continued to tour; however. Gottstine returned in Summer 2006 after Kirk Rundstrom's cancer diagnosis.
In 2008 the group guest wrote various music pieces for an episode of the Adultswim show Squidbillies
Squidbillies
Squidbillies is an animated television series about the Cuylers, an impoverished family of anthropomorphic hillbilly squids living in the Appalachian region of North Carolina's mountains. The show is produced by Williams Street Studios for the Adult Swim programming block of Cartoon Network and...
entitled, Mephistopheles Traveled Below to a Southern State Whose Motto is 'Wisdom, Justice and Moderation'.
Illness
Early in 2006, while on tour in Colorado, Rundstrom sought medical attention for pain in his throat and difficulty in swallowing. Doctors quickly concluded that he had esophageal cancer, and would need immediate, intense treatment.Heavy doses of radiation and chemotherapy were unable to completely reverse the damage, and Rundstrom's health suffered greatly from the treatments. However, by early autumn, he was playing shows again. Kirk was administered doses of intravenous vitamin C. He lived a year and a half longer than doctors expected.
A fully reunited Split Lip Rayfield embarked on another tour, and played what was billed as its "final" show on December 8, 2006, Live at the Cotillion Ballroom
Live at the Cotillion Ballroom
Live at the Cotillion Ballroom is the first live DVD from the bluegrass/punk band Split Lip Rayfield. It was recorded live on December 8 of 2006 at The Cotillion Ballroom in Wichita, Kansas. It was billed as the "last show" after the deteriorating health of band member Kirk Rundstrom made it...
, in Wichita.
Rundstrom died on February 22, 2007 in Wichita. He is survived by his father, wife and two daughters.
The group decided to continue playing without a replacement dedicating each show to Rundstrom. Gottstine rejoined the fold permanently and their first show without Rundstrom was in August 2007.
Influence
Split Lip Rayfield helped pioneer what came to be known as the "Stage Five" sound, named for the notorious "unofficial" Stage 5Stage 5
Stage 5 is an unofficial stage at the Walnut Valley Festival, an annual bluegrass festival in Winfield, Kansas, United States....
at the annual Walnut Valley Festival
Walnut Valley Festival
The Walnut Valley Festival is a well-known acoustic music festival, held annually in Winfield, Kansas. The main genre of music is bluegrass, but other acoustic styles are represented...
in Winfield, Kansas
Winfield, Kansas
Winfield is a city situated along the Walnut River in the west-central part of Cowley County, located in South Central Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 12,301...
.
Typically, bluegrass musicians played traditional folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
and country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
songs on acoustic string instruments. Bands like Split Lip faithfully used traditional acoustic instruments, but played songs that were more closely related stylistically to rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
or heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
.
Although Split Lip wasn't the first of its kind—other groups like the Bad Livers
Danny Barnes
Danny Barnes is a banjo and guitar player whose music is influenced by country, jazz and punk. Born in Temple, Texas and raised in Belton, Barnes was exposed to music at a young age: he recalls picking up a love of country and bluegrass from his father and grandmother, Delta blues from one brother...
came before—a growing number of acoustic "thrash-grass" bands owe a great debt to Split Lip for helping to define the genre.
Studio Albums
- Split Lip RayfieldSplit Lip Rayfield (album)Split Lip Rayfield is the First studio album by the American Bluegrass band Split Lip Rayfield, released in 1998 .-Track listing:All songs written by Kirk Rundstrom except where noted.# "Coffee" – 2:07# "Outlaw" – 2:57...
(1998) - In The MudIn The MudIn The Mud is the second studio album by the American Bluegrass band Split Lip Rayfield, released in 1999 .-Track listing:All songs written by Kirk Rundstrom except where noted.# "13" – 2:09# "Wrong" – 2:26...
(1999) - Never Make It HomeNever Make It HomeNever Make It Home is the third studio album by the American Bluegrass band Split Lip Rayfield, released in 2001 .- Track listing :All songs written by Kirk Rundstrom except where noted.# "Movin' To Virginia" – 2:49...
(2001) - LiveLive (Split Lip Rayfield album)Live or Split Lip Rayfield Live is the first live album from the bluegrass/punk band Split Lip Rayfield. It was recorded live on New Year's Eve of 2003 at The Bottleneck in Lawrence, Kansas...
(2004) - Should Have Seen It ComingShould Have Seen It ComingShould Have Seen It Coming is the fourth studio album by the American Bluegrass band Split Lip Rayfield, released in 2004 .-Track listing:All songs written by Kirk Rundstrom except where noted....
(2004) - Live at the BluebirdLive at the BluebirdLive at the Bluebird or Split Lip Rayfield / Live at the Bluebird Theatre / Denver, CO is the second live album from the bluegrass/punk band Split Lip Rayfield. It was recorded live on January 28 of 2006 at The Bluebird Theatre in Denver, Colorado. It contains music from their first three albums...
(2006) - I'll Be AroundI'll Be Around (album)I'll Be Around is the fifth studio album by the American Bluegrass band Split Lip Rayfield, released on October 15, 2008 . It is significant in that this is the first studio album after former guitar player Kirk Rundstrom's death, and it is dedicated to his memory...
(2008)