Long Low Rumble

Long Low Rumble was an instrumental rock band formed in Athens, Georgia during mid-summer 1987 by drummer Bradley Jacobsen (also La Brea Stompers), guitarist Rick Naylor, bassist Daryl Black, and violinist Mamie Fike (later with Asa Nisi Masa, Chickasaw Mud Puppies and Jackpot City).

For nearly the next two years, the short-lived, yet notable band became critically acclaimed in the Southeast, but never released any Lps or CDs. Several cassette tapes were released to fans and club owners along with their press kits. They shared a practice space on North Jackson Street with two local bands, Ruben Kincaid and We Peoples—a space once used by the B-52s.

Their first performance was at Studio B in Greenville, South Carolina, opening for Ruben Kincaid. And their first Athens gig was performed at the 40 Watt Club on July 28, 1987. Inspired by seminal groups like The Replacements, Iggy Pop, Joy Division and local favorites Pylon (band), Love Tractor, Doo Blan Tant, The Squalls and others, the band to adapted their musical upbringing into dark, melodic, hard-driving instrumentals layered with soft-spoken guitar and piercing lead violin. Long Low Rumble often performed instrumental versions of Joy Division's "Twenty-four hours" and "New Dawn Fades" as part of their set, along with covers of "Give Me Some Money" by Spinal Tap and little known covers by infamous bands like The Mentors. The band played sporadic gigs in Tennessee, South Carolina, Alabama and Georgia.

Early on, the group made a joke out of the process of naming bands. To alleviate the pressure of decision, often they would create up to 10 separate flyers for one gig—each with different band names such as the Flying Pucks, The Dancing Dots and Still. With the subject at an impasse, even a name suggested by The Replacements' frontman Paul Westerberg was dismissed. A fixture around Athens at that time, William Orten Carlton III—better known as ORT, carried a notebook that he filled with possible names for bands. The four borrowed the notebook and decided on the name at the Grill in downtown Athens. Early in 1988, the band added Trey Ledford on lead guitar. Ledford, Jacobsen and vocalist Jim Stacy went on to form The La Brea Stompers in that same year. Stacy played harmonica and sang, Jacobsen played percussion on a red wagon and later a black metal mailbox. Fike went on to record as a guest soloist on the Chickasaw Mudd Puppies first LP in 1988.

The band had two recording sessions: one in October 1987 with Doo Blan Tant's Robbie Collins and February 1988 with Mark Maxwell, putting down four or five songs each. Two songs were played on WUOG in Athens and WRAS in Atlanta. Long Low Rumble went on open for national and international acts such as The Jesus and Mary Chain, Fetchin' Bones, Opal, The Squalls and others. Their final gig took place on March 7, 1989 in Athens with the Pretty Tiny Bullies at the now defunct Uptown Lounge on Clayton Street.

Black has gone on to earn a PhD and teach as a professor of history at Auburn, University of California Irvine and elsewhere. Jacobsen works as a copywriter in Atlanta. Fike went on to perform with Asa Nisi Masa, and currently performs with Jackpot City. Naylor remains unaccounted for.

In 1988, Creative Loafing's David T. Lindsay, the oft vilified Atlanta music critic called the band "The next step in the evolution of Southern Rock."