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New Orleans-based sludge-metal pioneers Crowbar debuted in 1991 with the album Obedience Thru Suffering. The group's 1993 follow-up was notably produced by Pantera frontman Phil Anselmo, while two of its songs received video-play via classic MTV series Beavis & Butthead.
Crowbar has remained steadily active in the 28 years since Obedience Thru Suffering came out, even while bandleader Kirk Windstein worked with Down, Valume Nob, and Kingdom Of Sorrow. Still touring in support of 2016's The Serpent Only Lies, Crowbar is currently on the road with Corrosion of Conformity, Mothership, Weedeater and The Obsessed. Crowbar has plans to hit Europe and Australia right after finishing up in Nashville, Tennessee on February 27th.
Kirk Windstein spoke with me by phone about the past, present and future of Crowbar, and below are some sports-related highlights from the chat; more from the interview can be read online via PureGrainAudio.
Did you ever encounter the WCW professional wrestler named Crowbar?
Kirk Windstein: I've heard of him, I never did. When I was a kid I watched wrestling. Our drummer Tommy [Buckley] and Matt [Brunson] -- the other guitar player -- they've always kind of followed wrestling, especially our drummer. When we're on tour we've got satellite TV and all, so we watch it. I watch it a bit. I've heard of Crowbar but I've never seen him.
Word is that he's a chiropractor these days, so he's kind of out of the business. But being from New Orleans, seeing the 504 area code [on your phone number], are you a Saints fan by any chance?
Kirk Windstein: Absolutely.
I brought that up because earlier you mentioned the sports analogy, where in sports success is basically based on statistics while in music you can't really measure success for the most part. I'm curious if you were an athlete at any point in your life.
Kirk Windstein: Yes actually, my entire life up and going into high school. I always played football, I ran track, I lifted weights... Sports and music were my two loves at a very young age. At some point in time I realized, "Hey, I'm not going to get anywhere trying to play sports for a living. But you know, music, let me concentrate on this."
You're right, it's true. Sports really are about statistics while music, you know, it's not about how many records you sell, how many people you put in at a venue, because there are a lot of -- in my opinion -- horrible bands or artists that pack arenas and also sell records. Most of my favorite bands that are big influences on me never really hit big at all. It has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of the performance or the quality of music they make.
But the bottom line is that Crowbar is still going strong in 2019...
Kirk Windstein: Absolutely.
So in closing, any last words for the kids?
Kirk Windstein: Yeah, thanks for all your support over the years. To the new fans... Pretty much every night I meet someone that just found out about the band in the last year or two, or they came out to see COC or Weedeater or Mothership. I don't know what to expect and I love you guys. That's what we're out here doing, so thanks for 30 years of support.
