The Strawmen
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| The Strawmen | |
|---|---|
 The Strawmen with Mike and Bruce at WOW Hall, Eugene, OR |
|
| Origin | Sacramento, California, USA |
| Years active | 20+ |
| Genres | Guitar Pop |
| Labels | Fools of the World CDBaby |
| Members | David Leonhardt Mark Harmon Bill Harmon |
The Strawmen are an independent band from Sacramento, California, featuring guitarist David Leonhardt, bassist Mark Harmon and vocalist Bill Harmon. Before the Strawmen could record their debut album or play a live concert, two-thirds of the band was "absorbed" by The 77s. After bassist Jan Eric and guitarist/songwriter Mark Tootle left The 77s, vocalist/guitarist Mike Roe and drummer Aaron Smith turned to Mark Harmon and David Leonhardt to replace Eric and Tootle, respectively.
Although defunct throughout the '90s, the three members of the Strawmen independently released At Home in 1996. This resurrection of their original 1987 garage demos sheds a great deal of light on the musical metamorphosis that changed The 77s from a slick but edgy euro-flavored mod-rock band into the jangly Byrds-influenced pop group evidenced on their 1992 release Pray Naked. Several songs featured on At Home eventually found their way onto Pray Naked and The 77s live album Echos o' Faith—The 77s Played Naked. (Liquid Disc Records rereleased At Home several years later, dropping several of the original demos in favor of newer demos featuring the guitar work of vocalist Bill Harmon.)
In 2003, the Strawmen resurfaced with Bruce Spencer and Mike Roe of The 77s pitching in, and released Saving Faded Dreams, distributed via CDBaby. Many consider this a musical continuation of The 77s' Pray Naked, and there may be some truth in this since some of the tunes on Saving Faded Dreams were penned by Mark Harmon and rejected by The 77s in the early 90s. Brother Bill rescued these from the dust bin around 1996, added vocals and melodic lines, and Saving Faded Dreams was born. David Leonhardt added the Pop sensibilites with his songwriting and jangly Stat in 97 and the basic tracks were recorded by Leonhardt in 1998 in Mom's Sewing Room. Mark and Mike finished things up working non-stop for about 6 months in the first half of 2003. Who knows when they'll come up for air again.
