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The Rugburns are an American indie-rock group originally formed by Steve Poltz and Robert Driscoll in the early 1980s. While they are currently inactive as a recording group, The Rugburns still occasionally perform together each year.

1 History
2 Members
3 Discography
4 External links

[edit] History

In the 1990's the band played various coffeehouses and bars in the San Diego, CA area including the Interchange Coffee House and Java Joe's. The group was a local favorite. The band achieved a small level of national fame when some of the fans of Jewel Kilcher began to follow the group. Jewel dated Steve Poltz for some time and he was known to occasionally play with her, including lead guitar on the Spirit World Tour in 2000. The lineup of the Rugburns has been rather stable. Driscoll and Poltz remained as the original core of the band.

After agmenting the Rugburns lineup with bassist Gregory Page and drummer Jeff Aafedt, the group signed a contract with Bizarre/Planet Records in 1992. After working for two years, the group finally released their major label debut with Morning Wood. With comical, sometimes bizarre lyrics, the band experienced their first taste of national exposure. The music and lyrics were compared to bands such as The Beat Farmers and Ween. The song "Me and Eddie Vedder" would go on to be perhaps the most recognizable track on the album. The song was a raucous meditation on the glorious possibilities of overdosing in a hotel room alongside Eddie Vedder. The experience concludes with 8-track players blaring the Houses of the Holy album as Vedder and Poltz are laid to rest.

The band would go on the release one more full-length album in 1995. Taking the World By Donkey again featured a generous helping of acoustic guitars spiked with ridiculous lyrics. Upon closer examination, it becomes evident that some of the humor of the first record has been replaced with darker themes. "The Ballad of Tommy and Marla" tells the sad tale of a couple that becomes hooked on crystal meth and eventually have their entire lives destroyed by their drug abuse.