Jeff Olson (Musician)

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Jeff Olson (July 14, 1962) is a percussion artist from the international doom/rock bands, Trouble and Retro Grave.

Contents

[edit] Trouble

The release of Trouble's Pslam 9, in 1984 and the "The Skull" following in 1985 soon led to the departure of Olson to pursue teaching music while simultaneously writing musical scores, recording and releasing on his own label, Upland Recording, and later receiving a BM degree in Film Scoring from Berklee College of Music while still participating in all of Trouble's future albums with the exception of "Manic Frustration" recorded in 1992. [1]

Olson has toured internationally with Trouble, off and on since 1979, headlining shows throughout the US and performing at numerous music festivals throughout Europe that included the infamous 1995 Dynamo Open Air Festival in front of a staggering record high audience for Dynamo of over 118,000 people.[2] Olson continues to write, record and tour worldwide with Trouble.

Songs written for Trouble by Olson

  • Victim of The Insane (Psalm 9)
  • drums parts for E.N.D. (self titled Trouble album)
  • Till The End of Time (Plastic Greenhead)
  • Beginning of Sorrows (Simple Mind Condition)

[edit] Retro Grave

The debut, self-titled (self-released) Retro Grave EP was released on June 5 2007. The EP was written, recorded and performed in its entirety by Olson. In October 2007, Michael Schermuly was added as the permanent guitarist for Retro Grave. In December 2007, J. Cortes and Rob Zimmermann were chosen by Olson to complete the line-up.


[edit] Background

Jeff Olson was born on July 14, 1962 in Wareham, Massachusetts. He later moved to Aurora, Illinois with his family at the age of five. Olson' first learned how to play the piano when he was six and later learned to play trumpet when he was eight. By the time he was twelve, Olson began marching for DCI (Drum Corps International) with the Fox Valley Raiders in the snare line. The following season, The Raiders drum corps folded and Olson then joined Blue Stars of Lacrosse Wisconsin playing first soprano bugle. He can be seen on the DCI Legacy DVD (front row first soprano bugle side left).

Olson has kept busy over the years during Trouble‘s hiatuses. He graduated from Berklee College of Music in 1992 with a BM degree in Film Scoring, composed tunes for the Borealis Theater Company in Chicago as well as producing an album for children titled, "Children's Stories From Around the World." [3] In 1996, Olson created the "electronic music ensemble" course when he was a teacher of midi and recording techniques at Wabaunsee Community College in Aurora, Illinois. The following year he was commissioned by the Paula Fraz Dance Company in Chicago, IL to arrange and to compose original music for the performance of "Songs My Mother Sang Me. Olson received the prestigious 'Ruth Page Award' for his work on that production.

In addition to holding the drum chair for both Trouble and Retro Grave, Olson has also delved into other band projects. He played drums for Trouble guitarist, Bruce Franklin's, Supershine as well as Trouble guitarist, Rick Wartell's, Wet Animal. Olson was also involved with pre production work and recorded percussion for "Canticle of the Plains" by Rich Mullins.

[edit] References (External links)

  1. ^ www.RetroGravemusic.com
  2. ^ http://youtube.com/watch?v=4BowjBiGQT0 Dynamo Open Air Festival. Plastic Greenhead performance 1995.
  3. ^ Great Falls Tribune - www.greatfallstribune.com - Great Falls, MT

Notes

  1. Official Trouble website NewTrouble.com
  2. Official Retro Grave website RetroGraveMusic.com
  3. Great Falls Tribune "Drummer Marches to a Very Busy Beat" Douglass, Patrick. 2007
  4. Roadburn Festival and Zine Olson, Jeff. Biography of Retro Grave. 2007
  5. Metal Centre Johnson, Joshua. The formation of Retro Grave.
  6. Battle Helm Siva, Shan. Lay Preacher legend, Early days of Trouble, Olson's collaboration with Supershine, 2007.
  7. EscapiMusic.eu Trouble Trouble bio
  8. EscapiMusic.eu Wet Animal Wet Animal bio
  9. RockMyMonkey.com Carras, Mark. Olson's former work with Wet Animal, Trouble band and Christianity. 2007.