Biography
Ron House participated in multiple Ohio indie rock outfits, notably the Great Plains, Ego Summit, and Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments, establishing a lasting presence across the Midwestern circuit from the 1980s forward. He appeared in every one of the five lineups that constituted the Great Plains, functioning as the sole constant besides Matt Wyatt and Mark Wyatt. The ensemble began in 1983 with the 12-inch EP Mark, Don & Mel on New Age Records. The five-piece unit continued without pause, issuing Born in a Barn via Homestead Records in 1984 plus scattered tracks on assorted fanzine compilations.
The self-released cassette Slaves to Rock & Roll arrived in 1985, joined that same year by the band’s second Homestead outing, the thirteen-song LP Naked at the Buy, Sell and Trade. Three further releases surfaced on Holland’s Shadowline Records through the mid- and late 1980s. A greatest-hits collection, Colorized!, appeared in 1989 as a split between the Diabolo and Demon labels, yet the definitive overview came later with the fifty-song anthology Length of Growth, issued in 2000 by Ohio’s Old 3C Records. The group earned esteem throughout the indie community, prompting covers from Yo La Tengo and Nothing Painted Blue. House next served as vocalist for Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments during the 1990s, a period that yielded numerous singles along with albums on Onion Records, Anyway Records, and Year Xero Records. He also contributed to Ego Summit’s 1997 LP The Room Isn’t Big Enough.
House’s solo material emerged sporadically between band projects. After one compilation appearance in 1983, the 1986 cassette Blind Boy in the Back Seat constituted his substantive debut, offering an eclectic range of songs. Though not strictly solo efforts, the tape encompassed material from House-fronted groups such as Moses Carryout, Twisted Shouts, and Ron & the True Believers; the first two of those received full documentation on the 1999 Spare Me Records release New Wave as the Next Guy, which assembled recordings made between 1978 and 1981. His initial official solo CD, Obsessed, followed in 2002 on Moses Carryout Records.
The self-released cassette Slaves to Rock & Roll arrived in 1985, joined that same year by the band’s second Homestead outing, the thirteen-song LP Naked at the Buy, Sell and Trade. Three further releases surfaced on Holland’s Shadowline Records through the mid- and late 1980s. A greatest-hits collection, Colorized!, appeared in 1989 as a split between the Diabolo and Demon labels, yet the definitive overview came later with the fifty-song anthology Length of Growth, issued in 2000 by Ohio’s Old 3C Records. The group earned esteem throughout the indie community, prompting covers from Yo La Tengo and Nothing Painted Blue. House next served as vocalist for Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments during the 1990s, a period that yielded numerous singles along with albums on Onion Records, Anyway Records, and Year Xero Records. He also contributed to Ego Summit’s 1997 LP The Room Isn’t Big Enough.
House’s solo material emerged sporadically between band projects. After one compilation appearance in 1983, the 1986 cassette Blind Boy in the Back Seat constituted his substantive debut, offering an eclectic range of songs. Though not strictly solo efforts, the tape encompassed material from House-fronted groups such as Moses Carryout, Twisted Shouts, and Ron & the True Believers; the first two of those received full documentation on the 1999 Spare Me Records release New Wave as the Next Guy, which assembled recordings made between 1978 and 1981. His initial official solo CD, Obsessed, followed in 2002 on Moses Carryout Records.
Albums
