The Chop Tops

The rockabilly trio The Chop Tops originated in Santa Cruz, California, when vocalist Gary "Sinner" Marsh assembled the group during the mid-1990s. Momentum developed rapidly around their Bay Area base through a mix of rockabilly, surf, punk, and psychobilly. Their recorded debut arrived with the 1997 album Revved-Up Rockabilly on Swillbilly Music. Tales of Hot Rods, Hot Broads and Lucky Odds appeared in 1999. Always Wild surfaced the next year on Rolling Rock and introduced Shelby on guitar. Brian Setzer noticed the band after their intense 2001 album Evil Six. He responded by booking the Chop Tops for his '68 Comeback Special in August 2001. The first compilation, Hicks with Sticks: A Town North of Bakersfield, arrived in 2005. Fifth full-length Triple Deuces followed in 2006, then Deadly Love in 2010. Josh entered the lineup in 2014 on upright bass alongside Sinner's standup drum kit. Regular touring persisted, placing the band onstage with numerous roots, rock, and punk acts such as Dead Kennedys, the Adolescents, Chuck Berry, Link Wray, John Lee Hooker, Crazy Cavan & the Rhythm Rockers, Wanda Jackson, Dick Dale, the Trashmen, the Blasters, Suicidal Tendencies, and Dwight Yoakam.