Biography
Hailing from Philadelphia, Tin Ear formed as a classic rock trio steeped in the glam and arena-rock aesthetics of the 1970s. Singer and songwriter Dave Richards evokes the vocal presence of Marc Bolan, while the group’s two albums weave in touches of Cheap Trick, Kiss, Todd Rundgren, Boston, and assorted other FM radio fixtures. Unlike the knowing irony displayed by Urge Overkill or Redd Kross, Tin Ear emerged as the most readily approachable act to join Kramer's self-consciously unconventional Shimmy Disc roster. Before turning to music, Richards served as an account executive at a Philadelphia television station until a minor nervous breakdown led him to retreat to his mother’s farm in rural Pennsylvania for recovery. There, while restoring his equilibrium in the countryside—echoing the earlier retreats undertaken by Traffic in 1967 and Led Zeppelin in 1971—he reconnected with the classic rock of the 1960s and 1970s that had shaped his youth, prompting him to take up the guitar and begin composing and recording songs. On the band’s 1993 debut, The Gospel of Tin Ear, Richards handled every instrument except the drums, which were supplied by Luke Astro and Matt Coogan. Once the album appeared, he assembled a touring lineup with Coogan and bassist Ramone Sender. The same three musicians recorded the more psychedelic and abrasive follow-up, Ballad of a Tin Band, which became one of Shimmy Disc’s final releases before the label closed; nothing further was heard from the band afterward.
Albums
