Just as I was pondering on my latest contribution to the Classic Clips feature, news arrived that Bob Rupe had died. That news came via David Lowery of Cracker, a band which featured Rupe on several of their albums including the classic “The Golden Age”. Rupe, either on bass or guitar, featured in several other bands which were significant in the early “No Depression” days of Americana including House Of Freaks, Sparklehorse and Gutterball (a supergroup of sorts which included Steve Wynn and Stephen McCarthy). In later years he was a member of the revived Danny & Dusty, Steve Wynn and Dan Stuart’s occasional bar band venture.
Rupe first came to attention as a co-founder (with Walter Salas-Humara) of The Silos in 1985. One of the pioneering bands of the early alternative country scene The Silos were named Best New Artist in the 1987 Rolling Stone magazine critics’ poll following the release of their second album “Cuba”. Their first two albums had been independently released, but for their third self-titled album, they were signed to RCA Records. Although the album sold more than its predecessors, it fared poorly on the charts, and RCA dropped them. Soon after, Rupe left the band although Salas-Humara kept the name and released several more albums. Our clip captures The Silos at the height of their short-lived moment in the sun as they thrash away at ‘Anyway You Choose Me’ from their 1990 self-titled album. Watching it one can see why The Silos should be mentioned in the same breathe as Uncle Tupelo as kick starters for what we now deign to call Americana.
