The Caroline Know

The Caroline Know was formed in the summer of 1989 in Northampton, Massachusetts by former Loneliest Christmas Tree singer/songwriter Stephen Rand along with bassist Les LaBarge, a veteran of the Western Mass hardcore scene and drummer Jason Loewenstein, who would later go on to achieve reknown as a member of Sebadoh and on his own as a solo artist (they would also be joined on occasion by Sebadoh's Eric Gaffney on second guitar. Particularly memorable was a Sunday afternoon show at a local VFW where their audience consisted of about seven ten year old boys with skateboards who smirked at them and a concert at the University of Massachusetts where the power was shut down when Eric kicked in on the guitar solo on a cover of Zeppelin's "Tangerine"). This version of the band played together for a little over a year or so. During that time they played support gigs for such national acts as Galaxy 500, Miracle Legion, The Lemonheads and Buffalo Tom, as well as frequently playing smaller club gigs in the area. A cassette only release "Trust Nature" caught the ear of Brian Kirk at The Bus Stop Label and he released their debut 7 " single "Nail/Orphaned Too". When it was released it received rave reviews in Rock Pool, CMJ and The Bob along with positive notices in several fanzines of the time. However, when the single was released the original version of the band had broken up.In early 1991 Stephen relocated to New York City where he started a second version of The Caroline Know with bassist Spike Priggen (Dumptruck, Liquor Giants, etc..) drummer Tada Hirano (Ultra Bide) and guitarist Ted Barron. They performed frequently in the Tri-State area between 1991 and 1993 and recorded two 7" singles, "Krushedy Krush/Little Bocephus" for the Number 1 Records label and another for Bus Stop, "Posicle C/For True".After the second version of the group disbanded, Stephen began working with origanal bassist Les LaBarge again and they were joined by former Loneliest Christmas Tree and Veronica Cartwrights drummer Josh Belknap. In 1995 they recorded their debut album "Light Flow Days" with Mark II Caroline bassist Spike Priggen helping out as engineer and producer. The album was eventually released on The Bus Stop Label and the band played a series of shows in support of it. Despite having cultivated a rabid, albeit small, following in the States and abroad, the band never really achieved the success that they'd hoped for and began to pursue other projects.In 2000 Stephen resurfaced with a new band "Stephen Rand and His Magic Ponies" and a new album "The Blushing Bachelor" which was released on the Wormco label. The album was produced by Stephen and producer Adam Lasus (Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Helium, Varnaline, etc., etc.). Upon its release in February 2000, they did a series of shows opening for Lou Barlow (Sebadoh, Folk Implosion) as well as a number of shows in New York and New England in support of the album.2004 saw the production of a tee shirt of the The Caroline Know's "Popsicle C" record jacket that was manufactured by the COMME des GARCONS fashion line and introduced in their autumn/winter 2004 collection. The band also played a few shows in New York and Massachusetts during this time.Stephen recently moved back to Western Massachusetts and has reformed the band with Les and Stephen's brother Terry on rythm guitar and vocals and have just added new drummer Paul Pelis (King Radio, Humbert). The band is currently playing out, recording and planning to have a new vinyl album out by the spring of this year.