Stinging Nettles is a folk-rock/Indie-rock band from Lancaster, PA. This three piece consists of John Huebner on lead vocals & guitars, Andrew Jacobs on electric bass & bkgrd vocals & Marshall Fischer on the drums and the occasional hoot or holler!
This blog was created for the members of the band to write about daily happenings, recording sessions, gigs & etc.
Stinging Nettles have opened for bands such as Everclear, Slimfit & The Sleeping World. They’ve performed two years in a row at Freedom Fest at Marion Ct. in Lancaster. The band has consistently performed at Bube’s Brewery in Mount Joy and Chameleon Club & Quips Pub in Lancaster over the last 2+ years. Stinging Nettles have most recently played Manheim PA’s Laserdome…. with a Laser Light Show.
A little band history. John Huebner played in three bands prior to founding Stinging Nettles… which came about after Andrew Jacobs (AJ) engineered, mixed & mastered an EP for John called “Wayfarin’” and liked what he heard so much that he urged John to start a band that would play gigs and put out records. AJ offered to play bass in the band. Soon thereafter, AJ decided to end the band he had started/fronted: Altercana. Jacobs quickly added some groove and mojo to the rhythm section… standing alongside Marshall Fischer who gladly accepted to fill the drummer spot!
John had several songs he had written for a potential solo full-length, so the three decided to rehearse and book some gigs. In the process- John, AJ & Marshall decided to recruit a lead guitarist and requested the riffs of Paul Skozilas (Nobody Drives My Car/Blue Jean Hackman/Felix Lighter) whom John played drums for in NDMC. Paul added a quirky, sonically daring element to the jolted, fuzzy scraggle-twang that is Stinging Nettles! Unfortunately, Paul decided to concentrate on his main project: Blue Jean Hackman- now called “Felix Lighter”. To replace the hole left by Paul, the band brought on Slimfit’s lead vocalist/rhythm guitarist, Joe McMonagle to play lead guitar. This lasted several rehearsals and the grand total of two shows. Joe, also, had to concentrate on his main project who have now gone on to getting some well-deserved media attention and some pretty cool gigs to say the least. The current lineup is John, AJ & Marshall. So the band learned how to play the tunes as a three-piece and rock just as hard as the four piece powerhouse they had once been.
Currently, Stinging Nettles is finishing up their full-length record, titled “Tread Softly”. The album is slated for a February 2009 release. The band is recording & mixing the record themselves. Mastering will tentatively be done at Treelady in Pittsburgh, PA.
The future is unwritten……
