Lookout 101
Formed in 1992, The Potatomen started as a Lookout Records house band of sorts, as the group was made up entirely of the label staff. Larry Livermore sang and played guitar, Patrick Hynes played the bass and Chris Appelgren was the drummer (though he substituted cardboard boxes for drums as needed). Armed with an acoustic guitar and a battery-powered bass amp, The Potatomen started performing outside of Gilman Street and a nearby doughnut shop frequented by punk kids, singing country-tinged (and Smiths-influenced) pop punk songs about friends and local scenesters like "Aaron Went Shopping," "Davey" and "Punk Rock Boy." It wasn't long before the Potatomen graduated to playing on stages and entered into the studio with Andy Ernst (Green Day, Nuisance) to cut their debut EP "On The Avenue" and the tracks that would constitute their debut album, "Now." The Potatomen went through a number of line-up changes in subsequent years, releasing a number of additional EPs and albums.