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tumbleweed

 
Dictionary: tum·ble·weed   (tŭm'bəl-wēd') pronunciation
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n.
Any of various densely branched annual plants, such as amaranth and Russian thistle, that break off from the roots at the end of the growing season and are rolled about by the wind.


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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: tumbleweed
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Plant that breaks away from its roots and is driven about by the wind as a light rolling mass, scattering seeds as it goes. Examples include pigweed (Amaranth retroflexus, a widespread weed in the western U.S.) and other amaranths, tumbling mustard, Russian thistle, the steppe plant Colutea arborea, and the grass Spinifex of Indonesian shores and Australian steppes.

For more information on tumbleweed, visit Britannica.com.

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: tumbleweed
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tumbleweed, any of several plants, particularly abundant in prairie and steppe regions, that commonly break from their roots at maturity and, drying into a rounded tangle of light, stiff branches, roll before the wind, covering long distances and scattering seed as they go. The Russian thistle-Salsola pestifera, of the family Chenopodiaceae (goosefoot family) and not a thistle-is one of the most frequent of the tumbleweeds. Naturalized from Asia, it has become a troublesome pest on Western prairies, although in drought years it may serve as forage in the spring before the spines form. Some other common tumbleweeds, such as Amaranthus albus or A. graecizans, are members of the family Amaranthaceae (amaranth family), naturalized from tropical America and now common weed pests in Western agricultural fields. Others are the hedge mustards (species of Sisymbrium) and several other plants of the goosefoot family, e.g., the winged pigweeds (Cycloloma) and the bugseeds (Corispermum). Tumbleweeds of the family Chenopodiaceae and Amaranthaceae are classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Caryophyllales.

Artist: Tumbleweed
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Group Members:

Steve O'Brien, Richard Lewis, Nik Rieth

Similar Artists:

The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Monster Magnet, The Dandy Warhols
  • Genres: Rock
  • Representative Albums: "Weedseed," "Theatre of Gnomes," "Mumbo Jumbo"

Biography

Australia's heavy psychedelic rockers Tumbleweed mashed a set of acid-drenched, hippie influences with hard-rocking guitar sounds straight out of the '70s. It was a perfect blend to enable them to catch the grunge wave -- at their peak they supported Nirvana on the band's sole Australian tour. Formed in the town of Wollongong, Tumbleweed were initially called the Proton Energy Pills after the TV series Roger Ramjet. When they were signed by indie label Waterfront, they were convinced to ditch their original lead singer, Dave Curley, and they changed their name to reflect the change in lineup. Drummer Richard Lewis took over on vocals and Steve O'Brien was added on drums, while the rest of the lineup -- Paul Hausmeister on guitar and Dave's brothers Lenny and Jay Curley on guitar and bass, respectively -- remained the same.

Waterfront succeeded in hiring Mudhoney frontman (and alleged coiner of the word "grunge") Mark Arm to produce a single for them and also got them signed to Atlantic for American distribution. Atlantic compiled their early material into an album called Weedseed and paid for the band's first tour of England and the U.S., as well as two videos and the recording of their first album proper. Forced to rush things for the sake of the label, they admitted to being unhappy with the album, 1992's Tumbleweed, though it debuted at number 39 on the Australian charts and earned them the coveted spot supporting Nirvana. Atlantic didn't like the album either, and refused to release it overseas.

After Tumbleweed lost their first manager, who had argued with Hausmeister and O'Brien, the Polydor label bought them out of their contract with Waterfront. With Polydor they recorded the Galactaphonic album in 1995, which did even better than their self-titled release, debuting at number six. Atlantic still wasn't impressed enough to give it a wider release, however, and Tumbleweed's new manager had to travel to New York to convince the label to drop them so they could find a more agreeable distributor. In 1996 the argumentative Hausmeister and O'Brien were kicked out by the other bandmembers and replaced by Dave Achille on guitar and Nik Rieth on drums for the Return to Earth album. Afterwards, bassist Jay Curley was also asked to leave and replaced by Phil Lally for their final album, 2000's Mumbo Jumbo. ~ Jody Macgregor, All Music Guide
Wikipedia: Tumbleweed (band)
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Tumbleweed
Origin Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
Genres Stoner rock
Years active 1990–2003
2009
Labels Seed Records
Waterfront Records
Polydor Records
Universal Records
Website unofficial website
Members
Richard Lewis
Steve O'Brien
Paul Hausmeister
Jay Curley
Lenny Curley
Former members
Phil Lally
Dave Achille
Nick Reith

Tumbleweed were a Wollongong-based stoner rock group in Australia, popular during the grunge years of the 1990s. As an opening band for Nirvana on their 1992 tour of Australia,[1] Tumbleweed reached out into the mainstream with their crunchy-psychedelica. The band were signed to the Polydor label by Craig Kamber, who had worked with Powderfinger and Spiderbait.

The original lineup included Bassist Jay Curley, Guitarists Lenny Curley and Paul Hausmeister, Drummer Steve O'Brien and Lead Singer Richard "Richie" Lewis. Members came from groups the Proton Energy Pills and The Unheard. Other bands which include members are: Richie and the Creeps, The Pink Fits, Monstrous Blues, and Leadfinger.

It was announced in July 2009 that the original line-up of the group would reform for the Homebake festival in December 2009.[2]

Discography

External links

References

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ [2]
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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/.  Read more
Veterinary Dictionary. Saunders Comprehensive Veterinary Dictionary 3rd Edition. Copyright © 2007 by D.C. Blood, V.P. Studdert and C.C. Gay, Elsevier. All rights reserved.  Read more
Artist. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Tumbleweed (band)".  Read more