Great Lakes is an American rock and roll band formed in Athens, Georgia, United States, in 1996.
The debut self titled album Great Lakes was recorded 1996–1999 on Crum's 1/2" 8-track tape machine in their home studio in Athens, Georgia.
The group consisted of founders Ben Crum, Dan Donahue, & James Huggins III, with a bevvy of supporting players from the Athens/E6 music scene.
Back then it was me and Dan writing songs together, but by the time the first record came out we'd put together a big band that also featured Kevin Barnes from of Montreal, Scott Spillane from Neutral Milk Hotel/Olivia Tremor Control, Bryan Poole from Elf Power, and Derek Almstead, Dottie Alexander, Heather McIntosh, and Jamey Huggins as a multi-instrumentalist and our main drummer.
The group started as a songwriting partnership between Dan Donahue and Ben Crum with James Huggins III joining band when it officially formed in 1996.
The original lineup also included bassist/vocalist Craig Ceravolo and performed and recorded demos in Birmingham, Alabama, under the name ‘Cherry Valence’.
The LP package included a psychedelic 3-D cut-out mobile meant to sit atop the vinyl record and spin as it is played, designed by Donahue with technical help from long time R.E.M.
The final track on the self-titled debut, "Virgl," (penned by Huggins, though owing a heavy debt to The Kinks' "Picture Book") was included on a CMJ music magazine sampler CD in 2000.
It was selected as one of the top ten overlooked albums of that year by Magnet Magazine, which noted the band's ability to "spew out a fuzz-laced garage assault" and complimented their "knack for fusing melancholy with feats of ballroom levitation"[citation needed].
He remained a recording and arranging contributor to Great Lakes for the third album, but no longer performed live with the band.
[2] 'Diamond Times’ is the last recording to feature many of the original performers, including Huggins, Poole, Alexander, and Barnes (though Andrew Rieger and Heather McIntosh contributed to the band's later albums).
Crum discusses the story of the album in a lengthy piece written for Aquarium Drunkard[3] Ways of Escape is notable for the introduction of vocalist Suzanne Nienaber, and features, among others, Kevin Shea of Storm & Stress on drums, Joe McGinty on keyboards, David Lerner of Ted Leo and the Pharmacists on bass, and long-time Great Lakes contributor Heather McIntosh on cello.
Again, the album features Crum with Nienaber, Shea, McGinty, and Wachtel, and includes guest spots from Andrew Rieger and Luis Leal.
[7] Long-running music site Babysue said of Dreaming Too Close: "These ten originals show why fans continue to follow and support Great Lakes.