United States, which was formed in 1982 by the former Green on Red drummer Van Christian[1] and David Seeger, who had been in the original line-up of the Giant Sandworms (who later became Giant Sand) as well as The Pedestrians, a band credited with having performed the first punk rock show in Tucson.
[2] Other artists who recorded or performed with the band included members of Green on Red[3] and the Sand Rubies, John Convertino and Joey Burns, later of Calexico, Chuck Prophet, Rainer Ptacek[4] and longtime drummer Tommy Larkins, who currently plays with Jonathan Richman, famously appearing with him as half of the two-man Greek chorus in There's Something About Mary.
Christian himself also performed with The Band of Blacky Ranchette (an occasional project of Giant Sand's Howe Gelb)[5] and was in the original lineup of The Friends of Dean Martinez.
[7] The band was also associated with the vaguely psychedelic Paisley Underground scene out of Los Angeles.
Though they never achieved commercial success, they, like many Tucson bands, acquired a substantial following in Europe.