#ditch witch

Me in my last relationship: *ignores 48 red flags a week because i LoVe HiM* 

Me single: I don’t like the way this dude types

- @vvitchymama

~Doomed Discoveries~

Here's something I unearthed over the weekend while I was doing some leg work for an upcoming podcast on the Seattle heavy music scene of the '80s and '90s: WILLARD. This dirty-as-they-come sludge rock machine should have probably been better known to most of us, planted as they were in the Emerald City at the boiling point of Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, and Pearl Jam and releasing two well-regarded, lead-heavy records (an EP and LP, respectively).

Certainly, singer Johnny Clint, guitarists Otis P. Otis and Mark "Spiders" Shropshire, bassist Darren Peters (later succeeded by Tyson Garcia), and Drummer Steve Wied garnered a loyal following in the Northwest underground. Once they're fans responded with such a ruckus that the Seattle Police Department famously banned Willard from performing at Seattle Center...forever.

Add to that, their full-length debut was produced by none other than Jack Endino and released on Roadrunner Records, to great promise. Judging from the press clippings that accompanied 'Steel Mill' (1992), the label was trying to position Willard as the first flank of a new metal offense to counter the grunge occupation of the world (not that I was complaining any about it as a teenager).

So here's something else I learned: the band recorded a second album in '93, but it never saw the light of day. The full story about what happened has never been told. We do know that Willard's sophomore effort was to be called 'Bone Grinder,' but it was shelved by the record label for some reason or another. That or there was some disagreement within the band, because they called it splits after that.

Now some two decades later, eleven previously unreleased Willard songs have surfaced -- presumably from that very studio session I found out while searching for any trace of them on YouTube, which led me right to this previously unreleased song: "Moolg," which is a part of the previously unreleased material l issued now on a label called Black Guitar Records. (Truthfully, I was looking for some extant footage of that Pain In The Grass Festival riot that led to Willard's permaban.)

I was shocked, given the band's place in history and the power of this song, that it had less than 200 views since it was posted in January (I don't care who it's by, I would be excited about this album based on the strength of the material alone). Then again, the band doesn't have any social media or web presence that I could detect (well, not since Myspace) and the label scarcely has any aside from a YouTube channel. I saw some Ditch Witch stuff on there, so the label may be associated in some way with Seattle producer and Grunge legend in his own right, Tad Doyle, of TAD and more lately Brothers of the Sonic Cloth fame. Willard drummer Steve Wied also played in TAD, so he could also have something to do with the somewhat obscure label.

Here's something else that's interesting: rumors have it that the band has reunited and is recording new material, so we may yet have the big Willard splash that should have been. This rather cryptic entry was added to the band's Wikipedia page (without any quotation marks or reference, so I'm assuming it was either added by someone in the band, the band's manager, or their new record label):

Early 2018 -- 11 unreleased Willard songs recorded in Nov 1993 were transferred from 2" Tape to Digital By Stuart Hallerman at Avast! Mark Spiders and Aaron Skok are currently mixing the new songs as of August 2018. All original band members are on board!

Black Guitar Records is proud to announce the first new Willard Record in 25 years! Willard "Underground" is 11 bone crushing songs available at CD Baby, Amazon, and Spotify. First release is a limited edition pressing of 100 CDs.

After listening to the old fashioned five-second samples on CD Baby, I did find, to my delight, the new Willard spin 'Underground' (2019) streaming in its entirety on Spotify (I had to shovel past another Willard of some kind to find it). I need to get myself a physical copy, because I really liked their first two records (though they, too, seem to have suffered from distribution and circulation problems). Still soaking it all in, but digging what I hear so far.

This much I do know: if you enjoy the likes of Soundgarden, Melvins, Helmet or crushing music in general then, son, you need to get you some Willard in your life!

Give ear...

Addendum:

Oh I want to say it's cop week so stay away from the capitol this weekend but it's also the construction show. Just to get it out of the way Ditch Witch wasn't there this year so I'm reposting some pictures from 2023.