Orange Driver - Ugly As Sin - 1991 (WARNING: Language!!!)
live at the Cat's Cradle - previously unreleased

In 1990, Ugly Americans guitarist Danny Hooley (nee "Hooligan") moved from Durham to Raleigh to form the first version of Orange Driver with singer/guitarist Danny Kurtz, bassist Chris Stephens and drummer Chris Brewer.

The band, which played most of its gigs at The Fallout Shelter (now defunct) that year, was short-lived, but during this time, Hooley wrote some of the songs that would be carried over to the next version of the band, including "Walk Home Alone" "Rio Rita," and "The Driver."

Hooley moved back to Durham in mid-1990 and formed another band with guitarist Matt Paul, and bassist Joe Caparo and drummer Norman Underwood of Chapel Hill band Leap of Faith.

Caparo and Underwood worked at Pepper's Pizza, so Chapel Hill naturally became the band's base of operations. At the time, of course, Chapel Hill was experiencing a musical renaissance, with bands like Superchunk, Archers of Loaf and Pipe. Hooley's idea was for the band to stand out with its punk-inspired hard rock, much in the same way The Dead Boys stood out in the art-rock scene of Cleveland in the late `70s.

But, just as The Dead Boys had to eventually move to New York to make their fame, Orange Driver learned that going against the grain in a tightknit scene doesn't always work. Although they drew enthusiastic audiences in Durham, Greensboro and Raleigh, the band was unpopular in Chapel Hill, despite getting some college radio airplay the single "Walk Home Alone" /The Driver/"Rio Rita" on the band's own Power Trash Records.

Drummer Norman Underwood was the first to leave, replaced by OD mach 1 drummer Chris Brewer. Orange Driver split up for good in 1993.

Band Members:
Danny Hooley — Guitar, vocals
Matt Paul — Guitar
Joe Caparo — Bass, vocals
Drums — Norman Underwood