Bio:

Formed in 1992 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Abysmal Crucifix's original line-up included Girth McDürchstein on guitar and lead vocals, Robin Kelley on bass and harmony vocals, and Carl Davenport on drums. In 1994, the band split when Girth took the act — including the songs and the band name — to sunny LA, where he discovered new members Little Riffs Nicky (rhythm guitar, harmony vocals), Mikey Parker (bass and harmony vocals), Jam Malone (keyboards), and Tommy Janofsky (drums).

Meanwhile, in Cedar Rapids, Carl and Robin both moved on with their lives. Carl became a modestly successful business owner, investing his college savings into the 1999 reopening of the Blue Lantern, an infamous tavern in Cedar Rapids' rough northeastern point (and site of many Abysmal gigs), as a coffee shop. Robin works in the bookkeeping department at the Quaker Oats factory.

Girth and his new Abysmal line-up recorded several albums on Girth's own label, Kelleystein Recordings: their 1995 debut Star Sex, followed in 1996 by Two Berries on a Twig, and the last in the "sexy trilogy," Backseat Delightlah! in 1998. This last album netted Abysmal its first mainstream renown, with the modest hits "Rolling in It" (#98, Billboard Hot 100, week of August 10th, 1998) and "Bay-Ooh-Tay-Tay," which was remixed in 1999 by Girth's longtime friend DJ Koko.

In mid-1997, during the Backseat Delightlah! sessions, Girth met Margo Atwater, a struggling Los Angeles model/actress/musician, while searching for the perfect Backseat Delightlah! album cover model. The two became friends, and before long, they fell in love. In 2003, he proposed marriage, and she accepted. They were married in Las Vegas, Nevada, on December 2^nd, 2005.

In 1999, shortly before the completion of Abysmal's fourth album, the never-released You Can Touch It for a Quarter, the band took a three-year hiatus from the music scene when Girth McDürchstein was incarcerated on two counts of first-degree homicide in Missoula, Montana. In 2001, Girth was released when new evidence showed that Girth did not actually commit these heinous crimes; he merely spent nine hours in a motel room with the corpses before reporting it.

After his release, Girth reunited with Abysmal Crucifix — with the exception of Tommy Janofsky, who was replaced adequately with a high-end beat box — to embark on a new project. Girth drew his inspiration for this project from two main sources. The first was a book he discovered in the prison library, the 1992 nonfiction journal entitled El Laberinto de los Diablos, a horrowing, first-person chronicle of drug abuse spiraling to criminal behavior and, eventually, suicide. The journal was purported to have been written by Chilean teen José Barrenechea, but evidence uncovered in 1998 revealed the author as noted Mormon anti-drug activist Beatrice Sparks. Girth also took inspiration from the mysterious circumstances of his conviction, Girth spent much of his jail time composing an epic rock opera, the likes of which have rarely been seen in popular music since 1979.

Intended as a satire of the news media — Girth still blames the "court of public opinion" for his tainting his case and getting him convicted — the story of this project, Girth McDürchstein's 'The Hedge', is framed around the night of a rock star's mental breakdown, and the tragic circumstances building to this night are explored through each song. However, unlike real life, the central dramatic question of this story is less "whodunit," and more "whydunit?" What caused "Girth," the fictional protagonist, to break down and commit one crime of passion and one crime of confused, drug-fueled mayhem? What made him cut himself off, building an emotional hedge maze to keep anyone from finding the way to his heart? Was it a tragic life, or was it the lonely nights he spent playing "Doom II" and "Quake III Arena"?

These questions, and more, are raised, answered, and sometimes dismissed in Abysmal Crucifix's 2002 release Girth McDürchstein's 'The Hedge.'

After recording the album with Abysmal Crucifix, Girth performed an exhausting world tour...without Abysmal Crucifix. Instead, Girth opted to have a backup band consisting of the most talented session musicians who would work for very small sums of money. Rather than a typical rock concert, the backup band became his pit orchestra, and Girth performed a complete, staged version of The Hedge in front of audiences from all over the world. The production costarred his soon-to-be fiancé, Margo Atwater, as "the Hired Companion," and after two months the production added a elaborate, twenty-three minute dream-ballet sequence entitled "Skullfucking Infants Estampie." This was later removed from the stage show.

In late 2005, Girth made a brief, ill-advised return to his hometown of Cedar Rapids to attend the wedding of friend and former lover Robin Kelley, Girth and Abysmal Crucifix — with his fiancé, Margo Atwater, joining them on drums — returned to the studio to record Girth McDürchstein's 'The Return', a completely fictional song cycle about a washed-up rocker making a brief, ill-advised return to his hometown of Cedar Rapids to attend the wedding of friend and former lover Kelly Robbins.

Girth and Abysmal Crucifix made the decision to relocate — temporarily — to Chicago to write and record The Return. While there, an extended period of in-fighting in the band led to drastic personnel changes. For the first time since Girth relocated to Los Angeles in 1994, original drummer and background vocalist Carl Davenport returned to the band. At the same time, Little Riffs Nicky, Jam Malone, and Mikey Parker were unceremoniously fired. The new line-up returned to Los Angeles to rerecord the mostly finished Girth McDürchstein's 'The Return,' but as its July release approached, Girth decided the album's subpar quality — both artistically and technically — would do a disservice both to fans and to the band. He decided to put it on the shelf, and there it will remain, unreleased.

Their current line-up includes:
Girth McDürchstein — vocals, guitar
Margo Atwater — bass, harmony vocals
Carl Davenport — drums, harmony vocals

Official Website: http://www.girthmcdurchstein.com