Kirk Windstein & Crowbar  

Crowbar came into existance in 1989, founded on Kirk Windstein's vision of a primed and ready metal entity that would, as he so aptly puts it, "lay down the law" wherever they played.

Kirk explains,"Fueled by the down-tuned sludge of the Melvins, and the over-the-top aggression of Peter Steele's Carnivore, I set out to create my own beast, and Crowbar was born."

And sixteen years later Crowbar are still a force to be dealt with. Over time, through many changes in personnel as well as record labels, the band have stayed true to the original formula while refining their distinctive sound.

The original line up consisted of Kirk Windstein on guitar and vocals, Kevin Noonan on second guitar, Todd Strange on bass and Jimmy Bower on drums. By the time their debute CD "Obedience Through Suffering" was released in 1992 Jimmy Bower had left the New Orleans area and and was thus replaced by Craig Nunenmacher on drums, who is featured on that recording.

The year 1993 saw another change with guitarist Matt Thomas replacing Kevin Noonan. That year's offering of songs appeared on an lp titled simply "Crowbar". This Phil Anselmo produced project, that the band now refer to as 'their first real album', drew world wide attention. Promoting this recording, Crowbar spent more time on the road with the payoff being a noticable expansion of their fan base each time out.

In 1994, Live + 1 captured the raw power of the band's live performances the only new song featured being "Numb Sensitive."

In 1995 the band released "Time Heals Nothing" which showcased a marked musical expansion. The pummeling outbursts of speed, offset by the deepened, more melodic expression of their trademark slow style exemplified what has come to be known as the true Crowbar sound.

Crowbar continued to evolve in the releases that followed on almost a yearly basis: Broken Glass 1996, "Past and Present" 1997 (compilation), "Odd Fellow's Rest" 1998 (well known for it's dark melodic undertones) "Equilibrium" 2000, "Sludge" (compilation) also released in 2000 and "Sonic Excess In It's Purest Form" 2001, after which there was was a bit of a break taken while Kirk worked on other band projects, namely Down and Valume Nob. Kirk also married his lovely wife, Nicole and became a father during this time.

In March of 2004 Stephen entered into the equation of this legendary band. Kirk planned a rebirth of sorts for Crowbar in early 2004 and rebuilt the band with Stephen Gibb as guitarist, Pat Bruders on bass and Tommy Buckley on drums.

"After a two and a half year hiatus, while I recorded and toured with Down, Crowbar hit the stage for the first time on June 24, 2004," says Kirk, "The new lineup of myself, Stephen Gibb, Tommy Buckley and Pat Bruders proved to be crushing from the first few chords."

The European tour of 2004 was a big success, the highlight of which was their performance at the With Full Force festival in Liepzig, Germany.

Currently the band have a new CD out called "Lifesblood For The Downtrodden" which is recieving very positive reviews. At the time of this writing Kirk and krew have just completed a very demanding US tour promoting the album and are midway through their tour of the UK and Europe.

When all is said and done it can not be denied that this band have become legends in their own time, garnering the loyalty of a wide cross section of true heavy metal fans the world over.

From late 2004 to the middle of 2005 Crowbar toured the United States, returned to the United Kingdom and co-headlining with Hatebreed, adding in some headline dates in Europe, before finishing off again back in the United States.

Stephen took on the task of putting together the first ever Crowbar DVD. This would primarily be focused around the 2004 live stage set at the famous "With Full Force" festival in Germany, but would also include band member interviews, back stage footage and a few of the bands videos.

Sadly the devestation to New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 cancelled plans for the second single "Slave No More" to be released and the video was shelved.

"Lifesblood for the Downtrodden" gained critical and fan acclaim as a must have to any metal collection following it's release in 2007. There is an extensive review of the DVD on the Reviews section of the Media page.

On Christmas Eve 2009 it was officially announced that Stephen had left Crowbar. In a statement Kirk issued he said