Members of Spurge host hometown reunion
Members of Spurge, seen here in high school, are reuniting for a performance on Dec. 26 at the Babcock Theatre.
It’s been nearly 20 years since the alternative rock era spawned grunge, garage rock, and funk metal and just as long since then teenagers Sean Lynch, Keith Brush, Jed Wamhoff and Tim Whitmer started their grungy funk rock band Spurge in Billings.
Sean and Keith, who have known each other since kindergarten, formed Spurge in 1991—Sean on guitar, Keith on bass. They added Jed on vocals and guitar and Tim on drums shortly after and grabbed the attention of the musically hungry youth in Montana with their distinctive sound.
The band spent several years in Billings and relocated to Portland, Ore., in 1995. Members disbanded several years later. Sean moved back to Billings where he formed 1090 Club. Keith currently plays in a number of bands in Portland, and Jed plays in Portland’s The Pink Widower. Tim lives in Bozeman.
Spurge members last shared a stage 12 years ago. In the empty Babcock Theatre, where Spurge is slated to perform on Dec. 26, Jed, Sean, Keith and Tim answered questions about the band that helped shape the Billings music scene in the early 1990s.
What motivated a Spurge reunion after all these years?
Sean: So many people have talked to us about how much we influenced their life at some point in time. Twelve years later, none of us have really been able to recreate what we had.
Jed: People won’t stop calling me about it…People like Sean and Tim.
Tim: We finally broke him down!
Jed: It sounded like a lot of fun and an opportunity to play with these guys who are a big part of why I play music and how I write music.
Keith: We’d talked about it for years, and I was motivated after Sean’s friend re-mastered (all Spurge’s old music).
Sean: It took two years to get that done. We just put up re-mastered stuff on iTunes.
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