Tiny Lights was a music group formed by John Hamilton (guitar/vocals) and Donna Croughn (vocals/electric violin) in 1985. Original members include Dave Dreiwitz

Dave Dreiwitz

-Biography:Dave Dreiwitz was born on January 2, 1966 in New York City, New York to traditional jazz musician parents, Richard and Barbara Dreiwitz. In 1985 at the age of nineteen, Dave joined the Hoboken, NJ based psych rock band Tiny Lights, his first professional band out of high school...

 (bass/trumpet), Jane Scarpantoni

Jane Scarpantoni

Jane Scarpantoni is a classically trained cello player who has played on a number of alternative rock albums.She was a member of Hoboken, New Jersey's Tiny Lights in the mid-'80s, then went on to play with other musicians especially those associated with the Hoboken underground rock scene of the...

 (cello) and John Mastro (drums). Based in Hoboken, New Jersey

Hoboken, New Jersey

Hoboken is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population was 50,005. The city is part of the New York metropolitan area and contains Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub for the region...

, the group released a total of seven albums, two of which were later released on Psychic TV

Psychic TV

Psychic TV or PTV, is a video art and music group that primarily performs psychedelic, punk, electronic and experimental music...

's Temple Records

Temple Records (1984 UK label)

Temple Records was originally an independent record label run by Genesis P-Orridge and Psychic TV from 1984 through 1994 for releases by Psychic TV and related projects. Releases from this era have a TOPY catalog number. TOPYUS was the sublabel for releases inside the United States of America.In...

. From 1988 to 1994 Tiny Lights toured the United States extensively. Other members include Stuart Hake (cello), Andy Demos (drums), Catherine Bent (cello), Andy Burton (piano, organ), and Ron Howden (drums—formerly the drummer for Nektar

Nektar

Nektar is a 1970s English progressive rock band originally based in Germany.- History :The band formed in Hamburg, Germany in 1969, members included Englishmen Roye Albrighton on guitars and vocals, Allan "Taff" Freeman on keyboards, Derek "Mo" Moore on bass, Ron Howden on drums, and Mick Brockett...

).

The group's members employed a rich array of instrumentation, including cello, electric violin, trumpet, soprano saxophone, tabla drums and bass clarinet. Improvisation was a constant feature of their live performances. One critic has memorably described the band as "Sly and the Family Partridge."

Dave Dreiwitz went on to play bass for the band Ween

Ween

Ween is an American alternative rock group. They formed in 1984 in New Hope, Pennsylvania when central members Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo met in an eighth grade typing class. Ween has a large cult underground fanbase despite being generally unknown in American pop music...

. Jane Scarpantoni has enjoyed a career recording and touring for artists including Lou Reed

Lou Reed

Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades...

, Bob Mould

Bob Mould

Robert Arthur "Bob" Mould is an American musician, principally known for his work as guitarist, vocalist and songwriter for alternative rock bands Hüsker Dü in the 1980s and Sugar in the 1990s.-Early life:...

, 10,000 Maniacs

10,000 Maniacs

10,000 Maniacs is a United States-based alternative rock band, which formed in 1981 and continues to be active with various line-ups.-1981–1993:...

, R.E.M.

R.E.M.

R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...

, The Indigo Girls

Indigo Girls

The Indigo Girls are an American folk rock music duo, consisting of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers. They met in elementary school and began performing together as high school students in Decatur, Georgia, part of the Atlanta metropolitan area...

, Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...

, and the Lounge Lizards. Catherine Bent subsequently toured with Cirque du Soleil

Cirque du Soleil

Cirque du Soleil , is a Canadian entertainment company, self-described as a "dramatic mix of circus arts and street entertainment." Based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul in 1984 by two former street performers, Guy...

, has performed and recorded with jazz and pop artists including Joe Jackson

Joe Jackson (musician)

Joe Jackson is an English musician and singer-songwriter now living in Berlin, whose five Grammy Award nominations span from 1979 to 2001...

, Lee Konitz

Lee Konitz

Lee Konitz is an American jazz composer and alto saxophonist born in Chicago, Illinois.Generally considered one of the driving forces of Cool Jazz, Konitz has also performed successfully in bebop and avant-garde settings...

 and Kanye West

Kanye West

Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...

, and is a Professor at Berklee College of Music

Berklee College of Music

Berklee College of Music, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known primarily as a school for jazz, rock and popular music, it also offers college-level courses in a wide range of contemporary and historic styles, including hip...

. John Hamilton and Donna Croughn are raising their two children in Cambridge, Mass., where John works as a Professor of Comparative Literature at Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

.

On July 10th 2011, John Hamilton granted permission on behalf of Tiny Lights to host recordings on the Live Music Archive

Live Music Archive

The Live Music Archive , part of the Internet Archive, is a collection of over 60,000 concert recordings in lossless audio formats. The website is known for its extensive collection of Grateful Dead recordings.-History:...

, linked below and there is a small but growing collection of live recordings of the band that fans have been contributing.

Discography

• Flowers Through the Air / Zippity-Do-Dah (1985, single)
• Prayer for the Halcyon Fear (1985)
• Hazel's Wreath (1988)
• Know It You Love (1989, unreleased)
• Hot Chocolate Massage (1990)
• Stop the Sun, I Want to Go Home (1992)
• I Think I Just Want to Go Away / Pull It Together (1993, single)
• Milky Juicy (1994)
• The Young Person's Guide to Tiny Lights (1995, compilation)
• The Smaller the Grape, the Sweeter the Wine (1997)

External links

• Tiny Lights live audio recordings at Archive.org