Biography

Tommy Stinson was playing a larger role in the Replacements in the group's final years, and after their breakup in 1991, Bash & Pop gave Stinson his first chance to show what he could do as a frontman and bandleader. Formed by Stinson (who switched from bass to guitar and handled lead vocal and songwriting duties) and drummer Steve Foley (who had briefly replaced Chris Mars in the waning days of the Replacements), the group also included Foley's bassist brother Kevin Foley and guitarist Steve Brantseg. Bash & Pop recorded 1993's Friday Night Is Killing Me with Minneapolis producer Don Smith. By many accounts, the group failed to jell into a cohesive unit, and it was later revealed that Stinson recorded most of the album either playing most of the instruments by himself, or with various guest musicians, including half of Tom Petty's Heartbreakers and Wire Train's Jeff Trott. (In the wake of the band's breakup, Stinson told a reporter for Goldmine magazine, "When the Replacements broke up, my original idea was to form a group that was basically the same thing the 'Mats were early on, which was a spirited band with a good chemistry, and which shared the same vision. We tried that with Bash & Pop with two different lineups, but I never really found four people who shared that camaraderie.") By the time the album was finally released, Stinson had already fired both Steve Brantseg and Kevin Foley. The band limped through a short tour and unceremoniously broke up after the album racked up disappointing sales and garnered mixed reviews. After Bash & Pop stalled out, Stinson went on to form another band, Perfect, and recorded and toured as a solo act before signing on as Guns N' Roses' bassist in 1998. Meanwhile, Steve Foley formed the group Wheelo, but his life and career were cut short when he was stricken with depression and anxiety, and he died in 2008 at the age of 49. In 2012, Stinson and Paul Westerberg reunited as the Replacements to record a handful of songs for a benefit EP in support of 'Mats guitarist Slim Dunlap, and Stinson played bass with a new edition of the Replacements that toured from 2013 to 2015. History chose to repeat itself once again, and after the reunited Replacements broke up, Stinson decided to re-form Bash & Pop, this time with an entirely new lineup. Recording with a crew of musicians that included guitarists Luther Dickinson, Chip Roberts, and Steve Selvidge, bassist Cat Popper, keyboardist Tony Kieraldo, and drummers Frank Ferrer and Joe Sirois, the second Bash & Pop album, Anything Could Happen, was released in January 2017, with a tour scheduled in support. ~ Stewart Mason & Mark Deming, Rovi