The Crawl was formed in Columbia, SC in 1996 with Allen Smith on lead guitar and background vocals, Hal Axson on bass and background vocals, Burt Solon on drums, and Wayne “Crash” Andrews on lead guitar, lead vocals, and chief songwriting duties. The band took to the road and played live as often as possible in and around the Columbia area building a loyal fan base while honing their skills as a live performing act. That same year The Crawl recorded and released an EP of six original songs engineered by Bob Moore at the SoundLab in Lexington, SC. This EP received favorable write ups in publications such as the State newspaper and The Free Times while having one of the songs, “Here to Stay”, included on the Columbia Musician’s Association compilation CD release which was sponsored by Manifest Discs and Tapes, The Free Times, and Rock 93.5.

 

With the departure of Allen Smith from the band the three remaining members recorded a second EP of six original songs. The EP was recorded with D.B. and Willie Bryant in Winnsboro, SC in 1998 but was never released. Despite this, one of the songs from the EP titled, “Touch the Sky”, was included on the second Columbia Musician’s Association compilation CD from 1999. This song was released under the name Crash Cadillac - the former band name of Solon and Andrews’ early nineties band.

 

With the band now transformed into a power trio, the musical sound was closer to that of Solon and Andrews’ previous band, Crash Cadillac. They continued to play live locally then Hal Axson decided to leave the band to pursue other musical interests and drummer Burt Solon went on to play in The Muddy Quarters Band with D.B. and Willie Bryant. Wayne “Crash” Andrews is taking time off before returning to the music scene again.

 

While this band lasted only two years, the combination of personal chemistry and seasoned musicianship blended into a unique sound that made The Crawl distinctively different from other Columbia bands during the nineties. The body of work recorded over a two year period still stands today as well written and tightly executed hard rock.