Loose County Road Commission

loose county was a regular touring rock band in west michigan from 95 to 98′. they stood out from the start with their “backwoods hicks” stage look and their in your face rock sound. originally formed in the fall of 95′ , loose county was started by brian arnold ( drummer) dave whipple (guitar) and jake stilson (vocals/ guitar). brian and dave had grown up together since jr high and started their music journey learning their instruments from scratch together from the ages of 12 and 14 respectively. they played for a short time in a three piece band with dave holbrook ( lead singer of klikred) called iron river. jake stilson began as a country singer/songwriter and was asked to fill the vocal spot in brian and dave’s “new project” in the summer of 95′.

with a handful of originals and a few covers loose county road commission played its first few shows in and around big rapids area in the fall of 95′. in the beginning of november 95′ bill schlueter was recruited to fill the b-ss player spot and the band was complete. from there it was full speed ahead, playing several shows a month. the band hit the studio in the spring of 96′ and recorded their first alb-m (blind sucker floodin, ) which sold around 1000 copies.

some of the more notable venues they played were the intersection, earth day fest 96′ small planet in east lansing, the barry county expo center,the orbit room and ferris state university. they were picked as finalists in the( aris’s big disc ) battle of the bands and featured on the contest’s compilation cd in 97′, lcrc’s music received airplay on radio stations in detroit, grand rapids, mount pleasant, muskegon, big rapids and other large cities. lcrc played over 80 shows to thousands of peaple. other bands of note that loose county played with were chris duartay, milk house, the teenage frames, daddy longlegs, etc. loose county road commission shortened their name in late 97 to loose county.

the original band split up in the spring of 98′ when founding member dave whipple moved out of state. for a short time his spot was filled by brandon lardie, a close friend of the band and local guitar hero. by the summer of 98′ the band called it quits for good with a whole alb-ms worth of unrecorded material. in the following years there were a few reunion shows that showed the bands following was still interested and in 05′ the band reunited and returned to the studio with original guitarist dave whipple back in the lineup and brandon lardie rejoining the band on b-ss and guitar. bill schlueter declined to rejoin the band for the new record. soon after, they released their long awaited second alb-m (the return of rock n roll).

jake stilson is currently playing live in the grand rapids music scene and is an accomplished singer/ songwriter. he is also working on his 3rd solo alb-m. brian arnold is playing regular shows with his band klikred, who are about to release their first alb-m. brandon lardie played with the band cryin wolf for several years and is now forming a new group. dave whipple is working on his first solo alb-m and has done studio work. bill schlueter is married and lives in southern michigan.

nearly all loose county material was written by jake stilson and dave whipple. the band has compiled a greatest hits alb-m that will be released sometime in 09′ with favorites like “moonchild”, “have your way” ,”yankee women” “electric seranade”and the previously unreleased “bucket”. any future releases of new material by the band have not been announced at this time.
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