THe Ugly Tree formed in the spring of 2001. Ryan (26 years old, originally from the Bay Area) had returned to school at Oklahoma State Univerity a year prior, after a stint in San Francisco as a professional baseball player. About to finish his last semester before graduating with a degree in history, Ryan began posting fliers for "punk band members" around Stillwater, and met Logan (25 years old and from Houston, TX), who was working at a local CD store, when he asked if he could post a flier in the store. Logan had some Guiness and offered Ryan a beer. They bullshitted for an hour. Ryan had been writing some lyrics and playing guitar in the way of a release since early Feb; Logan had been itching for an excues to get back behind his drums...They talked about music.

Even though they both had quite different punk sensibilities (Ryan preferences for the politicizing influence of punk's capacity for expressionistic prophecy no doubt fostered by his coastal upbringing, as opposed to Logan's tast for the fantastic and bizarre, a cultural product of the American south and midwest) they enjoyed jamming with each other and fleshing out the rhythm and harmony for serveral songs Ryan had written that winter. Straightedge Dan, a Stillwater native, stated jamming with them, and through his help, many of The Ugly Tree's origianl songs were completed. By early May, a singer whom Ryan had met online at "The Oklahoma Underground," a local punk web site, and who was enthusiastic about getting involved in a band (despite, or perhaps because of being a work-a-holic, straight-edge, and 20 years old; Tom is now married with a son on the way) tried out for the band, his mom driving him an hour one way from Shawnee, OK. They covered mostly Minor Threat and Ramones songs. Everyone felft good: getting a singer had started to seem like a nearly insumountable hurdle, and there was a palpable feeling of relief. The relief was partly due to the fact that Ryan was leaving for California over the summer; having the band roster filled out before he left meant a greater likelihood of the band becoming fully realized.

Over the summer, Dan decided to attend Kansas University in the fall. Ryan, Logan, and Tom talked the issue over: it was unlikely to find another bass player so amenable to the eclectic mix of influences and perspectives The Ugly Tree had started to embody. Many of the early compositions Ryan and Logan had penned were still in very tentative form. Although the roster had been rilled, there was a general feeling that the identity of the band was still in the gestation stage. Ryan and logan were worried that a new bass player would create more problems than solve: desperat not to lose Tom as their front man and--feeling, literally, the bottom start to drop out of their vision, their band--they peruaded Tom--trained in classical violin--to take up the bass. Within a month after Ryan returned from CA, the band had recorded 3 songs (Gimme-Minor Threat, Media Slut, & Skull(misfits)") using three microphones and a cackewalk sonar on Tom's computer. They posted the songs as mp3's on an "Ugly Tree" website Tom had designed theuglytree.5u.com during the first two month the website was up it received over 400 hits. Shawnee continued to be the site of the Ugly Tree's exploits, as the band played their first show there, with veteran Christian Hardcore band Eleven Hours Down on Oct. 12th. Continually practicing and preforming again in shawnee, on Nov. 16th. A great crowd reaction, in spite of the show being one of the lesser ones. Tom met a girl named Melissa at that show and started dating her. They eventually got married, and Melissa is now expecting their first child. They had sold a lot of CDs, and their reputation continued to spread. The Ugly Tree continued to write songs and tour, playing with the likes of Eleven Hours Down, By Faith Alone, Ex Machina, The Kriminals, The Drunken Masters, The Misery Addicts, Earth A.D., The Beer Mongers, Festival City Saints, The Roustabouts, & Overhead Kompartment. In May they were invited and honored to play at The Green Door, an up and coming punk club in Oklahoma City, OK.

Despite all the challenges that being a "Drunken-Straight Edge-Hardcore Punk band" (Tom in an interview with Zero Gravity Toilet) in the middle of Nowhere, OK presents.The Ugly Tree loves what they do--they music, shows, fans, friendships, network of punk-oreinted, globally-thinking individuals--and we hope that this music will not only inform, and by association educate, but will also share some of the joy that believing in ones own power to make a difference--when spread out over several individuals--creates.

We appreciate your time and hope that you enjoy listening to our music.