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Artist
Mad Anthony
12+ albums
hard rockPsychedelic Rockalternative rockUSAPhratry Records
about
There are 2 artists for Mad Anthony: 1) In early 1975, rays of California sun filtered through the rafters of an old barn in Santa Barbara as three friends from Ohio—John K. Schwab, Larry Dotson, and Carl “Mad Anthony” Richards—gathered around a single microphone. Armed with acoustic guitars, effortless harmonies, and a decade’s worth of musical chemistry from their time on the Ohio club circuit, they recorded a set of demos that shimmered with warmth, intimacy, and melodic grace. Though the trio hoped the recordings would launch their career, the promised record deal never came. The songs sat quietly for decades—until Schwab’s son Ben, now a musician with the bands Drugdealer and Sylvie, heard them and recognized their quiet brilliance. After years of Ben’s gentle persuasion, the trio agreed the world should finally hear what they had created. The result is The Lost Tape, released in 2023 via Earth Libraries. It’s a poignant time capsule from a golden era of California soft rock, filled with fingerpicked guitars, wistful lyrics, and lush vocal interplay. Recorded live to two-track with a single Shure SM-57 mic—“the kind Roger Daltrey used,” Schwab jokes—the songs glow with a raw, analog warmth that digital recordings rarely match. Originally formed in Cincinnati, Mad Anthony’s core sound was shaped by covers of The Byrds, The Beatles, Jackson Browne, and CSN, but their original songs evolved into something deeply personal. From the rolling piano lines of “Rina” to the wate
