Art-pop singer/songwriter George Usher was born in Cleveland, where his early demo recordings gained local radio airplay while he was still in his teens. He had already cut enough demo material to fill out a good 30 albums before he relocated to New York in 1977, soon forming the power-pop band the Decoys; by the middle of the following decade, Usher was a member of the cowpunk outfit Beat Rodeo, appearing on their 1986 LP Home in the Heart of the Beat. A satellite member of the Bongos, during the late 1980s he fronted his own band House of Usher, issuing the LP Neptune as well as teaming with fellow Beat Rodeo alum Steve Almaas in the Gornack Brothers for the acoustic Refund. Subsequently joining the Schramms, in 1996 Usher made his long-awaited solo debut with Miracle School; Dutch April followed two years later. Usher returned in 2001 with the George Usher Group, which also featured guitarist Doug Larcey, bassist Dennis Ambrose and drummer John Bellon, and the album Days of Plenty, which was mixed by Mitch Easter. Fire Garden, also mixed by Mitch Easter, followed in 2003. ~ Jason Ankeny