Thrum

Thrum took shape in Bellshill, Lanarkshire, in 1992, when guitarist Johnny Smillie met singer Monica Queen during a youth theatre production of Godspell. Smillie drew on Neil Young, while Queen, who had earlier sung in a Christian rock band, pointed to Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash and Tammy Wynette. Out of that mix came indie rock with a country-tinged undertow of rough guitars and twangy vocals.

Signing to Fire Records in early 1993 led to a self-titled EP that April. The singles "So Glad", performed on The Word, and "Here I Am" were well received by critics, and the debut album Rifferama was recorded in San Francisco, with "Purify" closing out its singles. A radio session for Mark Radcliffe previewed a second album, provisionally called "Archangel", but the band split in 1995 before it appeared, and it remains unreleased. Queen later guested on Belle and Sebastian's "Lazy Line Painter Jane" in 1997 and built a solo career. The group reformed in 2011, releasing the album Elettrorama and playing T in the Park, and in 2013 issued All Over Again on Mecca Holding Co with Rory McGregor on bass.