Burning Tree was an American hard rock/blues rock power trio from Los Angeles, California. The band performed from the late 1980s to 1990.
The band was started in 1987, by the guitarist Marc Ford and drummer Doni Gray, and were soon joined by bassist Mark 'Muddy' Dutton to complete the three piece, but not before trying half a dozen bass players, including Jay Bentley from Bad Religion. Gray and Dutton had already been playing the local Los Angeles scene in a band called The March, and started an interest playing in a band called Citadel.
The band secured a residency at the Coconut Teaszer in Hollywood, California, from 1988-89. By the end of that year they landed a recording contract with Epic Records. The release of their self titled debut album was met with positive reviews. However, for reasons that remain unknown, Burning Tree's did not fulfill their contractual obligations, and no further recordings followed.
Marc Ford joined the Black Crowes and is presently pursuing a solo career. Doni Gray recorded an album with Izzy Stradlin & the Ju Ju Hounds and later started God's Hotel with Spike Gray, but now has his own band, Chromosapien. Mark 'Muddy' Dutton recorded and toured with Gilby Clarke in Col. Parker as well as with L. A. Guns. Dutton has formed the group Up The Dose and is a record producer and is currently touring as bass player in the Chris Robinson Brotherhood. As of 2011, Gray joined L.A. Guns. Thus, two members of Burning Tree (Dutton & Gray) have been active members of L.A. Guns.
Burning Tree reunited in October 2006, playing three shows in Los Angeles. The live shows went well and the band planned to release live tracks from those performances, and record new material.
Famous quotes containing the words burning and/or tree:
“He certainly must be a son of Aurora to whom the sun looms, when there are so many millions to whom it glooms rather, or who will never see it till an hour after it has risen. But it behooves us old stagers to keep our lamps trimmed and burning to the last, and not trust to the sun’s looming.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The windy springs and the blazing summers, one after another, had enriched and mellowed that flat tableland; all the human effort that had gone into it was coming back in long, sweeping lines of fertility. The changes seemed beautiful and harmonious to me; it was like watching the growth of a great man or of a great idea. I recognized every tree and sandbank and rugged draw. I found that I remembered the conformation of the land as one remembers the modelling of human faces.”
—Willa Cather (1873–1947)