View source for Duane Denison

{{Short description|American musician (born 1959)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2015}}
{{multiple issues|
{{cleanup biography|date=December 2012}}
{{BLP sources|date=May 2010}}
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{{Infobox musical artist
| name            = Duane Denison
| image           = Duane Denison practicing.jpg
| caption         = Denison in 2017
| instrument      = Guitar
| occupation      = {{hlist|Musician|songwriter}}
| years_active    = 1987–present
| genre           = {{hlist|[[Alternative rock]]|[[experimental rock]]|[[noise rock]]|[[punk blues]]|[[post-punk]]|[[alternative metal]]|[[jazz]]|[[rockabilly]]|[[outlaw country]]}}
| label           = {{hlist|[[Touch and Go Records|Touch and Go]]|[[Capitol Records|Capitol]]|[[Ipecac Recordings]]|[[Riot House Records]]}}
| associated_acts = {{hlist|[[The Denison/Kimball Trio]]|[[Firewater (band)|Firewater]]|[[The Jesus Lizard]]|[[Legendary Shack Shakers]]|[[Silver Jews]]|[[Tomahawk (band)|Tomahawk]]|[[U.S.S.A.]]|EmptyMansions|[[Assjack]]|Cargo Cult}}
}}

'''Duane Denison''' (born January 21, 1959) is an American guitarist best known for work with the punk rock band [[The Jesus Lizard]]. He is also a founding member of super-group [[Tomahawk (band)|Tomahawk]].<ref name="Allmusic">{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=duane-denison-p70342/biography|pure_url=yes}} |title=Biography: Duane Denison |last=Prato |first=Greg|publisher=[[allmusic]]|access-date=May 8, 2010}}</ref>

==Biography==
Denison began his musical career by studying classical guitar at Eastern Michigan University.<ref name="Allmusic"/> His work with classical guitar helped influence his unique sound, which helped earn him a spot on Spin Magazine's  "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time." "Denison has played warped [[jazz-rock]] with [[Firewater (band)|Firewater]], [[cool jazz]] with [[The Denison/Kimball Trio|the Denison-Kimball Trio]], experimental [[alternative metal|alt-metal]] with Tomahawk, [[rockabilly]] punk with [[Legendary Shack Shakers|Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers]], and [[outlaw country]] with [[Hank Williams III]]. But the angular, metallic sheets of noise that Denison unleashed with [[the Jesus Lizard]] are what he'll ultimately be remembered and revered for. Tightly controlled yet capable of ripping and tearing like a runaway chainsaw, Denison’s riffs influenced an entire generation of post-hardcore guitarists, including the burgeoning wave of noise-punkers like the Men and Roomrunner.” <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.spin.com/2012/05/spins-100-greatest-guitarists-all-time/2/ |title=100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time |publisher=Spin |date=May 3, 2012 |access-date=2018-06-25}}</ref>

In 1999 Denison moved to [[Nashville]] after The Jesus Lizard broke up in order to play with Hank Williams III's "Damn Band".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://consequence.net/2013/01/interview-duane-denison-of-tomahawk/ |title=Interview: Duane Denison (of Tomahawk) |publisher= Consequence of Sound |date=January 28, 2013 |access-date=2018-06-28}}</ref>  Soon after his move to Nashville, Denison began collaborating and exchanging demo tapes with [[Mike Patton]], whom he met at a [[Mr. Bungle]] show in 1999.<ref>{{cite news |last=DeRogatis |first=Jim |date=November 2, 2001 |title=Super Models: New Bands Show That Supergroups Can Get It Right |newspaper=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4614126.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140610224046/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4614126.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 10, 2014 |access-date=August 27, 2001}} {{subscription required}}</ref>  Denison started the demos on a 4 track tape machine and sent them to Patton who added vocals to the tapes and sent them back.  After having a solid idea of what the songs should sound like they went into the studio and recorded what would become the first [[Tomahawk (album)|Tomahawk album]] which was released in 2001.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.faithnomorefollowers.com/2016/10/tomahawk-15-years-duane-denison.html |title=tomahawk, 15 Years Duane Denison Interview |publisher=faith no more followers |date=October 30, 2016 |access-date=2018-06-28}}</ref>

Denison and ex-[[Ministry (band)|Ministry]] bassist [[Paul Barker]] collaborated in 2007 to form a new band, [[U.S.S.A.]] U.S.S.A. released one album in that same year, titled ''[[The Spoils (U.S.S.A. album)|The Spoils]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sullivan |first=Matt |date=October 4, 2007 |title=U.S.S.A. |url=https://www.thepitchkc.com/ussa/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230607223830/https://www.thepitchkc.com/ussa/ |archive-date=June 7, 2023 |access-date=August 23, 2024 |website=[[The Pitch (newspaper) | The Pitch KC]]}}</ref>

From late 2008 until 2012, he played guitar for Nashville-based Legendary Shack Shakers. Denison supplied the lead guitars on EmptyMansions snakes/vultures/sulfate released on April 2, 2013. {{Citation needed|date=November 2023}}

== Influence ==
Duane Denison's playing has influenced several notable guitarists, including [[Limp Bizkit]]'s [[Wes Borland]], [[Jimmy Eat World]]'s [[Jim Adkins]], and [[Every Time I Die]]'s [[Andy Williams (guitarist)|Andy Williams]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stocks |first=Matt |date=January 13, 2016 |title=Wes Borland: 10 songs I wish I'd written |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-10-most-influential-songs-by-wes-borland |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240521234840/https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-10-most-influential-songs-by-wes-borland |archive-date=May 21, 2024 |access-date=August 23, 2024 |website=Louder |quote=Duane Denison is an incredible guitar player and he’s been a huge influence on me, with everything that he did with The Jesus Lizard and Tomahawk...}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=DeRogatis |first=Jim |date=1999 |title=Emo (The Genre That Dare Not Speak Its Name) |url=http://www.jimdero.com/OtherWritings/Other%20emo.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230310204542/http://www.jimdero.com/OtherWritings/Other%20emo.htm |archive-date=March 10, 2023 |access-date=August 23, 2024 |website=jimdero.com |quote=I’m pretty much a really big fan of Duane Denison of the Jesus Lizard. I rip most of my stuff off from him.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Sharma |first=Amit |date=December 4, 2019 |title=Jimmy Eat World's Jim Adkins: "I used to study classical and jazz... then I was suddenly sleeping on floors and playing punk-rock" |url=https://www.guitarworld.com/news/jimmy-eat-worlds-jim-adkins-i-used-to-study-classical-and-jazz-then-i-was-suddenly-sleeping-on-floors-and-playing-punk-rock |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250518232559/https://www.guitarworld.com/news/jimmy-eat-worlds-jim-adkins-i-used-to-study-classical-and-jazz-then-i-was-suddenly-sleeping-on-floors-and-playing-punk-rock |archive-date=May 18, 2025 |access-date=August 12, 2025 |website=[[Guitar World]] |quote=Duane Denison from The Jesus Lizard was a big influence on me.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=January 14, 2015 |title=EVH Interview: Andy Williams of Every Time I Die |url=https://blog.evhgear.com/2014/01/evh-interview-andy-williams-of-every-time-i-die/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230922142541/https://blog.evhgear.com/2014/01/evh-interview-andy-williams-of-every-time-i-die/ |archive-date=September 22, 2023 |access-date=August 23, 2024 |website=EVH Gear}}</ref>

==Discography==
{{main|Duane Denison discography}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Firewater (band)}}
{{The Jesus Lizard}}
{{Tomahawk}}
{{Pigface}}
{{Legendary Shack Shakers|state=autocollapse}} 
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Denison, Duane}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American rock guitarists]]
[[Category:American male guitarists]]
[[Category:Firewater (band) members]]
[[Category:Post-hardcore musicians]]
[[Category:Noise rock musicians]]
[[Category:Pigface members]]
[[Category:1959 births]]
[[Category:Tomahawk (band) members]]
[[Category:The Jesus Lizard members]]
[[Category:20th-century American guitarists]]
[[Category:Silver Jews members]]
[[Category:Legendary Shack Shakers members]]
[[Category:Assjack members]]
[[Category:20th-century American male musicians]]
[[Category:The Denison/Kimball Trio members]]


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