Blind Horse (2)

Following the demise of Mother Love Bone, Bruce Fairweather took a job at a photo lab, returning to music with Blind Horse (the name was inspired by the play Equus), a band started by vocalist Chris Tilden, and including bassist Mark Patterson and drummer Richard Stuverud. Jonathan Poneman caught some early Blind Horse shows. "The first couple of times I saw them they were mind-blowing, and I was very interested in working with them [at Sub Pop]. They were akin to Black Crowes, but it wasn't 'Lead Singer Rock.' It had a very rootsy Rory Gallagher / Stones/ Humble Pie vibe. But they did it so effortlessly, so unpretentiously at first." It wasn't long before Blind Horse was recording a demo; soon after, however, Stuverud left. Greg Gilmore remembers, "I was around when Blind Horse was being formed: I went and jammed a bit, but I was not moved at all. But then I saw them a few months later, and they were alright. A lot more time passed and when I saw them at RCKNDY, they were taking on a whole direction, making noise and creating chaos, a Stones kind of thing which I saw could be heavier, darker." Gilmore promptly joined the band, but it was not to last. The Sub Pop deal fell through, and Gilmore played no more than five shows with Blind Horse before both he and Fairweather quit. Tilden followed, moving on to Native Messiah, with future Fire Ants bassist Dan McDonald. (Tilden would later audition for the Fire Ants.) Only one Blind Horse recording would ever be released; "Black Sun" crops up on the Young And The Restless compilation album, released in 1991 by the Art Institute of Seattle's music department's own 3:23 label.