Progressive Metal
Houston, Texas, USA
The Awful Truth were a progressive metal band from the late 1980s based in Houston, Texas, formed by David Ohlerking. The band was a three piece group consisting of lead vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist Ohlerking, bassist and vocalist Monty Colvin, and drummer and vocalist Alan Doss.
Ohlerking's connection to the Sam Taylor / Houston, Texas scene started before he moved to Texas. Ohlerking met Dug Pinnick as a child when Pinnick's choir The Spurlows sung at Ohlerking's church. Later on, the two met again when Ohlerking was a senior in High school in Springfield, Missouri, and Pinnick was Phil Keaggy's bass player. Ohlerking followed Pinnick to Texas and lived next door to Pinnick and above Ty Tabor. Ohlerking would borrow his bass to write songs and credits Pinnick with teaching him most of what he learned about singing and songwriting. Ohlerking was also at Pinick's house when Kansas (the band) called to offer Pinnick a spot to replace Steve Walsh. However, Pinnick had just started The Edge so he declined.
About 1987-88, Ohlerking, Alan Doss, and Monty Colvin met when they were hired to be the back-up band for Morgan Cryar. Ohlerking only lasted a month before he was fired. After about a year, Cryar let everyone in his backing band go. Not long after that, Ohlerking called Colvin and asked if he would want to be in a new band he was forming. Originally they had a drummer named Katrina. They learned some of Ohlerking's songs and started playing live. Sam Taylor came to see them play one time but told them to change drummers and get Alan Doss. Ohlerking talked Doss into joining since Doss was already in another band. According to Taylor, Ohlerking named the band after the old 1937 movie of the same name. Taylor became the bands producer and manager.
Colvin found an 8-string bass at a pawn shop and soon it became integral to The Awful Truth sound. Colvin started bringing in some of his songs after a while. Ben Huggins and Dane Sonnier would come to some their live shows, even though the crowds were often small. Huggins and Sonnier would later join Colvin and Doss in the Galactic Cowboys.
Taylor took the band into the studio to record demos of four or five songs. Taylor shopped the demos to several labels and they started getting some interest. Jonny Z of Megaforce Records was the most interested (especially in their heavier side), but wanted to hear more songs. So they went back and recorded some more demos. These demos were more mellow, so Jonny Z lost interest.
After tensions rose between Ohlerking and Taylor, Taylor met with the band and told them he was no longer going to work with them. He had found a lawyer that would to continue shopping their demos to different labels. A couple of weeks later, tensions rose between Ohlerking and Colvin. Colvin and Doss decided to leave after their next show and form a new band. Ohlerking was agreeable to the two of them leaving, and soon had new members in the band. He soon changed the name of the band to In The Garden. Ohlerking went on to front a number of bands including From Now On and others.
After the band split, Colvin and Doss formed the Galactic Cowboys. About 6 months later, they signed with Geffen Records.
Metal Blade Records signed the band after they had already broken up. Metal Blade Records took a number of the band's demos, mastered them and released them as what would then be The Awful Truth's one and only full-length album - the eponymously titled The Awful Truth.
| 1987 | Demo | |
| 1988? | EP | |
| 1989 | The Awful Truth | Metal Blade Records |
| 2024 | The Awful Truth (remaster) | Brutal Planet Records |
1987 Independent
David Von Ohlerking - Lead vocals, guitar
Monty Colvin - Bass, vocals
Alan Doss - Drums, vocals
1988? Independent
David Von Ohlerking - Lead vocals, guitar
Monty Colvin - Bass, vocals
Alan Doss - Drums, vocals
1989 Metal Blade Records (7 73432-4)
2024 Brutal Planet Records (BPCD1665)
David Von Ohlerking - Lead vocals, guitar
Monty Colvin - Bass, vocals
Alan Doss - Drums, vocals
Jack van Skilling - Zither
Tom Mason - Dulcimer
Brandon Shea - Maracas, yodeling