Crankshaft has been forging his own brand of high-energy, low-brow, upper Mississippi blues, a new genre of music he likes to call "Pork Neck" since 2008. This is a new breed of foot stompin' country blues that appeals to young and old alike that "could not have been imagined prior to the early punk scene," as recently described by Dig In Magazine. Born into this world from gas station cassette tape collecting semi-truck drivers, Alex “Crankshaft” Larson was introduced to blues, rock 'n' roll, and R&B as a pup. In 1996 he traded a combination oil/wood stove to his uncle for his first electric guitar and amp. Since then he's been involved in many projects, including a surf punk band he started with his brother in 2001 called The Mojo Spleens.
In April 2008, while self-employed as a contractor, he started practicing as a one-man band and was playing shows two months later. Larson self-produced and released three albums during the next two years. In 2010, backed with the business skills he developed running a construction company and the strong DIY ethics he learned from the underground punk scene, Crankshaft decided to hang up his hammer for good so he could focus on writing and performing music. Since then he's been earning a living playing music, performing as both a one-man band and as the leader of his trio, Crankshaft and the Gear Grinders.
