Fred Lane is the stage name of Tuscaloosa, AL, vocalist/songwriter/visual artist T.R. Reed, a man best known for the albums he released on the Shimmy Disc label during the 1980s. His records feature a demented mix of absurdist humor, avant-garde-derived improvisation, and retro musical stylings, with lounge jazz, rockabilly, and country among the styles referenced and, in some cases, deconstructed. On From the One That Cut You (1983), Lane is backed by Ron 'Pate's Debonairs, a big band that included noted Alabama-based free improvisers Davey Williams and LaDonna Smith, both performing under aliases. ("Ron 'Pate," also a fictional name, refers to the word "'Pataphysics," which was coined by surrealist playwright Alfred Jarry.) For From the One That Cut You's follow-up, Car Radio Jerome (1986), Lane is accompanied by a smaller group consisting of just five pieces, with Williams again among the members. Lane also appears on an album entitled Raudelunas 'Pataphysical Revue, credited to "Ron 'Pate's Debonairs featuring Rev Fred Lane" and released on the tiny Say Day Bew label in 1977. Written up in a 1998 article in the Wire magazine entitled "100 Records that Set the World on Fire," it was still awaiting reissue on CD as of 2001. ~ William York