Editing Cracker (band) (section)

===1990s===
Shortly after Lowery's former group [[Camper Van Beethoven]] disbanded in 1990, he began demoing material along with boyhood friend guitarist Johnny Hickman. After moving from Redlands, California to Richmond, Virginia, Lowery and Hickman recorded a demo tape, later nicknamed ''Big Dirty Yellow Demos'' by the group's fans, which included early versions of songs that appeared on later albums. They eventually chose the name Cracker and teamed up with fellow Redlands bass guitarist [[Davey Faragher]]. A brief tour with Virginia drummer Go Weatherford followed.

By 1991, the newly formed band had signed a recording contract with Virgin Records and enlisted the help of several drummers/percussionists ([[Jim Keltner]], Michael Urbano and Phil Jones), issuing its first album, ''[[Cracker (album)|Cracker]]'', in 1992.<ref name="Larkin90">{{cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Virgin Encyclopedia of Nineties Music]]|editor=Colin Larkin|editor-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|publisher=[[Virgin Books]]|date=2000|edition=First|isbn=978-0-7535-0427-7|page=101}}</ref> From the album came radio hit "[[Teen Angst (What the World Needs Now)]]", which peaked at No.&nbsp;1 on [[Modern Rock Tracks]], and a second single entitled "Happy Birthday to Me." The album went on to sell more than 200,000 copies.<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Puterbaugh|first1=Parke|title=Crackers with Attitudes|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/crackers-with-attitude-19940407|access-date=August 6, 2016|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=April 7, 1994}}</ref>

A year later, Cracker issued its best-selling album, ''[[Kerosene Hat]]''.<ref name="Larkin90" /> The album included hit singles "[[Low (Cracker song)|Low]]" and "Get Off This" (both with official music videos directed by Carlos Grasso), as well as a cover of the [[Grateful Dead]]'s "Loser."<ref name="Larkin90" /> The album sold almost half a million copies that year and eventually almost reached platinum status.<ref name="The Great Rock Discography">{{cite book
| first= Martin C.
| last= Strong
| year= 2000
| title= The Great Rock Discography
| edition= 5th
| publisher= Mojo Books 
| location= Edinburgh
| page= 219
| isbn= 978-1-84195-017-4}}</ref> Urbano performed on ''Kerosene Hat'' and toured with Cracker before leaving the band, along with Faragher. After a short spell with [[Bruce Hughes]], Lowery and Hickman added [[Bob Rupe]], formerly of The Silos, as bass guitarist and Charlie Quintana (Bob Dylan, The JuJu Hounds) on drums. In 1993, Cracker contributed the song "[[Good Times Bad Times]]" to the ''[[Encomium: A Tribute to Led Zeppelin]]'' album. Initially, the band had recorded a rendition of "[[When the Levee Breaks]]" but it was deemed "too weird."

Three years later, ''[[The Golden Age (Cracker album)|The Golden Age]]'' was released, with "I Hate My Generation" as the lead single.<ref name="The Great Rock Discography" /> However, the music scene was shifting away from guitar-driven alternative rock, and although critically acclaimed, the album sold only moderately. Following the long-term additions of drummer [[Frank Funaro]] and keyboard player Kenny Margolis, the band returned in 1998 with ''[[Gentleman's Blues]],'' with "The Good Life" as the lead single. Although the album received only a lukewarm critical response, it solidified an ever-growing and devout following both in the United States and Europe who referred to themselves as "Crumbs."<ref name="The Great Rock Discography" />

In 1995 the song "Whole Lotta Trouble," co-written by Hickman and Chris LeRoy, was used in the film ''[[Empire Records]]''. The same year, Cracker's cover of the [[Flamin' Groovies]] song, "[[Shake Some Action]]," was used in the teen romantic-comedy ''[[Clueless (film)|Clueless]]''.

Camper Van Beethoven unexpectedly re-formed in 1999, and in 2004 released the critically acclaimed ''[[New Roman Times]]''. During this time, Hickman released a first solo recording, ''Palmhenge'', which received "Voices Choice" accolades in ''[[The Village Voice]]'' by the rock critic [[Robert Christgau]] and a positive review in ''[[Blender (magazine)|Blender]]'' magazine. Since then, Lowery has performed in both Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven.