Cracker and Silos Bassist Bob Rupe Has Passed Away: Worked with Gutterball, Sparklehorse, & More

Bob Rupe, who played bass in a number of popular alternative-rock bands, including The Silos and Cracker, has passed away. He was 68.

Rupe’s death was announced in a message posted Monday, March 3, on Cracker’s social media pages. According to the message, a cause of death was unknown at the time the note was posted.

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“It is with a heavy heart that we share the passing of Bob Rupe,” the message begins. “Bob was the charismatic and talented bassist for Cracker from roughly 1994 to 1999. Along with the late Charlie Quintana, he formed the rhythm section that powered Cracker’s theatre and shed tours at the peak of the band’s popularity. Bob also played bass guitar on many Cracker recordings, most notably the albums The Golden Age and Gentleman’s Blues.”

The note continues, “Although Bob was not a man of many words, he was known for his sharp and concise wit. He had a love of drag racing and vintage muscle cars. Indeed, the Cracker fan club release Bob’s Car features a photo of his beloved Super Bee on the cover.”

The tribute also pointed out that Rupe was a founding member of The Silos and the Americana supergroup Gutterball. Bob’s other music credits included playing and recording with House of Freaks and Sparklehorse. The note added, “Bob was a staple of the 1990s central Virginia music scene and will be missed by his many peers.”

Cracker also announced that the 2025 edition of the band’s Cracker Camp gathering/concert series, taking place March 5-8 at the 40 Watt Club in Athens, Georgia, will be dedicated to Rupe and Sal Maida. Maida, who played bass with Cracker from 2006 to 2014, died February 1 at the age of 76.

More About Rupe’s Career

Rupe co-founded the alternative roots-rock band The Silos in 1985 with singer/guitarist Walter Salas-Humara. Rupe parted ways with Sala-Humara in 1991, selling the rights to The Silos’ name to Walter.

In the early 1990s, Rupe played and recorded with the Richmond, Virginia-based duo House of Freaks.

Around 1992, Rupe joined Gutterball, an alt-rock supergroup of sorts that also feature Dream Syndicate frontman Steve Wynn, House of Freaks’ Bryan Harvey and Johnny Hott, and Long Ryders guitarist Stephen McCarthy. Rupe recorded the band’s self-titled 1993 debut.

Bob then joined Cracker shortly after that group released it popular second album Kerosene Hat, which featured the alternate-rock hits “Low,” “Get Off This,” “Euro-Trash Girl.”

As mentioned above, Rupe played bass on two Cracker albums—The Golden Age (1996) and Gentleman’s Blues (1998). He also co-wrote a few songs for the band.

In the 1990s and early 2000s, Rupe also played bass on albums by alt-rock artist Mark Linkous, a.k.a. Sparklehorse.

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