Mitch Easter

As both the frontman of the acclaimed Let's Active and as a producer, Mitch Easter long stood at the forefront of the American jangle pop movement. A native of Winston-Salem, NC -- home to his famed Drive-In Studios -- he followed a short tenure in the Sneakers by forming Let's Active in 1981; that same year, his first major production job, R.E.M.'s debut single "Radio Free Europe," was issued on the tiny Hibtone label, quickly becoming an underground sensation. R.E.M.'s Chronic Town EP followed in 1982, and with the next year's landmark Murmur album, the group emerged as one ...