Augustana (band)

Augustana
Augustana, Chicago 2010
Background information
Origin	San Diego, California, USA
Genres	Rock, roots rock, indie rock
Years active	2003–Present
Labels	Epic
Associated acts	The Last Almanac
Website	augustanamusic.com
Members
Dan Layus
Past members
Jared Palomar Justin South David Lamoureux John Vincent Josiah Rosen Josh Calhoun Kyle Baker Nik Ewing Simeon Lorhman Thomas Lesnick

Augustana is an American rock band from San Diego, California who are signed to the Epic Records record label.^[1] They are best known for their singles, "Boston" and "Sweet and Low."

History

Beginning years

In Autumn 2002 at Greenville College in Illinois, Dan Layus brought friends Josiah Rosen, Kyle Baker and Simeon Lohrman together to create music. They started out by re-recording the song "More than a Love Song" which Dan had written for his high school girlfriend while living in California. They originally wanted to call themselves The Looking Glass, but after discovering another band of the same name they chose "Augustana" instead. A full length debut album, Midwest Skies and Sleepless Mondays was recorded in the home recording studio of Jon King. The album was released in the Spring of 2003 and only 1000 copies were produced. Later that year the band recorded and released 25 copies of the Mayfield EP.^[2]

Dan Layus decided to move back to Southern California with band mate Josiah Rosen, where they eventually found their drummer, Justin South. The band joined numerous tours with artists such as Switchfoot, Maroon 5, The Fray, Counting Crows, Dashboard Confessional, O.A.R., Snow Patrol, The Damnwells, Goo Goo Dolls, Acceptance, Cartel, and OneRepublic, as well as having their own headlining tours.

All the Stars and Boulevards (2005-2007)

All the Stars and Boulevards was released September 6, 2005 and reached #1 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart and #96 on the Billboard Top 200 chart.^[3] The first single from the album, Boston, was released in 2005. This version differs from the one on their debut album, Midwest Skies and Sleepless Mondays. The album was made available exclusively at Best Buy stores, and the Best Buy website, where it was sold out by the following day. The new features on this re-release are a re-mixed version of "Wasteland"; a new track named "Marie"; and acoustic versions and music videos of "Boston" and "Stars and Boulevards". Their most recognizable song is "Boston" which made it all the way to 34 on the Billboard top 100, as well as appearing on television shows Scrubs, Smallville and One Tree Hill. A cover version by Leonard also appeared on The Big Bang Theory.

Josiah Rosen left the band and has since has signed with Appeal Records as The Last Almanac. The label is releasing A Memoir in 2008.

At the beginning of 2007, the band embarked on their second headlining tour, supported by Vega 4. The band also opened for Chris Carrabba of Dashboard Confessional on his first solo tour since the re-release of The Swiss Army Romance, in late 2007.

Can't Love, Can't Hurt (2008-2010)

The band released their third album, Can't Love, Can't Hurt, on April 29, 2008. The first single from the album is titled "Sweet and Low". The second single, "I Still Ain't Over You" reached #22 on the Adult album alternative chart.

On May 1, 2008, the band appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Several songs from Can't Love, Can't Hurt have appeared in many television shows. The song "Twenty Years" appeared on One Tree Hill and on Numb3rs; "Hey Now" appeared on General Hospital; "Fire" was used on Friday Night Lights.

The band had to cancel their European/North American tour for fall 2010.

Augustana (2011)

Augustana's self-titled, fourth full-length album was released on April 26, 2011. The album's lead single, "Steal Your Heart", was planned for a radio release on February 14 in order to coincide with Valentine's Day, but was released early on the 8th of February on AOL Music.^[4] Another song off the album "Just Stay Here Tonight" was used in an episode of Private Practice. "Steal Your Heart" was also used in the extended length Degrassi promo for the 11th season.

In early 2011, John Vincent left the band for an undisclosed reason and was replaced by previous Augustana band member, David Lamoureux.

They were featured on The Late Show With David Letterman and sang, "Steal Your Heart"

Sales of 'Augustana' were disappointing and the band was dropped from Epic's roster shortly after the Album's release.

In September 2011, Augustana announced that the band members have parted ways, but that the split was amicable.^[5]

On 11th November, 2011, Augustana announced that 'some members have parted ways' however 'Augustana will continue to tour and perform.'

Band Members

Last Line-up

• Dan Layus (vocals, guitar, piano)
• Jared Palomar (bass guitar, vocals, keyboards)
• Justin South (drums, percussion)
• Chris Sachtleben (guitar, vocals)
• David Lamoureux (keyboards, mandolin, vocals)

Former Members

• John Vincent
• Josiah Rosen
• Josh Calhoun
• Kyle Baker
• Nik Ewing
• Simeon Lorhman
• Thomas Lesnick

Discography

Albums

Year	Album details	Peak						Certifications (sales threshold)
		US	US Digital	US Heat	US Indie	CAN	UK
early 2003	Midwest Skies and Sleepless Mondays Label: Self-released Format: CD	—	—	—	—	—	—	US: 1,000
late 2003	Mayfield EP Label: Self-released Format: CD	—	—	—	—	—	—	US: 25
2005	All the Stars and Boulevards Label: Epic Records Format: CD	96	107	1	1	—	—	US: 345,000[6] WW: 1,900,000
2008	Can't Love, Can't Hurt EP Label: Epic Format: CD, Digital	168	158	—	6	—	—	US: 15,000 WW: 50,000
	Can't Love, Can't Hurt Label: Epic Format: CD, Digital	21	77	—	2	45	114	US: 121,000[6] WW: 200,000
2011	Augustana Label: Epic Format: CD, Digital	29	12	—	1	—	113	US: 28,985 WW: 60,004
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Singles

Year	Title	Chart positions					Album
		Billboard Hot 100	Billboard Pop 100	Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks	Hot Digital Songs	Top 40 Mainstream
2005	"Stars and Boulevards"	-	93	25	57	26	All the Stars and Boulevards
2006	"Boston"	34	31	22	22	24
2008	"Sweet and Low"	88	66	34	44	-	Can't Love, Can't Hurt
	"I Still Ain't Over You"	-	-	-	-	-
2011	"Steal Your Heart"	-	-	-	-	-	Augustana
	"Just Stay Here Tonight"	-	-	-	-	-

References

1. ^ "Under "Record Label"". MySpace.com/Augustana. http://www.myspace.com/augustana. Retrieved 2008-02-20. 
2. ^ "Interview: Jared Palomar of Augustana « Dirtbag’s Delight". Dirtbagsdelight.wordpress.com. 2008-02-12. http://dirtbagsdelight.wordpress.com/2008/02/12/interview-jared-palomar-of-augustana/. Retrieved 2011-07-19. 
3. ^ "Augustana: Artist Chart History"accessdate=2008-02-20". Billboard.com. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/retrieve_chart_history.do?model.chartFormatGroupName=Albums&model.vnuArtistId=693696&model.vnuAlbumId=729900. 
4. ^ Augustana "Steal Your Heart" Song Exclusive music.aol.com 2011-02-08 Retrieved 2011-02-12
5. ^ Frazer, Bear (Sep 27, 2011). "Behind Augustana’s Break-Up". Redbullusa.com. http://www.redbullusa.com/cs/Satellite/en_US/Article/augustana-break-up-021243092071791?p=1242746208542. Retrieved 12 October 2011. 
6. ^ ^{a b} http://www.billboard.com/#/features/augustana-owns-its-sound-on-self-titled-1005123502.story

External links

• Official site
• Myspace page