Augustana is an American rock band that was originally formed when its first members met at Greenville College in Greenville, Illinois. Dan Layus, the lead guitarist and singer, attended Torrey Pines High School in San Diego and graduated in 2002. Layus and close friend Josiah Rosen along with Jared Palomar had found some success with their music, so they decided to quit school and move to Los Angeles with the hope of becoming a professional band. Then-bassist Simeon Lorhmann decided to stay and finish school, after which he joined the band Pennington.

The new group was officially formed in California in 2004. Their Manager/Producer Stephen Short discovered them and produced a four song EP, which helped secure a record deal with Epic Records and a publishing deal with EMI.^[1] Their first major-label album, All the Stars and Boulevards, was produced by Brendan O'Brien and catapulted them into the spotlight. The band is perhaps best known for their single, Boston, the music video for which features the lead singer on a beach full of pianos. As of March 2007 the album has sold approximately 204,000 copies in the United States^[2]

Augustana's contemplative, melodic sound is characterized by numerous piano lines and the breathy vocals of frontman Layus. Josiah Rosen left the band in April of 2006 and has independently released his first solo record, "A Memoir," under the name The Last Almanac.

They have been featured on numerous tours with artists such as Switchfoot, The Fray, Counting Crows, O.A.R., Snow Patrol, The Damnwells, Goo Goo Dolls, Acceptance, and Cartel. They are also renowned for their headlining shows which have seen them play to sold out club audiences throughout the United States.

At the beginning of 2007, the band embarked on their second headlining theatre tour, supported by Vega 4. Recently, their debut major label album has shot to the top of the Billboards Heatseekers Chart due to the surging success of the single "Boston" which was also used on the 5th season Scrubs episode "His Story III". The band is planning to release a new album before 2008. They have been working on the material and sampling it at live shows.

They are currently set to open for Chris Carrabba of Dashboard Confessional on his first solo tour since the release of The Swiss Army Romance.

Former Members

• Josh Calhoun: drums, percussion
• Kyle Baker: drums, percussion
• Simeon Lohrmann: bass guitar
• Josiah Rosen guitar, mandolin, vocals
• David Lamoureux: keyboards, vocals

Discography

References

Interviews

• iProng interview with Jared Palomar of Augustana (MP3 Audio)

External links

• Augustana Official site
• Augustana's Official Myspace page
• Sweet and Low performed live at the Blender Theater
• Blender Interview with Augustana
• SXSW Blender Video