Augustana

Official Web Site

About the Band

“The 11 songs on All The Stars and Boulevards possess the grit to convey the emotional complexities of life on the road,” raved the Chicago Sun-Times. Indeed, the songs teem with geographical references both real and literary, exploring distance in both actual miles and emotional states. “For me, writing about finding a home in these places works as a metaphor for finding home in a person,” Layus explains. “Those songs captured us at a certain period,” Palomar explains. “It’s a nomadic record: we were younger, moving around from city to city, just trying to figure out who we really were.” As such, Augustana’s debut is a rich tapestry of epic, yet intimate, song-driven journeys. Diverse influences spanning Radiohead, Travis, Van Morrison Ryan Adams, and Wilco get reshaped via Augustana’s unique blend of rootsy Americana and modern sounds. “Feel Fine” pulses with the heartfelt grandeur of classic U2; “Hotel Roosevelt,” meanwhile, suggests a wry, melancholy rocker worth of Paul Westerberg’s finest. “Making records and songs is a lost art, and that’s what we’re passionate about,” South says.

It’s been an eventful journey for Augustana, who formed in Greenville, Illinois during the winter of 2004. It was then that the four college friends who made the band’s first incarnation—Layus, Palomar, South and guitarist/vocalist Josiah Rosen—decided to leave school to make the band a priority. However, after what Layus calls “a couple tough years on the road,” co-founder Rosen left the band. “Me and him started the band,” Layus says, “but it wasn’t working for a lot of reasons, so we decided to split.” As a result of Rosen’s departure, in 2006 Augustana welcomed two old friends into the fold to fill out the band’s sound: John Fredericks joined on piano and Hammond B3 organ duty, while Chris Sachtleblen, a childhood friend of Justin’s, took over Rosen’s lead guitar spot. “The sound absolutely expanded—the new songs have been driven in a new direction,”Layus says. “We picked up a lot of momentum when Chris joined the band.” Sachtleblen, a former Illinois resident who moved to Nashville to jumpstart his music career, slotted in organically with the band’s rootsier new impulses. “Nashville’s so saturated with country and Americana songwriter stuff, I got influenced by just playing that all the time,” he says.

Augustana’s momentum doesn’t show any sign of stopping anytime soon. Some two years after the release of All The Stars…, the biggest push is just beginning. This Spring, Epic releases “Stars and Boulevards” as the single follow-up to “Boston,”with a new video for the song. As well, the band is in the midst of its first headlining tour, selling out 2,000-capacity gigs at legendary venues like San Francisco’s Fillmore and Chicago’s Cabaret Metro. The milestones keep on piling up: in the past year, they’ve been seen all over TV, with performances on The Tonight Show, The Late Show With David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel Live, MTV’s TRL and songs featured on shows like Scrubs, Six Feet Under, and One Tree Hill. As well, Augustana set records for most CD sales ever at Colorado’s famed Red Rocks venue. “We’ve gained an eclectic fan base,” South says. “There’s really a big range,” Layus adds. “It’s been a pleasant surprise to see people aged 5 to 55 enjoy us.”

“Playing in high school punk bands, I never dreamed of this—that thousands of people would relate to what we’re saying,” Palomar says. ““This is the music we believe in.”