Augustana, a private and selective college for liberal arts and sciences...oops, wrong one. What I actually mean to write about is the San Diego based band Augustana who released their third and latest album, Can't Love Can't Hurt, in April 2008 selling 400,000 copies and counting.
Their first album Midwest Skies and Sleepless Mondays was released in 2003 with a yawn-worthy 1,000 produced copies. But once band members Dan Layus and Josiah Rosen packed up in Greenville, Illinois and headed for the Sunshine State, they found both their drummer and a record deal with Grammy-Award winning producer Stephen Short. The band quickly realized how successful they could be when their second album, All the Stars and Boulevards sold over 300,000 copies including over 1,000,000 copies of their single "Boston".
Augustana tours with the likes of Maroon 5, Dashboard Confessional, the Goo Goo Dolls and more. So, you can pretty much guess what style of music they put out there. It's a bit of bluegrassey whispers mixed with some electric guitar and drums piled on top of lost love and heartaches. It sounds tired but trust me, it's anything but. Girls and gay men apparently are swooning for lead singer Dan Layus (spittin' image of Ian Sommerhalder *yum*) who's video for "Sweet and Low" (haha, sweet'n'low) features him singing into a misty morning and rocking in his antique rocking chair. My personal favorite, "I Still Ain't Over You" takes me back to those days of young misunderstood love and the idea of the one that got away and I like that.
Their music is sweet with a hint of sadness but the beats are definitely up (in a country version of Snow Patrol sort of way). We're anxiously awaiting the release of their 4th album (title TBD) due in later this year.
Check them out on myspace or at augustanamusic.com
