Toad the Wet Sprocket and Glen Phillips

Taking their name from a rock band in a Monty Python sketch, the band formed out of San Marcos High School when their singer and songwriter Glen Phillips was only 16 years old. After making their live debut at a school-sponsored open mic talent contest, the band spent the next three years honing their live act and song-writing skills. In 1989 they were ready, and formed their own label to release their debut album “Bread & Circus”. Despite the fact that the record was almost entirely self-released, their second single “One Little Girl” managed to make the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. This early success meant that while they were recording “Pale”, their second album, the band signed a major label deal with Columbia Records.

After its release in 1990, “Pale” wasn't a chart success but the record's singles found a strong foothold in college radio, meaning that Columbia retained the band for the release of their third album. This proved to be an incredibly good choice as their third album, 1991's “fear”, was an enormous hit. After its second single “All I Want” was a surprise hit, reaching number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100, the album was certified Gold just over a year after its release and would go on to be certified Platinum by September 1994. They replicated this level of success with the album's follow up “Dulcinea”, which was another Platinum certified hit. However, all was not well within the band, and the band broke up in 1998, citing creative differences as the reasoning behind their demise.

However, the band still worked together occasionally, either by playing short live sets together or reuniting to work on retrospective releases put together by their label. However, in 2002 they came back together for a charity show and to open for Counting Crows, which lead to a more extensive tour in 2003, but despite the hugely positive reception from both fans and critics, the band still decided to stay broken up for the time being. Their full time reunion came in 2009, and the band have since released a crowd-funded new album called “New Constellations”, and remain an unmissable live act. As one of the greatest acts of the 1990's, Toad The Wet Sprocket come highly recommended.

The band was created by current member Dan Layus who brought three of his high school friends together with the intention of starting a rock band. Their full length debut album was released in 2003, with a meagre 1000 copies being produced. Layus, after this disappointment, moved to Southern California with one bandmate, picked up a drummer and began what would be his incline to success. In California, the band toured with several established artists including Switchfoot, Maroon 5, The Fray, Snow Patrol and Goo Goo Dolls. Indeed, the band’s musical style is often compared many of these bands that they toured with.

The band’s first successful album was called ‘All the Stars and Boulevards’ and was released September 6, 2005. It reached number one on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart and number 96 on the Billboard Top 200 chart. The accompanying single, also released in 2005, was titled ‘Boston’ and remains Augustana’s best-selling and biggest single to date. Other well-known singles of the band’s include ‘Sweet and Low’, ‘Twenty Years’ and ‘Hey Now’, all of which are from their second album, ‘Can’t Love, Can’t Hurt’. Many of these songs appeared on famous television shows, including One Tree Hill and Friday Night Lights, generating the band some well-deserved publicity.

The band have since released two more albums, ‘Augustana’ and ‘Life Imitating Life’. Throughout it’s time, the band has seen many members come and go. All members, original and old, consist of Jared Palomar (bass guitar, vocals), Chris Sachtleben (lead guitar, vocals), Justin South (drums), Josiah Rosen (lead guitar, vocals), John Vincent (piano, organ, keyboards, vocals), Josh Calhoun (drums) and, of course, founder and leader Dan Layus.