Augustana, RIAA gold and platinum certified band, are set to play MTSU’s Tucker Theater on Wednesday, Feb. 25.
Finding fame from its breakout hit “Boston,” on the band’s first major album release, All the Stars and Boulevards, in 2005, their new CD, Can’t Love, Can’t Hurt, released in 2008, is keeping them on the radar.
The ballads on Augustana’s latest album are carefully crafted and piano led, with a sound that is reminiscent of The Fray or Dashboard Confessional. The lyrics are thought provoking and clearly written from a firsthand account. Not to be missed are songs, “Twenty Years,” “Fire,” and “Rest, Shame, Love,” where the latest CD’s name is featured in the lyrics.
While most bands spend all their lives writing a debut record, then six months on a follow-up, Augustana actually did it backwards, according to the band. The members arrived at Epic Records with what everyone agreed was a solid single and a few other songs, but not much else.
“We had six months to write our first record,” lead singer Dan Layus recalls. “But then, all of a sudden, we were on the road for three years, with really nothing to do but write and demo. I was constantly writing songs and weeding stuff out.”
Now, the responsibility of being a husband and father has Layus getting more serious about his chosen profession, he says.
“I took voice lessons, we changed management and I did anything I could to get better and learn?and I’m still doing that,” he says. “I also worked a lot harder on my songwriting, and spent enough time to get it absolutely right.”
Layus formed Augustana with Josiah Rosen (who has since left the band to form The Last Almanac) in Illinois and found Justin South (drums) and John Vincent Fredricks (keyboards/vocals) in California, where, no coincidence, many of the band’s songs take place. The final member to be added was Chris Sachtleben (guitar), who is from Nashville, and is perhaps part of the reason why they are coming to visit us in Middle Tennessee.
Ryan Hug, Concert Community Chair for MTSU, booked the show and says, “We priced the tickets low for the students and aren’t making any money off the show. We offered a lot of band choices to the students and (Augustana) was who they wanted. They received the most positive feedback.”
The tickets are $5 for students and $10 for the public. Fans can reserve up to four tickets on MTSU’s Web site at no cost, though tickets can also be purchased at the door.
The opening act begins at 7 p.m. and Hug says, “don’t be surprised if there are some musical surprises.”
For more information about the show or to reserve tickets, visit mtsu.edu/~events.
To find out more about Augustana, visit augustanamusic.com.
IF YOU GO:
Who: augustana
Where: MTSU’s Tucker Theater
When: Wednesday, Feb. 25 at 7 p.m.
Price: $5 for students; $10 for public
Online: mtsu.edu/~events
