Augustana

The Alternative-Rock band Augustana was officially formed in San Diego, California USA in the winter of 2004, when a group of college buddies got together to make music. Dan Layus on vocals + piano & guitar, Josiah Rosen on lead guitar and Jared Palomar on bass + keyboards, after recruiting drummer Justin South, quickly recorded a demo that caught the attention of Epic Records.

In September 2005, the label released the band's debut full-length album, "All The Stars And Boulevards"; the first single was "Stars And Boulevards." The follow-up, "Boston," hit #10 on The Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks and peaked at #34 on The Billboard Hot 100. The success of this modern, melodic, piano-driven Rock single sent the album to #1 on the Billboard's Top Heatseekers chart and to #96 on The Billboard 200. The band hit the road even before "All The Stars And Boulevards" was released, crisscrossing clubs with Stereophonics before graduating to much larger venues. By the time the band was logging well-received stints opening for Snow Patrol, Dashboard Confessional and Counting Crows.

2006 saw a significant change in the line-up as founder member Josiah Rosen left to attempt a solo career and was replaced by guitarist + mandolin player Chris Sachtleben; the group then expanded to a quintet with the addition of second keyboardist John Vincent Fredricks.

In April 2008 Augustana released its sophomore album, "Can't Love, Can't Hurt"; it debuted at #29 on The Billboard Top 200 chart and launched a new Hot Adult Top 40 hit single, "Sweet And Low."