It wasn’t too long ago when the soft, melodic piano beats of “Boston” drifted into our ears. It also wasn’t too long ago that the same song rapidly grew in popularity from its emergence in the background of popular MTV shows to VH1’s “You Oughta Know” distinction and, of course, to the airplay that most up-and-coming bands would only dream of. Augustana, the band behind “Boston,” is in the middle of an intense headlining tour and will be stopping by today in Madison at the High Noon Saloon. Augustana’s bassist, Jared Palomar, took a few minutes to catch up with us on the band and tonight’s show.
While “Boston” set the tone for All the Stars and Boulevards, “Sweet and Low,” from their latest album Can’t Love, Can’t Hurt, boasts a more deeply engrained depth that only comes with time and experience, according to Palomar.
“I think the big thing was that we were able to take a lot of time before we actually got into the studio. [This time] it was kinda nice to be on the road for a couple of years and play live before we got into the studio. We got to focus more on the actual songwriting rather than some of the technical stuff like on the last one.”
Time wasn’t the only factor creating the more mature sound of Can’t Love, Can’t Hurt. According to Palomar, it was lead singer Dan Layus’ marriage and new daughter that affected everyone.
“That’s really affecting all of us, so the parts about growing up we’ve put in the lyrics.”
When discussing tonight’s performance, Palomar spoke about what makes their show different from the others: diversity.
“We definitely try to be as diverse in our set as we can. Everybody plays their favorite instrument, and sometimes we’ll all be around one mic singing songs. There’s parts that are pretty rock ‘n’ roll, [along with] a little bit of bluegrass and a little bit of singalongs. We have fun onstage, and we hope everybody else has fun as well.”
Augustana doesn’t stay stationary too long; since May of this year they’ve been touring and performing with Counting Crows and Maroon 5. The fall leg of their tour will mark performances with Top 40 favorite OneRepublic in addition to their headlining dates. But a life on the road doesn’t wear on Augustana because discovering the uniqueness of where they perform keeps them focused.
“That’s definitely the thing you look forward to most, you know, exploring that town, exploring the local food. That’s always what makes every town unique. College towns in particular are always fun, because you just ask a college kid where the good local places are and they always give you a good place to go, so that’s a good way to get the local flavor.”
Palomar also offered up some Madison-related trivia: He got his last tattoo here. “It’s a tattoo on my arm. It’s actually probably the hardest tattoo I’ve had to do as far as the artwork goes, so the guy that did it was amazing.”
Augustana actually boats several ties to the Midwest other than inked skin. Palomar and Layus both lived in the St. Louis area while attending college, and the band was formed in Illinois with just Layus and Palomar, before a move to California was the key to finding the other bandmates. Palomar also complimented Midwesterners as a whole, saying “It’s filled with nice people, you know?”
Of course, none of Augustana’s fame would have happened without “Boston.” When asked if he’ll ever get tired of the song, Palomar defended the hit.
“It’s a really fun song for us to play live, and usually a couple people know it. It’s cool to have something like that to build our careers off of and move forward from. It’s been nothing but an encouraging song and a good building block for us.”
So if you happen to be walking down State Street today and see five guys wearing skinny jeans, maybe take a closer look; it could be Augustana.
Augustana will be playing at the High Noon
