Guster is an American
alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...
band from
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
,
, United States. Founding members
Adam Gardner
Adam Seth Gardner (born May 31, 1973) is an American guitarist and vocalist of the band Guster and a member of the Tufts University Beelzebubs.
Gardner grew up outside Morristown, New Jersey, and played for a band called Royal Flush while a stud ...
,
Ryan Miller
Ryan Dean Miller (born July 17, 1980) is an American former ice hockey goaltender who played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) mostly for the Buffalo Sabres. Miller was drafted 138th overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 1999 NHL E ...
, and
Brian Rosenworcel
Brian Rosenworcel is an American drummer and co-founder of the band Guster.
Early life and education
Rosenworcel is a native of West Hartford, Connecticut. He co-founded Guster while studying at Tufts University in the early-1990s. Rosenworc ...
began practice sessions while attending
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...
in
Medford, Massachusetts
Medford is a city northwest of downtown Boston on the Mystic River in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the time of the 2020 U.S. Census, Medford's population was 59,659. It is home to Tufts University, which has its campus alo ...
, and formed the band in 1991. The members met during the freshman Wilderness Orientation program in August of that year, playing publicly together as a trio two months later at the Midnight Cafe coffee house set in the common area of the Lewis Hall dormitory. While attending Tufts, the band lived at 139 College Avenue in
Somerville, Massachusetts
Somerville ( ) is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, and north of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a total population of 81, ...
.
The band stayed "
underground
Underground most commonly refers to:
* Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth
Underground may also refer to:
Places
* The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston
* The Underground (S ...
" for its first two full-length albums, ''
Parachute
A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, who ...
'' (1994) and ''
Goldfly'' (1997), but broke into the musical mainstream in 1999 with its third studio album ''
Lost and Gone Forever
''Lost and Gone Forever'' is the third studio album by the band Guster, released in September 1999. It was recorded earlier that year in Sausalito, California, and Bearsville, New York. In 1999, Ryan Miller claimed that Guster took the album's t ...
'', featuring the single "
Fa Fa
"Fa Fa" is Guster's second single released off the '' Lost and Gone Forever'' album. It is also on the live CD and DVD '' Guster on Ice''. * Karl Denson from The Greyboy Allstars plays the saxophone and flute on the song, which received modest ...
", which made it onto the
Adult Top 40
The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems ...
. The band enjoyed moderate success on the charts with ''
Keep It Together'', its fourth album, with two singles in the
Adult Top 40
The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems ...
("
Careful" and "
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
").
Joe Pisapia
Joe Pisapia (born July 25, 1968) is an American record producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, who was formerly a part of the band Guster and k.d. lang and the Siss Boom Bang. In the past he has also released albums with his band Joe, M ...
joined the official lineup for ''Keep It Together'' and its follow-up, ''
Ganging Up on the Sun
''Ganging Up on the Sun'' is the fifth studio album by the rock band Guster. It was released on June 20, 2006. The first single, "One Man Wrecking Machine", was released in late 2005 and its follow-up, "Satellite", in March 2006. It is Guster' ...
'', which peaked at 25 on the
''Billboard'' 200. A variety of television shows and movies have featured the band's music, including ''
Martian Child
''Martian Child'' is a 2007 American comedy-drama film directed by Menno Meyjes and based on David Gerrold's 1994 novelette (not the expanded 2002 novel) of the same name. The film stars John Cusack as a writer who adopts a strange young boy ( ...
'', which featured their song "
Satellite
A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope ...
"; ''
Disturbia''; ''
Wedding Crashers
''Wedding Crashers'' is a 2005 American comedy film directed by David Dobkin, written by Steve Faber and Bob Fisher, starring Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn and Christopher Walken with Rachel McAdams, Isla Fisher, Bradley Cooper and Jane Seymou ...
''; ''
Life as a House
''Life as a House'' is a 2001 American drama film produced and directed by Irwin Winkler. The screenplay by Mark Andrus focuses on a man who is anxious to repair his relationship with his ex-wife and teenaged son after he is diagnosed with termin ...
'', which makes several allusions to the band throughout the film; ''
The O.C.
''The O.C. '' is an American teen drama television series created by Josh Schwartz that originally aired on the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network in the United States from August 5, 2003, to February 22, 2007, running a total of four seaso ...
''; and one of the band's songs was used in an ad for
The Weather Channel
The Weather Channel (TWC) is an American pay television channel owned by Weather Group, LLC, a subsidiary of Allen Media Group. The channel's headquarters are in Atlanta, Georgia. Launched on May 2, 1982, the channel broadcasts weather forecas ...
. The band earned its first gold record in 2018 for its single "
Satellite
A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope ...
".
Guster's tours were originally local, but began to spread as the band gained popularity. In 1999, Guster gave its first performance in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, followed by a 2004 tour in
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
that had four shows in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
and one in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
. Guster maintains a liberal
taping policy and has a very dedicated and active taping community. In addition, the band has released several live shows via
iTunes
iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
.
History
The band members met during freshman orientation at
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...
in 1991. A year later, after writing a few songs in their dorm rooms, the band named itself Gus and booked its first gig. The band recorded its first album independently in 1994, titled ''
Parachute
A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, who ...
''. This album established the band as a favorite of the same 1990s scene that became popular through bands such as the
Dave Matthews Band
Dave Matthews Band (also known by the initials DMB) is an American rock band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1991. The band's founding members were singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer and bac ...
,
The Disco Biscuits
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
,
moe.,
Phish
Phish is an American rock band formed in Burlington, Vermont, in 1983. The band is known for musical improvisation, extended jams, blending of genres, and a dedicated fan base. The band consists of guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike Gordon ...
, and
Widespread Panic
Widespread Panic is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. The current lineup includes guitarist/singer John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Duane Trucks, percussionist Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz, keyboardist John "JoJo" Hermann, and guit ...
. The band was still in college when it recorded the album. Shortly after the release of ''Parachute'', another artist calling himself Gus signed a deal with a major record company, forcing the band to rename itself Guster.
In 1996, Guster independently recorded their second album, ''
Goldfly'', releasing it early the next year. In 1998 the band signed with
Sire Records
Sire Records (formerly Sire Records Company) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Records.
History Beginnings
The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer ...
and re-released ''Goldfly''. A year later, the band released the album ''
Lost and Gone Forever
''Lost and Gone Forever'' is the third studio album by the band Guster, released in September 1999. It was recorded earlier that year in Sausalito, California, and Bearsville, New York. In 1999, Ryan Miller claimed that Guster took the album's t ...
'', produced by
Steve Lillywhite
Stephen Alan Lillywhite, (born 15 March 1955) is a British record producer. Since he began his career in 1977, Lillywhite has been credited on over 500 records, and has collaborated with a variety of musicians including new wave acts XTC, Big ...
. With the backing of a major label, the band appeared on shows such as the ''
Late Show with David Letterman
The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the The Late Show (franchise), ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by ...
'', and it released their first music video for their song "
Fa Fa
"Fa Fa" is Guster's second single released off the '' Lost and Gone Forever'' album. It is also on the live CD and DVD '' Guster on Ice''. * Karl Denson from The Greyboy Allstars plays the saxophone and flute on the song, which received modest ...
". The band also appeared at
Woodstock '99
Woodstock '99 (also called Woodstock 1999) was a music festival held from July 22 to July 25, 1999, in Rome, New York. After Woodstock '94, it was the second large-scale music festival that attempted to emulate the original 1969 Woodstock fe ...
, and performed at the 1999 Stardust Picnic festival at Historic Fort York, Toronto.
Guster released its fourth album, ''
Keep It Together'', in 2003, with the first single, "
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
", getting significant airplay on the radio. Following the release of ''Keep it Together'', multi-instrumentalist Joe Pisapia, who had been touring with the band, became a full-time member. A live album/DVD, ''
Guster on Ice
''Guster on Ice - Live from Portland, Maine'' is a live album that was released by the band Guster in May 2004. It was recorded in December 2003 over two nights of concerts at the State Theatre in Portland, Maine. The DVD was directed by Danny C ...
'', compiled from two shows in
Portland, Maine
Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropol ...
, in December 2003, was released in 2004. Guster released its fifth full-length studio album, ''
Ganging Up on the Sun
''Ganging Up on the Sun'' is the fifth studio album by the rock band Guster. It was released on June 20, 2006. The first single, "One Man Wrecking Machine", was released in late 2005 and its follow-up, "Satellite", in March 2006. It is Guster' ...
'', on June 20, 2006. The single "
Manifest Destiny/Sorority Tears" was released in November 2005 on the Internet. On September 27, 2006, Guster won Album of the Year (Major) at the
Boston Music Awards
Founded in 1987, the Boston Music Awards are a set of music awards given annually that showcase talent in the Boston, Massachusetts, area.
Past shows have featured such notable talent as Aerosmith, Paula Cole, Esperanza Spalding, Boston, Rubyhor ...
. Alongside ''Ganging Up on the Sun'', the band released on its website a documentary comedy series called ''Joe's Place''. The band also participated in the
Barenaked Ladies
Barenaked Ladies is a Canadian rock band formed in 1988 in Scarborough, Ontario. The band developed a following in Canada, with their self-titled 1991 cassette becoming the first independent release to be certified gold in Canada. They reach ...
' Ships and Dip cruise. In 2009, Guster took part in a similar event with musician
John Mayer
John Clayton Mayer ( ; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Born and raised in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Mayer attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but left and moved to Atlanta in 1997 with ...
called Mayercraft Carrier 2 aboard the
Carnival Splendor
''Carnival Splendor'' is a operated by Carnival Cruise Line. As she is the only ''Concordia''-class ship in the Carnival fleet, she is also referred to as a ''Splendor-''class ship. Her other sister ships are part of the Costa Crociere fleet. T ...
.
Guster released their sixth studio album, ''
Easy Wonderful
''Easy Wonderful'' is the sixth studio album by the American alternative rock band Guster, released on October 5, 2010, on Universal Republic. From August 24 to October 18, 2010, videos for all of the tracks on the album were posted to Vimeo. The ...
'', on October 5, 2010. Mixing for the album commenced on March 15, 2010, according to an update from the band's
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
account. On April 30, Guster released "Jonah", an outtake from sessions for their then upcoming album, on the ''
Download to Donate for Haiti
''Download to Donate for Haiti'' is a compilation album by various artists. It was released on January 19, 2010 through Machine Shop and Warner Bros. Records. The album was produced by Mike Shinoda and co-produced by Enrique Iglesias. American r ...
'' compilation album. On July 20, Guster released the song "Bad Bad World" as a free download on their website. Before starting their 2010 fall tour, Guster announced that Joe Pisapia would not be touring with the band. Instead, Pisapia would be touring with
k.d. lang
Kathryn Dawn Lang (born November 2, 1961), known by her stage name k.d. lang, is a Canadian pop and country singer-songwriter and occasional actress. Lang has won Juno Awards and Grammy Awards for her musical performances. Hits include the s ...
, with whom he had been writing songs. It was also announced that
Luke Reynolds
Luke Reynolds (born April 20, 1979) is an American guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, artist, writer and producer.
Career Studio work
As a guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, he has worked with Sharon Van Etten, The Staves, Adrian Utley, ...
would be filling in for Pisapia starting September 12, 2010. On July 26, 2011, Ryan Miller went onto
turntable.fm
Turntable.fm is a social media website that allows users to collaboratively stream music. The website was co-founded by Billy Chasen and Seth Goldstein in January 2011 after deciding their previous product, Stickybits, was not a viable business ...
to give live previews of tracks off of Guster's ''On The Ocean'' EP and listen to music with fans.
In early 2014, it was announced that Guster was recording its seventh studio album under the production of
The Shins
The Shins is an American indie rock band formed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1996. The band is the project of singer-songwriter James Mercer, who has served as the band's sole constant member throughout numerous line-up changes. The band's cu ...
keyboardist
Richard Swift. Guster announced that the album was finished on April 8, 2014, and would be independently published on their Ocho Mule label. Guster released ''
Evermotion
''Evermotion'' is a studio album by the American alternative rock band Guster. It was released on January 13, 2015, on both Ocho Mule, the band's own label, and Nettwerk Records. It was their first album in five years, following '' Easy Wonderful' ...
'' on January 13, 2015, with Ocho Mule/ Nettwerk Records. The debut concert for ''Evermotion'' took place with the release of the Greenovate Boston 2014 Climate Action Plan Update with Mayor
Marty Walsh
Martin Joseph Walsh (born April 10, 1967) is an American politician and former union official. He has been the 29th United States Secretary of Labor since March 23, 2021. A Democrat, he previously served as the 54th mayor of Boston from 2014, ...
as a statement of the band's support for environmental causes.
In 2016, en route to play a show in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, the group was stopped in
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
due to the
January 2016 United States blizzard
The January 2016 United States blizzard was a blizzard that produced up to 3 ft (91 cm) of snow in parts of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States from January 22–24, 2016. Evolving from a shortwave trough that formed in the Pacific ...
. The group
tweeted
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
that they planned to play a short set on the
North Side in front of a dumpster at the corner of Sampsonia Way and Veto Street at 2 p.m. Saturday. Several people showed up for the show, and a video of the show was posted to the band's
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
page. To celebrate their 25th anniversary, the band held a series of shows around Boston in January 2017.
On January 28, 2019, Guster released their eighth studio album, ''
Look Alive'', on Nettwerk/Ocho Mule. In 2020, the group embarked on an acoustic tour with Connor Ratliff from Upright Citizens Brigade that was ultimately cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, they worked on their next album with producer Josh Kaufman
Style
Guster is often recognized for its choice of instruments during their earlier years: two members playing
acoustic guitars
An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...
and one member playing various
percussion instruments
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Excl ...
. Brian Rosenworcel, the band's percussionist (affectionately dubbed the Thunder God by fans), added to Guster's unique sound with a combination of
bongos
Bongos ( es, bongó) are an Afro-Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of small open bottomed hand drums of different sizes. They are struck with both hands, most commonly in an eight-stroke pattern called ''martillo'' (hammer). The ...
,
cymbal
A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs soun ...
s, and other drums, playing live shows using only his bare hands. While Miller played rhythm parts, Gardner would often play a bass line on his guitar. Guster's sound is recognized for its vocal harmonies, with both Miller and Gardner singing lead vocals on different songs; in songs such as "What You Wish For" and "Happier", the two members sing different lyrics simultaneously. While Guster's studio albums included more instrumental variety (e.g.
violin
The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...
,
bass,
drum kit
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player ( drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsti ...
), its live shows generally retained the same lineup until tours supporting its album ''Lost and Gone Forever,'' in which the band diversified by playing different instruments on some songs. At this time, Rosenworcel began introducing a more traditional drum kit into the stage and studio performances in an effort to move away from bare-hand percussion.
Guster's live shows have a style of their own. For encores, the band has sometimes featured drummer Brian Rosenworcel moving to the front microphone and singing humorous covers. These have ranged from
Temple of the Dog
Temple of the Dog was an American rock supergroup that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. It was conceived by vocalist Chris Cornell of Soundgarden as a tribute to his friend, the late Andrew Wood, lead singer of the bands Malfunkshun ...
's "
Hunger Strike
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...
" to
4 Non Blondes' "
What's Up?" to the theme song from the TV show ''
Cheers
''Cheers'' is an American sitcom television series that ran on NBC from September 30, 1982, to May 20, 1993, with a total of 275 half-hour episodes across 11 seasons. The show was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions in association w ...
'' ("
Where Everybody Knows Your Name
"Where Everybody Knows Your Name", also credited as "Theme from ''Cheers'' (Where Everybody Knows Your Name)", is the theme song from the television sitcom '' Cheers'', as well as the debut single for Gary Portnoy. The song was written by Portnoy ...
"). Other examples include: "
Under the Bridge
"Under the Bridge" is a song by the American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers and the eleventh track on their fifth studio album, ''Blood Sugar Sex Magik'' (1991). Vocalist Anthony Kiedis wrote the lyrics while reflecting on loneliness and the st ...
" by the
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983, comprising vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea (musician), Flea, drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist John Frusciante. Their music incorporates element ...
, "
Total Eclipse of the Heart
"Total Eclipse of the Heart" is a song recorded by Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler. It was written and produced by Jim Steinman, and released on Tyler's fifth studio album, ''Faster Than the Speed of Night'' (1983). The song was released as a single b ...
" by
Bonnie Tyler
Gaynor Sullivan (née Hopkins; born 8 June 1951), known professionally as Bonnie Tyler, is a Welsh singer who is known for her distinctive husky voice. Tyler came to prominence with the release of her 1977 album '' The World Starts Tonight'' a ...
, "
In the Air Tonight
"In the Air Tonight" is the debut solo single by English drummer and singer-songwriter Phil Collins. It was released as the lead single from Collins's debut solo album, '' Face Value'', in January 1981.
Collins co-produced "In the Air Tonight" ...
" by
Phil Collins
Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and lead singer of the rock band Genesis and also has a career as a solo performer. Between 1982 and ...
, and "
Firework
Fireworks are a class of low explosive pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large number of devices in ...
" by
Katy Perry
Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Known for her influence on modern pop music and her Camp (style), campy style, she has been ...
. Other traditions at live shows have been developed over the years. For example, at the end of "Airport Song", people in the crowd throw
ping-pong
Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...
balls at the stage, in reference to the studio recording where the audio of a table tennis game can be heard in the background.
The band's humor is noted by many fans. For laughs, the three original members of Guster opened a number of their own shows as the Peace Soldiers, three
redneck
''Redneck'' is a derogatory term chiefly, but not exclusively, applied to white Americans perceived to be crass and unsophisticated, closely associated with rural whites of the Southern United States.Harold Wentworth, and Stuart Berg Flexner, '' ...
-looking musicians. With the addition of Joe into the band, it has since opened for itself in costume as a jam band called Trippin' Balls. During a 2001 show (which was oddly enough opened by Joe Pisapia's band Joe, Marc's Brother) in
Rochester, New York
Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...
, the band started their show with an empty stage. The music to ''
The Price Is Right
''The Price Is Right'' is a television game show franchise created by Bob Stewart, originally produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman; currently it is produced and owned by Fremantle. The franchise centers on television game shows, but also inc ...
'' played over the sound system, and a voice called each of the band members down from where they had hid themselves in the audience. Upon hearing their name, each member played the part of an enthusiastic game show contestant all the way to the stage. During a show in 2002 when Guster played with
John Mayer
John Clayton Mayer ( ; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Born and raised in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Mayer attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but left and moved to Atlanta in 1997 with ...
and
John Butler Trio
The John Butler Trio are an Australian roots/rock band led by guitarist and vocalist John Butler, an APRA and ARIA-award-winning musician. They formed in Fremantle in 1998 with Jason McGann on drums, Gavin Shoesmith on bass and John Butler on vo ...
in
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...
, the band danced around on stage with
KFC
KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) is an American fast food restaurant chain headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, that specializes in fried chicken. It is the world's second-largest restaurant chain (as measured by sales) after McDonald's, with 2 ...
buckets covering their heads while J.B.T. was playing their set. In 2019, during their third annual On the Ocean festival in
Portland, Maine
Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropol ...
, the band advertised a free afterparty "headlined by the legendary EDM group, PIPPI". During the afterparty, PIPPI was revealed to be the band dressed in matching jumpers with
Pippi Longstocking
Pippi Longstocking ( sv, Pippi Långstrump) is the fictional main character in an eponymous series of children's books by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren. Pippi was named by Lindgren's daughter Karin, who asked her mother for a get-well story wh ...
style wigs.
Fan reception
Guster maintains a close relationship with its fans with regular studio updates and road journals on their web site, guster.com, and signs autographs after shows. Guster once maintained a rep (representative) program, through which fans received promotional materials for upcoming concerts and albums to sell. Reps were rewarded with a special, rep-only series of EP's called ''The Pasty Tapes'' as well as invitations to rep-only concerts. Following the release of ''Ganging Up on the Sun'', the band formed a new program called the Wrecking Machines, through which fans are able to receive posters for advertising nearby concerts. Guster is a constantly touring band, at times playing up to 250 shows a year. Kesha was an early fan communicated with the band via email.
Activism
In 2004, Guster guitarist and vocalist Adam Gardner and his wife co-founded
Reverb
Reverberation (also known as reverb), in acoustics, is a persistence of sound, after a sound is produced. Reverberation is created when a sound or signal is reflected causing numerous reflections to build up and then decay as the sound is abso ...
, an organization dedicated to assisting touring artists by making activities more environmentally sound. It operates from within the music industry as well as the environmental world. Reverb greens artists’ tours and the music business at large while raising awareness and support for the environment through an interactive eco-village. Since its inception, Reverb has worked with (among others)
Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell ( ; born December 18, 2001) is an American singer-songwriter. She first gained public attention in 2015 with her debut single " Ocean Eyes", written and produced by her brother Finneas O'Connell, with whom ...
,
Jack Johnson,
Barenaked Ladies
Barenaked Ladies is a Canadian rock band formed in 1988 in Scarborough, Ontario. The band developed a following in Canada, with their self-titled 1991 cassette becoming the first independent release to be certified gold in Canada. They reach ...
,
Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American blues singer and guitarist. In 1971, Raitt released her self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed roots-influenced albums that incorporated ...
,
John Mayer
John Clayton Mayer ( ; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Born and raised in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Mayer attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but left and moved to Atlanta in 1997 with ...
,
Dave Matthews Band
Dave Matthews Band (also known by the initials DMB) is an American rock band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1991. The band's founding members were singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer and bac ...
, and Guster. In July 2006, Gardner was among those interviewed about Reverb by ''The Green Room'' magazine, which would later interview Gardner alone in coverage of a Guster show. ''
Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...
'' did a similar profile in its April 16, 2007, issue.
In 2006, Guster named its spring tour the Campus Consciousness Tour. The band toured with
The Format
The Format is an American indie rock band formed by Nate Ruess and Sam Means. Their style can be considered a mixture of indie, alternative, punk and folk music, with elements of 1960s and 1970s pop music. Though Means and Ruess are the foremost ...
, and it powered its buses and trucks with
biodiesel
Biodiesel is a form of diesel fuel derived from plants or animals and consisting of long-chain fatty acid esters. It is typically made by chemically reacting lipids such as animal fat (tallow), soybean oil, or some other vegetable oil with ...
and aimed to use the tour to teach audiences about the environment. Participation in the early 2007 IZStyle Winter Tour had similar goals. In fall 2007, Guster headlined the Crocs' Next Step Campus Tour with
Brett Dennen
Brett Michael Dennen (born October 28, 1979) is an American folk/pop singer-songwriter from Central California. His seventh studio album, ''See the World'' was released in July 2021.
Early life
Dennen grew up in Central Valley, California in a s ...
as a supporting act. The tour promoted eco-friendly green initiatives while educating attendees on ways to help the environment. The tour stopped at fifteen colleges.
Band members
*
Adam Gardner
Adam Seth Gardner (born May 31, 1973) is an American guitarist and vocalist of the band Guster and a member of the Tufts University Beelzebubs.
Gardner grew up outside Morristown, New Jersey, and played for a band called Royal Flush while a stud ...
–
lead vocals
The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...
,
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
,
bass guitar
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...
,
keyboard
Keyboard may refer to:
Text input
* Keyboard, part of a typewriter
* Computer keyboard
** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping
** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware
Music
* Musi ...
,
banjo
The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...
,
trumpet
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...
(1991–present)
*
Ryan Miller
Ryan Dean Miller (born July 17, 1980) is an American former ice hockey goaltender who played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) mostly for the Buffalo Sabres. Miller was drafted 138th overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 1999 NHL E ...
– lead vocals,
backing vocals
A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...
, guitar, bass guitar,
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
, banjo,
harmonica
The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...
,
ukulele
The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings.
The tone and volume of the instrumen ...
,
keytar
The keytar is a lightweight synthesizer that is supported by a strap around the neck and shoulders, similar to the way a guitar is supported by a strap. Keytars allow players a greater range of movement onstage, compared to conventional keyboard ...
(1991–present)
*
Brian Rosenworcel
Brian Rosenworcel is an American drummer and co-founder of the band Guster.
Early life and education
Rosenworcel is a native of West Hartford, Connecticut. He co-founded Guster while studying at Tufts University in the early-1990s. Rosenworc ...
–
drums
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...
,
percussion
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...
,
trombone
The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...
(1991–present)
*
Luke Reynolds
Luke Reynolds (born April 20, 1979) is an American guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, artist, writer and producer.
Career Studio work
As a guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, he has worked with Sharon Van Etten, The Staves, Adrian Utley, ...
– backing vocals, guitar, bass guitar, banjo, electronic keyboard (2010–present)
;Past members
*
Joe Pisapia
Joe Pisapia (born July 25, 1968) is an American record producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, who was formerly a part of the band Guster and k.d. lang and the Siss Boom Bang. In the past he has also released albums with his band Joe, M ...
– backing vocals, guitar, bass guitar, banjo, harmonica, electronic keyboard,
lap steel guitar
The lap steel guitar, also known as a Hawaiian guitar, is a type of steel guitar without pedals that is typically played with the instrument in a horizontal position across the performer's lap. Unlike the usual manner of playing a traditional ...
,
cow bell
A cowbell (or cow bell) is a bell worn around the neck of free-roaming livestock so herders can keep track of an animal via the sound of the bell when the animal is grazing out of view in hilly landscapes or vast plains. Although they are t ...
,
Appalachian dulcimer
The Appalachian dulcimer (many variant names; see below) is a fretted string instrument of the zither family, typically with three or four strings, originally played in the Appalachian region of the United States. The body extends the length of ...
(2003–2010)
Discography
Studio albums
* ''
Parachute
A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, who ...
'' (1994)
* ''
Goldfly'' (1997)
* ''
Lost and Gone Forever
''Lost and Gone Forever'' is the third studio album by the band Guster, released in September 1999. It was recorded earlier that year in Sausalito, California, and Bearsville, New York. In 1999, Ryan Miller claimed that Guster took the album's t ...
'' (1999)
* ''
Keep It Together'' (2003)
* ''
Ganging Up on the Sun
''Ganging Up on the Sun'' is the fifth studio album by the rock band Guster. It was released on June 20, 2006. The first single, "One Man Wrecking Machine", was released in late 2005 and its follow-up, "Satellite", in March 2006. It is Guster' ...
'' (2006)
* ''
Easy Wonderful
''Easy Wonderful'' is the sixth studio album by the American alternative rock band Guster, released on October 5, 2010, on Universal Republic. From August 24 to October 18, 2010, videos for all of the tracks on the album were posted to Vimeo. The ...
'' (2010)
* ''
Evermotion
''Evermotion'' is a studio album by the American alternative rock band Guster. It was released on January 13, 2015, on both Ocho Mule, the band's own label, and Nettwerk Records. It was their first album in five years, following '' Easy Wonderful' ...
'' (2015)
* ''
Look Alive'' (2019)
References
External links
Official websiteGuster collectionat the
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
's live music archive
{{Authority control
Alternative rock groups from Massachusetts
Indie rock musical groups from Massachusetts
Musical groups from Boston
Sire Records artists
Reprise Records artists
Columbia Records artists
Musical quartets
Jangle pop groups
Musical groups established in 1991
American musical trios
1991 establishments in Massachusetts
Nettwerk Music Group artists