Guster - History

History

The band members met during freshman orientation at Tufts University 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. This album established the band as a favorite of the same 1990s scene that became popular through bands such as the Dave Matthews Band, The Disco Biscuits, moe., Phish, and Widespread Panic. 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, the band independently recorded their second album, Goldfly, releasing it early the next year. In 1998 the band signed with Sire Records and re-released Goldfly. A year later, the band released the album Lost and Gone Forever, produced by Steve Lillywhite. With the backing of a major label, the band appeared on shows such as the Late Show with David Letterman, and it released their first music video for their song "Fa Fa." The band released its fourth album, Keep It Together, in 2003, with the first single, "Amsterdam," which got significant airplay on the radio. A live album/DVD, Guster on Ice, compiled from two shows in Portland, Maine, in December 2003, was released in 2004. Guster released its fifth full length studio album, Ganging Up on the Sun, on June 20, 2006. The single "Manifest Destiny / Sorority Tears" was released in November 2005 on the Internet.

Alongside Ganging up on the Sun, the band released a documentary comedy series called Joe's Place on its Web site. More recently, the group, along with the Barenaked Ladies, participated in the latter's Ships and Dip cruise. In 2009, Guster took part in a similar event with musician John Mayer called Mayercraft Carrier 2 aboard the Carnival Splendor

On September 27, 2006, Guster won Album of the Year (Major) at the Boston Music Awards.

Guster released their sixth studio album "Easy Wonderful" on October 5, 2010. Mixing for the album commenced on March 15, 2010 according to an update from the band's Twitter account. On April 30, Guster released "Jonah", an outtake from sessions for their then upcoming album, on the "Download to Donate for Haiti" 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, Joe would be touring with k.d. lang with whom he had been writing songs. It was also announced that Luke Reynolds would be filling in for Joe starting September 12, 2010.