Kid Theodore - History

History

Kid Theodore was formed in early 2005 by Ryan Darton with Todd Hammond on drums and Matt Barton on guitar. After a few practices Cole Barnson and Austin McBride would be recruited on bass and keyboards respectively. Their first show, then as simply Theodore, was a battle of the bands in November 2005 at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah in front of 2,000 people. They would place 2nd out of the 16 bands on the bill. They released their first EP, "goodnight...goodnight" on February 18, 2006. The E.P. received many warm reviews from local and national blogs.

Shortly after the release, Hammond was replaced on drums by Chad Vigil. The new line up set out on their first tour in July. After getting back from a 2 week excursion, McBride's younger brother Brandon, who had been serving as roadie, was brought into the group to add extra guitar, keyboard, and percussion. This six-piece line up toured the western US, Mexico, and Canada for the rest of the year, including shows with the Big Ass Show and Snow Patrol.

The band recorded their first full length album in the first two months of 2007. "Hello Rainey" was released June 9, 2007. Barton left the band in July for an LDS mission with Brandon taking over on guitar. The band continued touring after its release playing with Ben Kweller, St. Vincent, a live performance for Seattle radio station KEXP and an after party for Morrissey at the Las Vegas Beauty Bar.

Kid Theodore made an appearance at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival which Spin magazine cited as one of the festival's highlights.

In February 2008, Austin McBride split ways with Kid Theodore citing "mental issues" as the reason and was temporarily replaced by Aaron Martell on piano. At the same time, Chad Vigil parted to pursue career goals as a doctor. Gardner Stevenett replaced Vigil on drums, setting the band in their latter line up.

In June 2009, the band relocated to Los Angeles, California where the band worked on several music compilations. Eventually they split up with Cole and Brandon forming Toy Bombs and Ryan Darton debuting his solo career. Gardner remains living in Los Angeles as a part-time drummer for Toy Bombs as well as a part-time guitarist/pianist for Ryan Darton.

Kid Theodore was selected by Billboard Magazine and TAXI as the Independent Music World Series Champions after the band performed for judges at the famed Knitting Factory in Los Angeles in July 2008.

Kid Theodore performed at the 2008 and 2009 CMJ Music Marathon in New York City, the 2008 and 2009 Sundance Film Festival, and the 2009 South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas.