Sweet Water is an American
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band from
Seattle, Washington
Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...
.
History
Originally known as S.G.M., the majority of Sweet Water's members met while students at
The Bush School. SGM had garnered acclaim as second generation punk pioneers in the Seattle scene, playing with Nirvana, the Accused, The Rejectors, The Melvins and more. Bruce Pavitt called the original SGM demo "Young, loud and crazy. Better than Soundgarden and Green River put together. Better than Led Zep and the Stooges even"

SGM evolved into Sweet Water as the band lineup changed in 1990. The original Sweet Water included Adam Czeisler, vocals, Rich Credo, rhythm guitar, Cole Peterson, bass guitar, Dudley Taft, lead guitar and Paul Uhlir, Drums. Garnering acclaim for their debut on New Rage Records, ''Sweet Water'', the band was subsequently signed in 1992 by Jason Flom of
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most ...
and released its second self-titled album, Sweet Water produced by Don Gilmore (
Linkin Park
Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. The band's current lineup comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, bassist Dave Farrell, DJ/turntablist Joe Hahn and dr ...
,
Dashboard Confessional
Dashboard Confessional is an American rock band from Boca Raton, Florida, led by singer Chris Carrabba. The name of the band is derived from the songThe Sharp Hint of New Tears off their debut album, '' The Swiss Army Romance''.
History
Early ...
,
Lit,
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, ...
) and mixed by
Tim Palmer
Timothy J. Palmer (born 4 October 1962, in North Shields) is an English record producer, audio engineer, guitarist and songwriter of rock and alternative music. He mixed Pearl Jam's debut album ''Ten'' (1991) and tracks on U2's album ''All Tha ...
(
Mother Love Bone
Mother Love Bone was an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington in 1988. The band was active from 1988 to 1990. Frontman Andrew Wood's personality and lyrics helped to catapult the group to the top of the burgeoning late 1980s/e ...
,
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, ...
,
Tin Machine
Tin Machine were a British–American rock band formed in 1988, and fronted by English singer-songwriter David Bowie. The band consisted of Bowie on lead vocals, saxophone and guitar; Reeves Gabrels on guitar and vocals; Tony Fox Sales on ba ...
,
Robert Plant
Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the English rock band Led Zeppelin for all of its existence from 1968 until 1980, when the band broke up following th ...
). The band were then signed to Elektra Records subsidiary East-West, and they recorded a follow-up record ''Superfriends'' with
Dave Jerden
Dave Jerden is an American record producer, engineer, and mixer who has worked with artists in various genres including alternative rock, punk rock and metal. However, Jerden has stated that he dislikes the term "producer", preferring to refer ...
(
Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AIC) is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1987 by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney, who later recruited bassist Mike Starr and lead vocalist Layne ...
,
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction is an American rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1985. The band consists of vocalist Perry Farrell, guitarist Dave Navarro, drummer Stephen Perkins and bassist Eric Avery. Jane's Addiction was one of the first bands fr ...
) producing. Guitarist Taft was fired during the recording of Superfriends and a new Sweet Water sound took shape with Rich Credo as sole guitarist. Jerden called the band "Mott the Hoople meets the 90's"
Jerden returned to produce ''Suicide'' for Tom Zutaut of EMI imprint The Enclave. ''Suicide'' was eventually released in conjunction with Good-Ink records in 1999.
Members of the band engaged in various side-projects as well, including Peterson's work as bassist for
Calm Down Juanita
Calm Down Juanita is a Seattle, Washington studio band writing partnership between vocalist Tyler Willman and drummer Kevin Guess, catalyzed and engineered by Steve Wilmans, that has featured several other notable players. Their sound is progres ...
with
Tyler Willman
Tyler Willman, also known as Ty Willman, is an American guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter who lives in Seattle, Washington. He is probably best known for his work with the Seattle-based band Green Apple Quick Step. He briefly fronted the band ...
and
Kevin Guess
Kevtone (born Kevin Anthony Guess, December 30, 1964) is an American musician, percussionist, and songwriter from Seattle, Washington. Performing live and in studio, his rhythm style may best be described as improvisational, melodic, progressive, ...
on their eponymous first studio album, ''Calm Down Juanita'', released in 1998.
The band spent 2000-2006 on a self-imposed hiatus, releasing no new music and playing no shows. 2007 saw their return to the stage and various rock websites reported an album in the works.
In 2009, the band released ''Clear The Tarmac'' on Golden City Records, the label run by guitarist Rich Credo.
''Clear the Tarmac'' sold well and represented what most fans and critics considered to be a return to form. A video for its single ''Rock Steady'' garnered national airplay.
Notable Seattle Drummer Chris Friel replaced Paul Uhlir in 2009, and has been a mainstay in the group since that time.
2012 and 2013 saw more creative output from the band, with the 2012 release of a single entitled "Hey Living" with the b-side "Get High Clover" and an accompanying video for the b-side. The 5 song "Dance Floor Kills" EP followed in April 2013. Both releases were on the dual Fin Records/Golden City Records imprint, with Fin handling physical product and Golden City handling digital.
In November 2015, Sweet Water returned to the stage with a one-off performance at Seattle's
Benaroya Hall
Benaroya Hall is the home of the Seattle Symphony in Downtown Seattle, Washington, United States. It features two auditoria, the S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium, a 2500-seat performance venue, as well as the Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital H ...
. The show was Sweet Water's first performance with a full orchestra, and was notable for the unique on stage collaboration with Seattle singer
Shawn Smith
Shawn Smith may refer to:
*Shirley Patterson (1922 – 1995), a Canadian-born actress also known as Shawn Smith
* Shawn Smith (musician) (1965 – 2019), American singer, songwriter, and musician
*Shawn Smith (American football), a National Foot ...
.
Summer 2018 saw the release of the "Galer Street" single (with supporting video) and two sold out shows at the
Paramount Theatre Paramount Theater or Paramount Theatre may refer to:
Canada
* Scotiabank Theatre or Paramount Theatre, a chain of theatres owned by Cineplex Entertainment
** Scotiabank Theatre Toronto or Paramount Theatre Toronto
China
* Paramount (Shanghai) o ...
in Seattle with
Green Apple Quick Step
Green Apple Quick Step, often abbreviated as GAQS, is an American rock band from Seattle. Their sound was described as hard-edged, post-grunge rock. The band began as Inspector Luv and the Ride Me Babys in Tacoma, Washington before becoming Gr ...
and
Candlebox
Candlebox is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington. Since its formation in 1990, the group has released seven studio albums, several charting singles, a compilation, and a CD+DVD.
Candlebox found immediate success with the release ...
.
2019 saw the release of the Galer Street single, closely following in 2019 by the release of the Firebird EP on Golden City Records. The band played several west coast shows in support of the release of Firebird.
The band continues to record and perform select shows.
Discography
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sweet Water (Band)
Alternative rock groups from Washington (state)
Musical groups from Seattle
Grunge musical groups
Atlantic Records artists
East West Records artists