Dishwalla is an American

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band from

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara (, meaning ) is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States excepting A ...

. Formed by vocalist J.R. Richards, guitarist Rodney Browning, and keyboardist Greg Kolanek, they were initially known as Life Talking and then Dish upon adding bassist Scot Alexander and drummer George Pendergast. Due to a cease-and-desist letter, the band settled on Dishwalla in late 1993. The Dishwalla name came from a

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

term for a person providing satellite TV to a neighborhood (" dish" + walla). Kolanek took the name from a ''

Wired Wired may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Wired'' (Jeff Beck album), 1976 * ''Wired'' (Hugh Cornwell album), 1993 * ''Wired'' (Mallory Knox album), 2017 * "Wired", a song by Prism from their album '' Beat Street'' * "Wired ...

'' magazine article. The band is best known for its 1996 hit song " Counting Blue Cars".

History

Formation and eventual change to Dishwalla (1990–1993)

J.R. Richards (vocals/rhythm guitar), Rodney Browning (guitar), and Greg Kolanek (keyboards) formed the band Life Talking in 1990. They released one demo album, ''By the Color'', in 1991. Unlike their later output, Life Talking was more

synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s ...

and electronic-oriented. The following year, the band changed its name to Dish as they added Scot Alexander (bass) and George Pendergast (drums) to the lineup. With a full band, their sound shifted into an

direction. Dish self-released a demo album in 1993, ''Dish'', as it featured three songs that were later re-recorded for their major label debut ("Charlie Brown's Parents", "Give", and "All She Can See"), one song that was re-recorded from their Life Talking era ("Worthless"), and three exclusive tracks ("The Chair", "Love Sees No Color", and "Tear"). Due to a cease-and-desist letter in August 1993, the band changed their name to Dishwalla. The name was based on a ''

'' magazine article that Kolanek had read, in which the story described a person who provided satellite TV to a neighborhood (" dish" + walla).

Major label signing and mainstream success with ''Pet Your Friends'' (1994–1997)

In 1994, the band recorded "It's Going to Take Some Time" on the tribute album '' If I Were a Carpenter'', which featured cover versions of songs by

The Carpenters The Carpenters were an American vocal and instrumental duo consisting of siblings Karen Carpenter, Karen (1950–1983) and Richard Carpenter (musician), Richard Carpenter (born 1946). They produced a distinctive soft musical style, combining ...

. The band made their televised debut, performing the songs "It's Going to Take Some Time" and "Moisture", on '' The Jon Stewart Show'' shortly after. Kolanek departed from the band around the same time, although the reasoning was not explained (he was given songwriting credits on the band's subsequent release however). The band continued as a quartet, and they signed a contract with the label

A&M Records A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and functions as a branch of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscope-Geffen-A&M. Established in 1962 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, the label initially operated independent ...

. Their album ''

Pet Your Friends ''Pet Your Friends'' is the first album by the American alternative rock band Dishwalla. It was released in 1995 on A&M Records. The album included the hit single " Counting Blue Cars" (the second single from the album), which was a Top 40 favor ...

'' featured producer Phil Nicolo (known as one half of The Butcher Bros.), and it was released in August 1995. Jim Wood was then brought in as the band's keyboardist. In 1996, the single " Counting Blue Cars" from ''Pet Your Friends'' climbed to No. 15 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

chart and topped the

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-playe ...

chart, bringing the band mainstream success. Other singles off the album, such as "Give" and "Charlie Brown's Parents", appeared on various charts in both the US and Canada as well. Initially in 1996, Dishwalla and The Refreshments opened for

Goo Goo Dolls The Goo Goo Dolls are an American rock band based in Buffalo, New York, composed of lead vocalist and guitarist John Rzeznik, bassist and vocalist Robby Takac, as well as several rotating members since its formation in 1986. After starting ...

on a national tour. Dishwalla and The Refreshments then co-headlined their own tour later in the year. Overall, "Counting Blue Cars" earned the band a Billboard Award for "Best Rock Song" in 1996 as well as two ASCAP Awards for "Rock Track of the Year" in both 1996 and 1997. ''Pet Your Friends'' was eventually certified gold by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

Moderate success with ''And You Think You Know What Life's About'' and label shifts (1998–2000)

Dishwalla released their second album in 1998, '' And You Think You Know What Life's About''. Its lead single, "Once in a While", managed to appear on both the Modern Rock Tracks and

Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart published by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States. It is an administrative category that combines the " active rock" and " heritage rock" ...

charts. Both "Once in a While" and "Stay Awake" also respectively peaked at No. 38 and No. 80 on Canada's

RPM 100 ''RPM'' ( and later ) was a Canadian music-industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. ''RP ...

chart. Dishwalla toured with

Sheryl Crow Sheryl Suzanne Crow (born February 11, 1962) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress. She is noted for her Optimism, optimistic and Idealism, idealistic subject matter, and incorporation of genres including Rock music, rock, Po ...

in promotion of the album, but Pendergast sustained an injury. Initially, Pete Maloney was brought on as a temporary drummer, but Maloney ended up joining the band on a full-time basis. Despite some moderate success with ''And You Think You Know What Life's About'', the album's singles did not match the popularity of "Counting Blue Cars"; thus, it led to the band being classified as a

one-hit wonder A one-hit wonder is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music performers with ...

of the 1990s. In 1999, the band appeared in a ''

Charmed ''Charmed'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by Constance M. Burge and produced by Aaron Spelling and his production company Spelling Television, with Brad Kern serving as showrunner. The series was originally broadc ...

'' episode (season 2, episode 4). They performed a concert as themselves at "P3", a fictional night-club, during the episode. That same year, the band's song "Find Your Way Back Home" was featured on the soundtrack for the film '' American Pie''. Ultimately, the band departed from A&M Records after their touring commitments were finished.

''Opaline'', ''Dishwalla'', and departure of Richards (2001–2005)

In 2002, Dishwalla released their third album, '' Opaline'', on Immergent Records. "Somewhere in the Middle" was released as the lead single, and it peaked at No. 25 on the Adult Pop Songs chart. It was also their only charting single in Australia as it peaked at No. 72 on the

ARIA Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

. Dishwalla extensively toured before and after the album's release (from fall 2001 to summer 2003), as it was noted that they played 258 shows over 470 days. The band released the self-titled album '' Dishwalla'' through Orphanage Records on March 15, 2005. Dishwalla went on a short tour throughout the summer of 2005, and the final shows took place in July of that year. It was ultimately the last album and tour with original vocalist Richards.

Reformation and ''Juniper Road'' (2008–2017)

After deciding to take a break in 2005, the band reformed and began touring in 2008 with a modified lineup consisting of bassist Alexander, guitarist Browning, keyboardist Wood, and drummer Pendergast. The lineup featured long-time friend Justin Fox, singer of the Santa Barbara band Tripdavon, as a "special guest vocalist". On March 15, 2009, Dishwalla was asked to play a benefit concert for Tea Fire victims Lance and Carla Hoffman, who were badly burned in fires which hit Santa Barbara in November 2008. In September 2012, Dishwalla let it be known that Richards had been permanently replaced with long-time friend and "special guest vocalist" Fox, as Richards focused on his solo albums and production career. In November 2012, in an episode of the TV show ''

How I Met Your Mother ''How I Met Your Mother'' (often abbreviated as ''HIMYM'') is an American sitcom created by Craig Thomas (screenwriter), Craig Thomas and Carter Bays for CBS. The series, which aired from September 19, 2005, to March 31, 2014, follows main char ...

'', Dishwalla and their song "Counting Blue Cars" was written into a storyline. In 2013 and 2014, the band toured extensively across the United States and the world. The band shared the stage with many other notable acts such as

Eric Burdon Eric Victor Burdon (born 11 May 1941) is an English singer and songwriter. He was previously the lead vocalist of the rhythm and blues, R&B and Rock music, rock band The Animals and the funk band War (band), War. He is regarded as one of the Br ...

, Collective Soul, Vertical Horizon, Tonic, Stroke 9, and Nine Days just in 2014 alone. Although there were initial doubts about Fox's ability to take over as frontman, his longevity in the band and continued touring commitments received support by the band's fans. The year 2015 was the 20th anniversary of Dishwalla's chart-topping ''Pet Your Friends'' album that launched their careers. To commemorate the event, the band re-recorded their hit "Counting Blue Cars" with new vocalist Fox. On July 14, 2017, Dishwalla released their fifth studio album, ''Juniper Road''. It was the band's first full-length studio release in 12 years. During the summer of 2017, the band joined the "Rockin' Road Trip '17" tour, sharing the stage with notable acts such as

Fuel A fuel is any material that can be made to react with other substances so that it releases energy as thermal energy or to be used for work (physics), work. The concept was originally applied solely to those materials capable of releasing chem ...

, Marcy Playground, Gin Blossoms, and others. Their summer dates included an appearance at the Santa Barbara Bowl on September 18, 2017 with

Tears for Fears Tears for Fears are an English pop rock band formed in Bath in 1981 by Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal. Founded after the dissolution of their first band, the mod-influenced Graduate, Tears for Fears were associated with the synth-pop bands o ...

''Alive'' and continued career (2018–present)

Dishwalla released a three-track EP, ''Alive'', in 2022. The title track managed to peak at No. 31 on the Mainstream Rock chart, their first appearance on a ''Billboard'' chart in 20 years.

Members

Current

* Rodney Browning Cravens – lead guitar, backing vocals (1990–2005, 2008–present) * Scot Alexander – bass, backing vocals (1993–2005, 2008–present) * George Pendergast – drums (1993–1998, 2008–present) * Jim Wood – keyboards (1996–2005, 2008–present) * Justin Fox – lead vocals (2008–present)

Former

* J. R. Richards – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards (1990–2005) * Greg Kolanek – keyboards (1990–1994) * Pete Maloney – drums (1998–2005)

Timeline

ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:60 top:0 right:10 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:06/01/1990 till:01/01/2026 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:01/01/1991 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:01/01/1992 Colors = id:Vocals value:red legend:Lead_vocals id:Guitars value:green legend:Guitar id:Keys value:purple legend:Keyboards id:Bass value:blue legend:Bass id:Drums value:orange legend:Drums id:Album value:black legend:Studio_album id:EP value:gray(0.5) legend:Other_studio_release LineData = at:12/01/1991 color:EP layer:back at:08/01/1993 color:EP layer:back at:08/22/1995 color:album layer:back at:08/11/1998 color:album layer:back at:10/02/2001 color:EP layer:back at:04/23/2002 color:album layer:back at:12/10/2003 color:EP layer:back at:12/10/2004 color:EP layer:back at:03/15/2005 color:album layer:back at:05/05/2017 color:album layer:back at:05/13/2022 color:EP layer:back BarData = bar:Richards text:"J.R. Richards" bar:Fox text:"Justin Fox" bar:Cravens text:"Rodney B. Cravens" bar:Alexander text:"Scot Alexander" bar:Kolanek text:"Greg Kolanek" bar:Wood text:"Jim Wood" bar:Pendergast text:"George Pendergast" bar:Maloney text:"Pete Maloney" PlotData= width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(11,-4) bar:Richards from:start till:06/12/2005 color:Vocals bar:Richards from:start till:06/12/2005 color:Guitars width:7 bar:Richards from:start till:06/12/2005 color:Keys width:3 bar:Fox from:01/01/2008 till:end color:Vocals bar:Cravens from:start till:06/12/2005 color:Guitars bar:Cravens from:01/01/2008 till:end color:Guitars bar:Alexander from:03/10/1993 till:06/12/2005 color:Bass bar:Alexander from:01/01/2008 till:end color:Bass bar:Kolanek from:start till:10/14/1994 color:Keys bar:Wood from:01/01/1996 till:06/12/2005 color:Keys bar:Wood from:01/01/2008 till:end color:Keys bar:Pendergast from:03/10/1993 till:08/20/1998 color:Drums bar:Pendergast from:01/01/2008 till:end color:Drums bar:Maloney from:08/20/1998 till:06/12/2005 color:Drums

Discography

Studio albums

Demo albums

*''By the Color'' (1991, as Life Talking) *''Dish'' (1993, as Dish)

EPs and live albums

*''Gems'' (2001) *''Santa Claus Lane'' (2003) *'' Live... Greetings from the Flow State'' (2003) *''Santa Claus Lane II'' (2004) *''Southeast Asia'' (2004) *''Alive'' (2022)

Singles

Non-album songs

* "

It's Going to Take Some Time English auxiliary verbs are a small set of English verbs, which include the English modal auxiliary verbs and a few others. Although the auxiliary verbs of English are widely believed to lack inherent semantic meaning and instead to modify the ...

", featured on the 1994 Carpenters

tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century a ...

, '' If I Were a Carpenter'' * "The Thrill Is Gone", featured on the 1995

soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ( ...

, '' Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead'' * "The Other Side of the World", featured on the 1997 compilation, '' MOM II: Music for Our Mother Ocean'' * " Policy of Truth", featured on the 1998

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music, electronic band formed in Basildon, Essex in 1980. Originally formed with the line-up of Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher (musician), Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke, the band currently consists ...

tribute album, '' For the Masses'' * "Find Your Way Back Home", featured on the 1999 soundtrack album, '' American Pie''

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Alternative rock groups from California American post-grunge musical groups Musical groups established in 1992 Musical groups disestablished in 2006 Musical groups reestablished in 2008