Stolen Ogre is an American rock band based in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, Washington. Michael McMorrow and

Blues Traveler Blues Traveler is an American rock band that formed in Princeton, New Jersey, in 1987. They are known for their extensive use of segues in live performances, and could be considered a key part of the re-emerging jam band scene of the 1990s, sp ...

drummer

Brendan Hill Brendan Colin Charles Hill is an American musician, best known as the drummer (and one of the co-founders) of the jam band Blues Traveler. History Hill was born in London, England. His parents are Irish citizens and Hill has dual U.S. and Iri ...

formed the group after they met on the

H.O.R.D.E. Horizons of Rock Developing Everywhere or H.O.R.D.E. Festival was a concert tour, touring summer rock music festival originated by the musical group Blues Traveler in 1992. In addition to travelling headliners, the festival gave exposure to bands ...

tour in the mid-1990s. The band's current members are lead singer-songwriter Pamela Tobiason, keyboardist/songwriter Michael McMorrow, guitarist David Simpson, saxophonist/singer the Reverend Scott "Junior" Adams, bassist Marc Willett and drummer Rick Boice. Brendan Hill's Traveler duties eventually led him to stop his regular appearances with the group, although he went on to record with the band on ''Road To Jericho'' and still remains a creative collaborator. The band takes its name from a child's

doll A doll is a physical model, model typically of a human or humanoid character, often used as a toy for children. Dolls have also been used in traditional religious rituals throughout the world. Traditional dolls made of materials such as clay and ...

that Hill spotted on the roadside of the German

Autobahn The (; German , ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. Much of t ...

. Christened '

Ogre An ogre (feminine: ogress) is a legendary monster depicted as a large, hideous, man-like being that eats ordinary human beings, especially infants and children. Ogres frequently feature in mythology, folklore, and fiction throughout the world ...

', and enthroned on Hill's drum kit, it became his

good luck Luck is the phenomenon and belief that defines the experience of improbable events, especially improbably positive or negative ones. The naturalistic interpretation is that positive and negative events may happen at any time, both due to ran ...

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, sports team, university society, society, military unit, or brand, brand name. Mascots are als ...

through Blues Traveler's early years. After Ogre vanished on tour, McMorrow, Hill and company adopted the name in playful tribute to the circumstances.

''Road To Jericho''

In the spring of 2004, Stolen Ogre released their first full-length album ''Road to Jericho'' on the Seattle-based Shadowhawk Records. Two songs, "Jericho" and "Love Me Alone" went on to receive airplay nationwide.

Critical reception

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

WVIA-FM WVIA-FM (89.9 FM) is a non-commercial, public FM radio station in Scranton, Pennsylvania. It is the National Public Radio member station for Northeastern Pennsylvania. The station is owned by the Northeastern Pennsylvania Educational Televisi ...

had the album on the charts for eight weeks with it peaking at No. 2 for two weeks. Enigma Magazine noted of the CD, "Bottom line it's rock, folk, jam and pop all mixed together into one big happy concoction." Stolen Ogre played its debut New York City show at the famed Lion's Den with

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

giving the show a "Recommended" note by writer Richard Gehr. The band continued on with shows at the legendary

Asbury Park Asbury Park () is a beachfront city located on the Jersey Shore in Monmouth County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 15,188, a dec ...

club

The Saint The Saint may refer to: Fiction * Simon Templar, also known as "The Saint", the protagonist of a book series by Leslie Charteris and subsequent adaptations: ** ''The Saint'' (film series) (1938–1943), starring Louis Hayward, George Sanders ...

and NYC's Acme Underground. The Northeast swing and ''Road to Jericho'' were highlighted in both www.Jambands.com and www.Jambase.com. After

Relix Magazine ''Relix'', originally and occasionally later ''Dead Relix'', is a magazine that focuses on live and improvisational music. The magazine was launched in 1974 as a handmade newsletter devoted to connecting people who recorded Grateful Dead concer ...

President and Publisher Steve Bernstein and other Relix staffers saw the Stolen Ogre set at Lion's Den, the band was invited to play a private mid-day concert the magazine's home office in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. A live recording of that show hit www.archive.org; Stolen Ogre remained in the Top 5 downloaded shows for over a month with nearly 4000 downloads.

Other releases

The band released its first Christmas single "

Little Drummer Boy "The Little Drummer Boy" (originally known as "Carol of the Drum") is a popular Christmas song written by American composer Katherine Kennicott Davis in 1941. First recorded in 1951 by the Austrian Trapp Family, the song was further popularize ...

" to

AAA AAA, Triple A, or Triple-A is a three-letter initialism or abbreviation which may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming * AAA (video game industry) - a category of high budget video games *'' TripleA'', an open source wargame Mu ...

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

radio. Stolen Ogre is currently writing songs for the follow-up to ''Road to Jericho'' and are in planning for the next tour and

festival A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, Melā, mela, or Muslim holidays, eid. A ...

dates. In 2007 new material from Stolen Ogre is being recorded at

Robert Lang Studios Robert Lang Studios is a recording studio in Shoreline, Washington, United States. Numerous bands have recorded at Robert Lang Studios since 1974 including Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Foo Fighters, Soundgarden, Dave Matthews Band, Death Cab for Cut ...

in Seattle, including a brand new McMorrow composition "Tequila Mockingbird" that features

John Popper John Popper (born March 29, 1967) is an American musician and songwriter, known as the co-founder, lead vocalist, and frontman of the rock band Blues Traveler. Early life Popper was born on March 29, 1967, in Cleveland, Ohio. His father was a ...

External links

Stolen Ogre (Blues Traveler "Side Project" page)
{{Authority control Jam bands