Waking Ashland
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Waking Ashland was 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 Wale ...
band from
San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
, California. Formed in 2003, they were signed to
Tooth & Nail Records Tooth & Nail Records is a record label founded by Brandon Ebel in California in November 1993. The label later moved to Seattle where it is today. History Brandon Ebel and Michael Knott conceived the label as a joint venture, before Knott backe ...
and
Immortal Records Immortal Records was an American independent record label/imprint label based in Los Angeles, California. The company helped launch the careers of such influential acts as Korn, Thirty Seconds To Mars, and Incubus over the years. The label had a ...
. In all the group released two EPs and two full-length albums before their disestablishment in 2007. Their final lineup consisted of singer/keyboardist Jonathan Jones, guitarist Ryan Lallier, bassist Nate Harold and drummer Tim Very.


History

Waking Ashland was formed in November 2003 by singer/keyboardist Jonathan Jones, guitarist Ryan Lallier, Clayton Boek, and drummer Thomas Lee. Robert Teegarden — a friend of the band — temporarily helped out to fill the vacant position on the
bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...
. The band name stems from the aspect of connecting people through music, paired with a reference to the town of Ashland, Oregon. Influenced by as diverse acts as Joe Jackson,
Coldplay Coldplay are a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer and percussionist Will Champion, and manager Phil Harvey (band m ...
,
The Pixies The Pixies are an American alternative rock band from Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1986 by Black Francis (vocals, rhythm guitar, songwriter), Joey Santiago (lead guitar), Kim Deal (bass, vocals) and David Lovering (drums). The Pi ...
and
Hüsker Dü Hüsker Dü () was an American punk rock band formed in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1979. The band's continuous members were guitarist/vocalist Bob Mould, bassist Greg Norton, and drummer/vocalist Grant Hart. They first gained notability as a hardc ...
, Waking Ashland combined emotional piano melodies with sonic distortion guitars, creating a unique sound among their genre. In early 2004, they self-recorded and released their debut EP ''I Am for You''. Simultaneously, the line-up was completed by guitarist Nick Rucker and bassist Derek Vaughn, replacing Teegarden. However, the two soon left the band, and a permanent bassist was found in Andrew Grosse,
frontman The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...
Jones' former bandmate in their Christian accented high school band Formula316. Without
record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...
distribution and solely through
word of mouth Word of mouth is the passing of information from person to person using oral communication, which could be as simple as telling someone the time of day. Storytelling is a common form of word-of-mouth communication where one person tells others a ...
promotion, the CD's first pressing of 1,000 copies (being only available through the band's website and at their concerts) sold out within a month. To date, the six-song CD managed to sell over 10,000 copies. Its success landed the band a booking agent and allowed them to drop out of college, to pursue a career in the
music industry The music industry are individuals and organizations that earn money by Songwriter, writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music and sheet music, presenting live music, concerts, ...
. As the result of their constant touring and — due to lucky circumstances — their participating in 2004's
Warped Tour The Warped Tour is a Concert tour, touring Rock music, rock music festival that toured the United States and Canada each summer from 1995 until 2019, and returned in 2025 for its 30th anniversary. By 2015, Warped was the largest traveling music ...
, word spread fast and garnered the attention of several record labels, including
Tooth & Nail Records Tooth & Nail Records is a record label founded by Brandon Ebel in California in November 1993. The label later moved to Seattle where it is today. History Brandon Ebel and Michael Knott conceived the label as a joint venture, before Knott backe ...
, home to such bands as
Further Seems Forever Further Seems Forever is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 1998 in Pompano Beach, Florida. Over its initial eight-year run the band experienced several lineup changes, resulting in a different lead vocalist performing on each of their f ...
, Mae and
Underoath Underoath (styled as Underøath or UnderOath) is an American rock band from Tampa, Florida. It was founded by lead vocalist Dallas Taylor and guitarist Luke Morton in 1997 in Ocala, Florida; subsequently, its additional members were from Tamp ...
. In February 2005, the band supported the Snake the Cross the Crown on their headlining US tour. Tooth & Nail signed Waking Ashland and released their first full-length album ''Composure'' — produced by
Lou Giordano Lou Giordano (born c. 1957) is a record producer and recording engineer who co-founded Radiobeat Studios. He worked at Fort Apache Studios when it was located in Boston, and was a partner in the production company Prodco, which had close ties wit ...
— in May 2005. The album scanned 2,400 units within its first week of sales, debuting at No. 19 on
Nielsen SoundScan Luminate Data, LLC (formerly MRC Data and P-MRC Data) is a provider of music and entertainment data. Established as a joint-venture in 2020, it brought together Nielsen Music, Alpha Data (formerly BuzzAngle Music) and Variety Business Intellige ...
's Alternative New Artist chart and at No. 53 on their Top New Artist Album chart. The album also hit No. 29 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 ...
Top Christian Albums chart. In July and August 2005, the band supported
Action Action Action Action was an American indie rock band, formerly signed to Victory Records. History Action Action was formed in 2004 by members of The Reunion Show, Count The Stars and Diffuser. The band signed with Victory Records and released their ...
on their headlining tour. On September 5, 2005, a statement on the band's website announced that Grosse and Lee had left the band due to in-band conflicts. Temporary touring members included drummers Joe Greenetz from
Sherwood Sherwood may refer to: Places Australia *Sherwood, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane * Sherwood, South Australia, a locality *Shire of Sherwood, a former local government area of Queensland * Electoral district of Sherwood, an electoral district fr ...
and Rob Lynch from
Harris Harris may refer to: Places Canada * Harris, Ontario * Northland Pyrite Mine (also known as Harris Mine) * Harris, Saskatchewan * Rural Municipality of Harris No. 316, Saskatchewan Scotland * Harris, Outer Hebrides (sometimes called the Isle ...
, as well as bassists Jon Sullivan from
Jack's Mannequin Jack's Mannequin is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 2004, hailing from Orange County, California, Orange County, California. The band originally began as a solo project for Andrew McMahon, the frontman of Something Corporate. The b ...
and Trevor Sellers from
Number One Gun Number One Gun was a Christian rock band from Chico, California, that was most recently signed to Tooth & Nail Records. They self-released their debut Extended play, EP ''Forever'' in 2002, before releasing their follow-up albums ''Celebrate Mi ...
. In October and November 2005, they supported
the Honorary Title The Honorary Title was an American alternative rock, alternative indie rock band from Brooklyn, New York (state), New York, United States. The band released their first self-titled Extended play, EP "The Honorary Title" in 2003 and then their ...
on their headlining tour. On February 8, 2006, Waking Ashland released a nine-song EP, titled ''Telescopes'', only in
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
. In March 2006, they went on a brief East Coast tour with
Sherwood Sherwood may refer to: Places Australia *Sherwood, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane * Sherwood, South Australia, a locality *Shire of Sherwood, a former local government area of Queensland * Electoral district of Sherwood, an electoral district fr ...
, This Day and Age, and New Atlantic. They then toured the Southern states with
Quietdrive Quietdrive is an alternative rock band based in Hopkins, Minnesota, USA, that was formed in 2002. Quietdrive released their first album, '' When All That's Left Is You'', on May 30, 2006, on Epic Records. In April 2008, Quietdrive left Epic Recor ...
and
Daphne Loves Derby Daphne Loves Derby were an American Indie rock band that formed in Kent, Washington, in 2001. They have released three studio albums, the third in 2007 titled '' Good Night, Witness Light'', peaking at number 30 on the ''Billboard'' Top Heatseeker ...
throughout April 2006. On May 22, 2006, the band signed to
Immortal Records Immortal Records was an American independent record label/imprint label based in Los Angeles, California. The company helped launch the careers of such influential acts as Korn, Thirty Seconds To Mars, and Incubus over the years. The label had a ...
. The label released ''Telescopes'' in the United States on June 13, 2006. The Japanese release had two bonus tracks, which were acoustic versions of "October Skies" and "I Am For You" from ''Composure''. While the release featured
session musician A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a reco ...
s to back up
Jones Jones or Joneses may refer to: People and fictional characters *Jones (surname), a common Welsh and English surname * List of people with surname Jones, including fictional characters ** Justice Jones (disambiguation) ** Judge Jones (disambiguati ...
and Lallier, a permanent rhythm section was finally announced in a blog on the band's
MySpace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...
profile as Nate Harold and Tim Very. They played a few shows with
My American Heart My American Heart is an American rock band from San Diego, California, formed in 2001. Originally named No Way Out, the band released two studio albums through Warcon Enterprises and toured the world before disbanding in late 2009. They reunit ...
and
Gatsbys American Dream Gatsbys American Dream is an American indie rock band from Seattle, Washington. Since their founding in 2001, they have released four full-length albums and one EP. The band's self-titled fourth album, their second released with Fearless Reco ...
. Part of the band's success can be attributed to their pages on
MySpace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...
and
PureVolume PureVolume (formerly Unborn Media) was a website for uploading and streaming of music files, the first independently run of its type. PureVolume was created by Unborn Media, Inc; Mitchell Pavao; Brett Woitunski; and Nate Hudson, all from the Univer ...
. , Waking Ashland's songs have been played over 1.3 million times on MySpace and over 1.2 million times on PureVolume. Their song "I Am for You" appeared on the first MySpace Records compilation and the Drive Thru Records/
PureVolume PureVolume (formerly Unborn Media) was a website for uploading and streaming of music files, the first independently run of its type. PureVolume was created by Unborn Media, Inc; Mitchell Pavao; Brett Woitunski; and Nate Hudson, all from the Univer ...
compilation, "Bands You Love, Have Heard of, and Should Know". Waking Ashland's second album, ''The Well'', was released by Immortal Records on April 17, 2007. On July 9, 2007,
Jones Jones or Joneses may refer to: People and fictional characters *Jones (surname), a common Welsh and English surname * List of people with surname Jones, including fictional characters ** Justice Jones (disambiguation) ** Judge Jones (disambiguati ...
announced on their MySpace page that the band had broken up, citing irreconcilable differences. Jones is currently working with his newly formed band
We Shot the Moon We Shot the Moon, formerly known as The Honor Roll, is a band from San Diego, California featuring Jonathan Jones the singer of Waking Ashland, and originally, Dan Koch, and Joe Greenetz both from the band Sherwood. History The band form ...
, consisting of him and Trevor Faris (Drums), Nathan Miller (Guitar), Jason DeLaTorre(Guitar), and Adam Lovell (Bass).
Jones Jones or Joneses may refer to: People and fictional characters *Jones (surname), a common Welsh and English surname * List of people with surname Jones, including fictional characters ** Justice Jones (disambiguation) ** Judge Jones (disambiguati ...
and Lallier are also currently working on solo projects. In August 2010, the band got back together to play three reunion concerts.


Members

;Final line-up * Jonathan Jones
lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...
, keyboards,
piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...
*Ryan Lallier –
guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
*Nate Harold –
bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...
*Tim Very –
drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...
;Former members *Andrew Grosse – bass guitar *Thomas Lee – drums *Nick Rucker – guitar *Derek Vaughn – bass guitar *Robert Teegarden – bass guitar *Clayton Boek – guitar *Brandon Beebe – guitar


Discography

;Albums *''Composure'' (2005) *''The Well'' (2007) ;EPs *''I Am for You'' (2004) *''Telescopes'' (2006) ;Singles *"I Am for You" *"Hands on Deck" *"Julian" *"Your Intentions" ;Compilations *'' Nano-Mugen Compilation 2006''


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waking Ashland Musical groups established in 2003 Musical groups disestablished in 2007 Indie rock musical groups from California Tooth & Nail Records artists Musical groups from San Diego Musical quartets from California