Blue October is a rock band originally from Houston, Texas. The band was formed in 1995 and currently consists of Justin Furstenfeld (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Jeremy Furstenfeld (drums, percussion), Ryan Delahoussaye (violin/viola, mandolin, piano, backing vocals), C.B. Hudson (lead guitar, backing vocals) and Matt Noveskey (bass guitar, backing vocals).
History
Blue October was formed by lead singer/songwriter/guitarist Justin Furstenfeld, his brother Jeremy, and multi-instrumentalist Ryan Delahoussaye. They were later joined by guitarist/vocalist C.B. Hudson and bassist Matt Noveskey. The band's name reportedly was inspired by Justin's brief stint in a hospital in October 1998.[citation needed]
The Answers
Managed by Justin and Jeremy's parents under the name "RoDan Entertainment," Blue October released their first album, The Answers, in 1998, a well-received debut which sold over 5,000 copies in Houston alone.[1] Due to a fan-based connection with ABC's KTRK-TV (Channel 13), Blue October was able to schedule early-morning news performance — the band's first live television performance.
Consent to Treatment
Blue October caught the attention of the major record labels while working with producer dB late 1998 in a studio setup at Justin's home in San Marcos TX., and in 1999 was signed to Universal Records for the release of their second album, Consent to Treatment. The band was dropped by Universal Records in 2002.
History For Sale
After being dropped, the band got together with new guitarist C.B. Hudson, recorded and self-released History for Sale. Due to larger-than-expected album sales, the band was re-signed to Universal and the album was subsequently re-released on Universal. History for Sale was largely a response to the control the label had placed on the group during the Consent to Treatment production process.[2] This is evident in songs such as "Somebody" and "Inner Glow."
Blue October received a larger audience as their single "Calling You," featured on the American Wedding movie soundtrack, and began to get radio play in Dallas. The band was invited to play at a large annual concert in Dallas, TX hosted by local radio station, KDGE 102.1 (The Edge), known as Edgefest. Blue October main evented the free pre-show, with The Rocket Summer, Socialburn, and South FM, on Friday and then played the following day for the actual concert event. "Calling You" was played in heavy rotation on KDGE for promotion of the event.
Later, hits off of History for Sale included "Inner Glow" and "Razorblade." However, "Calling You" remained the group's largest mainstream success until their 2006 single, "Hate Me."
Foiled
The band made their network television premiere on April 14, 2006, performing "Hate Me," the first single from Foiled on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. They appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on June 28, 2006. Blue October was also on Late Night with Conan O'Brien in 2006. On November 14, 2006 Blue October opened for the Rolling Stones in Boise, Idaho. Hate Me peaked at number two on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart. The music video for "Hate Me" debuted on VH1, later making a splash at No. 13 on VH1's user-controlled video countdown show VSpot Top 20 Countdown. It eventually peaked at No. 12 for the week ending on May 5, 2006. "Into the Ocean", the second single from the album, was released on July 17, 2006. The music video for the song debuted at number three on VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown during the show's final week of 2006 and reached the number one spot in mid-February 2007. The next single from the band was "She's My Ride Home", which they performed on Late Night with Conan O'Brien on April 25, 2007.
A new, updated version of Foiled, titled Foiled for the Last Time, was released on September 25, 2007. This contained a new remix of the band's minor hit from History for Sale, "Calling You." A new video for "Calling You" began airing on VH1 in late 2007.
As a result of reaching a new audience that Blue October has found with its Foiled album, Blue October has recently undergone an expansion of its tour locations. Originally restricted to Texas and parts of the Midwest and Southwest United States, Blue October is now touring locations covering the entire continental United States, in addition adding locations in Alaska, Hawaii, Canada, Mexico, England, France, Ireland, Scotland, Germany and the Netherlands to their schedule.
In August 2008, Justin featured in a sold out 4-city tour with Stephenie Meyer, author of the Twilight series.[3] During this tour, Justin premiered two new songs, "Blue Skies" and "My Never," which would be included on the band's fifth studio album.
Approaching Normal
The band's fifth studio album, Approaching Normal, was released on March 24, 2009. It was distributed via—as its predecessors—Universal; however, the band opted to use a different production style, by using digital audio workstations like FL Studio instead of recording it with live instruments. Also, rather than Justin Furstenfeld producing the album, Approaching Normal was produced by Steve Lillywhite (U2, Peter Gabriel, Dave Matthews Band). The album debuted at #13 on the Billboard 200 chart. The band released two versions of the album, each with a different bonus track: an "explicit" version, with "The End" as the bonus track, and a "clean" version, with "Graceful Dancing" as the bonus track. "Graceful Dancing" was also released in late 2008 as a "special gift" to fans signed under the band's email list.
The first single released from the album was "Dirt Room" on December 23, 2008.
"Say It" was released as the second single on April 24, 2009. The Song was first performed at Edgefest 17 on April 27th 2008 in Dallas, TX.
In May 2009, Blue October's show in Pittsburgh was cancelled by the Fire Marshall and the Pittsburgh Police Department due to overcrowding and unsafe conditions. Not wanting to disappoint fans, the band setup their gear on the corner outside the venue and played a mini-set to the delight of fans.
On October 22, 2009, Blue October announced that the rest of the tour had been canceled due to Justin Furstenfield suffering a severe mental anxiety attack. He returned to perform at Stubb's Theater in Texas a month or two after his attack.[4]
Style
Some of the band's melancholic songs exhibit vocals similar to those of Peter Gabriel or Roger Daltrey.[5]
Discography
Studio albums
Live albums
Compilations and Soundtrack Appearances
- Gravity Games 2000: Summer Sounds Vol. 1 (2000) - The single "James" is the twelfth track on this sampler album.
- Local Licks Live 13: (2002) - Blue October contributes the live track "Ugly Side" (from the then forthcoming History for Sale album) to this compilation released through Austin radio station KLBJ-FM. Proceeds from the sale of the album benefited Austin Victims of Domestic Violence Emergency Fund.
- American Wedding (2003) - The single "Calling You" is the fifteenth track on this soundtrack album. In the movie American Wedding, "Calling You" can be heard somewhat muted in a bar scene playing on a jukebox. Many fans consider the inclusion of "Calling You" in the soundtrack to be the beginning of Blue October's move towards a bigger national airplay and recognition.
- Live from the Planet Archives: Volume 1 (2004) - A compilation disc released in stores in the Kansas City / Lawrence area by the radio station 97.3 KZPL "The Planet." KZPL recorded these shows and put together two separate albums of the best performances from such notable artists as Ben Harper, The Jayhawks, Melissa Ethridge and Maroon 5. The disc includes an acoustic version of Blue October's "Calling You."
- Stormaid: The Concert (2005) - A concert CD from the September 18, 2005 Hurricane Benefit concert held at the Gypsy Tea Room in Dallas. It was produced by Disc Live and the local 102.1 KDGE radio station. It is a two CD set which includes songs by Texas artists Zayra Alvarez, South FM, The Burden Brothers and others who played the concert. The Blue October tracks "Calling You" and "Inner Glow" are included. Proceeds from the sale of the album go to the Red Cross.
- Now That's What I Call Music! 20 (2005) - The live performance of "18th Floor Balcony" from the Argue with a Tree concert DVD appeared on a limited edition promotional DVD included in a run of 20,000 copies.
- Saw III: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2006) - Blue October's "Drilled a Wire Through My Cheek" is track seven on this soundtrack for the horror movie Saw III.
- The 97X Green Room: Volume 2 (2006) - A live acoustic version of Blue October's single "Hate Me" is track three on this compilation produced by Tampa Radio station WSUN-FM.
- Big Shiny Tunes 11 (2006) - A compilation disc released by the Canadian television station MuchMusic. The single "Hate Me" is the 8th track on this album which was certified platinum in Canada on February 1, 2007.
- Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County (2006) featured the song "Hate Me" during season 3
- Life is Wild (2007) featured the single "Calling You"
- Jericho (2007) - The song "Into the Ocean" was featured in episode 12 "The Day Before", which aired February 21, 2007.
- Moonlight (2007) - The single "Calling You" was used in the eleventh episode of this show (Love Lasts Forever). Also, "Into the Ocean" was used in the fourteenth episode, "Click". There is not a soundtrack CD with the songs on it yet.
- The Sopranos (2007) - The single "Into the Ocean" was used in one the episodes of the final season of the Sopranos. AJ Soprano was listening to the song in his room just as his sister Meadow entered.
- Ghost Whisperer (2007) featured the song "Congratulations"
- Numb3rs (2008) - The song "Into the Ocean" is playing on a radio at the end of an episode where Don Epps and a girlfriend are talking about a case.
- Horrorfest III: 8 Songs To Die For (2009) - Blue October's song "Holler" (original released on Consent to Treatment) is the second track on this compilation which also features songs by The Revolting Cocks and Ministry.
- NCIS: The Official TV Soundtrack (2009) - Blue October's "Kangaroo Cry" from Approaching Normal is the opening track of this double album featuring songs from the television series NCIS.
- So You Think You Can Dance (2009) - Blue October's "18th Floor Balcony" from Foiled was used for a solo performance by Jason Glover, a finalist in season five.
Singles
Promotional
- Hate Me Acoustic was a promotional CD included with the Foiled family pack.
- Foiled Again was a 3-track promotional CD given away to customers who purchased Foiled at Best Buy stores in 2006. It includes the acoustic version of "Hate Me" as well as live acoustic versions of "Razorblade" and "Into the Ocean".
- "Foiled for the Last Time" is a promotional package featuring Foiled and the Live at Stubb's CD.
Videography
- "Calling You", a music video first shown in 2003 on MTV2's Subterranean. The video was also released as a promotional DVD that was available at Blue October concerts.
- Argue With a Tree, recorded live on June 4, 2004 at Lakewood Theater (Dallas, Texas) and released as a DVD on February 22, 2005
- "Razorblade", a music video featured as an extra on the Argue with a Tree DVD
- "Hate Me", a music video that premiered March 23, 2006 on Yahoo! and entered rotation on VH1 March 27, 2006
- "Into the Ocean", a music video that premiered November 28, 2006 on VH1.com
- "Dirt Room", a music video that premiered January 27, 2009 on Yahoo! Music.
"Say It", a music video that premiered in mid-2009.
Members Timeline
See also
References
External links
