Dispatch

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (July 2009)

Dispatch was an American indie/roots folk jam band formed at Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont. They were active from 1996 to 2002, and have come together three times for reunion concerts, first in 2004, again in 2007, and a third time in 2009. Dispatch experimented with a variety of genres, and as such, they are known as a very difficult band to categorize. The band was also instrumental in the creation of the non-profit organization The Elias Fund. Dispatch consisted of Brad Corrigan (vocals, drums, guitar, percussion, and harmonica), Pete Francis Heimbold (vocals, bass and guitar), and Chad Urmston (vocals, guitar, bass, and percussion).

Different styles and genres employed by the band include reggae (examples are "Mission", "Out Loud", "Open Up", "Passerby", and "Ride a Tear"), ska ("Bats in the Belfry" and "Railway"), folk ("Craze" and "The General"), funk ("Just Like Larry"), rock ("Even" and "Time Served"), Flamenco ("Steeples"), and hip hop ("Cut It Ya Match It").

History of the Band

Early Years

Hermit Thrush, Woodriver Bandits, and The Sholley Shananigans band merged into an all-acoustic band in the early 1990s as One Fell Swoop. They soon changed their name to Dispatch after a dispute with another band of the same name. Chad Urmston, Brad Corrigan, and Pete Heimbold, who were all attending Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont comprised the band's lineup throughout their entire schooling. Their music drew upon several genres, such as acoustic folk-rock, reggae, and funk. They did several concerts in their early years both in and around Middlebury, gaining a name for themselves at the college.

However, even with their Middlebury roots, Dispatch's first show was not near their home campus. They first performed at Cosmic Cantina in Durham, NC, while on a trip to visit one of the band member's younger sister at Duke University.

Mid-1990s-2000s

After graduating from college the members of Dispatch relocated to the greater Boston area to continue the strong touring effort that would characterize their sound. Their live show progressed through the years to include extended jams, guest appearances, and mash ups of their songs with other popular artists' songs such as Sublime and Bob Marley. The musicianship was always on display at every show as each member of the band switched instruments throughout their set moving between guitar, bass and drums/percussion. Dispatch gained much recognition outside of New England, without any help from a label, thanks to peer-to-peer file sharing programs such as Napster and LimeWire, as well as word-of-mouth. During their rise to indie fame, they put out four studio albums, which progressed from acoustic albums to full band records with electric guitar. After the release of their last album, "Who Are We Living For?", they began to tour extensively nationwide. Tensions began to run high between the band members, and they announced an indefinite hiatus in 2002 after a performance on Craig Kilborn's late night talk show.

Final concert

The band eventually scheduled a farewell concert to their fans, in order to get closure on the Dispatch portion of their lives. The free show was performed at the Hatch Shell in Boston on July 31, 2004. "The Last Dispatch," as it was called, is said to be the largest concert in independent music history. The original prediction of the turnout was between 10,000 and 30,000. Fans flocked from Italy, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Mexico, New Zealand and Australia among others, making up an estimated total audience of 110,000. Corrigan told the fans near the end of the performance, "Somebody said, downstairs, that we were shooting for, I don't know, 20,000, 30,000 people would be considered a huge success. And um, we were kind of excited about the idea of trying to get enough of you guys in here that they'd start shutting down Storrow Drive. Well we got our wish. And we want to thank you guys for putting together one of the biggest audiences, I think, probably, in independent music history- 100,000 strong!" The performance was released as a three-disc set (2 CD, 1 DVD) later that year, entitled All Points Bulletin, along with recordings from a warm-up show in Somerville, Massachusetts. Special guest appearances at the Somerville performance included Craig Dreyer on saxophone and Brian Sayers on drums. For some of their songs at the Hatch Shell, Dispatch shared the stage with Phil Keaggy (guitar), Paul Tillotson (keyboard), Brian Sayers (drum kit), and Reinaldo DeJesus (percussion).

Dispatch then released a documentary entitled The Last Dispatch in July 2005, which chronicles their final 12 days together as a band and tells the story of how they became "the band that redefined independent music history". The film was released and previewed in Boston. Urmston, Corrigan, and Heimbold attended the showing and celebrated throughout the weekend with their fans. The film was released on DVD September 26, 2006.

Post-breakup

All three of the band's members are currently still in the music industry. Urmston is now the front man of State Radio, while Corrigan (now credited as Braddigan, a nickname by which he was known since his time with Dispatch) and Heimbold (now credited as Pete Francis, Francis being his middle name) are pursuing solo efforts.

On January 5, 2007, the band announced a benefit concert entitled "Dispatch: Zimbabwe" which reunited the band on July 14, 2007 at Madison Square Garden. All of the money raised from ticket sales went directly to charities that are fighting disease, famine and social injustice; the vast majority of the funds went to charities in Zimbabwe, though a portion was allocated to local charities that the band supports in the United States. On January 10, during the first half hour of the exclusive presale, available to their MySpace friends only, the band announced that the show was "officially sold out." Dispatch quickly scheduled another show for Friday, July 13, 2007. This show sold out within 24 hours, resulting in the addition of yet another night: July 15, 2007. Tickets for this show went on sale January 20 at 9:00 AM on Ticketmaster, which also sold out. The band held multiple charity ticket auctions for the show through Ticketmaster that raised an additional $20,000+ for The Elias Fund.

Shortly after the announcement of the three Madison Square Garden shows, the band also announced a show at New York nightclub Webster Hall July 11, 2007. Tickets to the show were available on Ticketmaster through online auction only between June 20 and July 2. The minimum bid for a pair of tickets was $100.

On the day of the concert on July 14, several charity and volunteer events were held in New York City relating to the concerts. Members of the band made appearances at the events, greeting fans and thanking them for coming. At the Madison Square Garden concerts, the band alternated full band performances on the venue's main stage and acoustic numbers on top of their iconic van, Wimpy, in the middle of the arena. They were joined on stage for some songs by various musicians such as the African Children's Choir, Bongo Love (a group from Zimbabwe), and various horn and percussion players. The concert was also split into segments, divided by informational videos on the current state of famine, poverty, and AIDS in Zimbabwe.

Recordings of the concerts were made available in various forms. Hours after each show ended, official audio recordings were sold through SNOCAP on MySpace. A video stream of the July 14 concert in its entirety was also streamed from the band's MySpace for a week. In December 2007, a DVD directed by award-winning photographer and filmmaker Danny Clinch, highlighting the weekend will be released in a Collector's Edition, along with a photo book. A regular edition was released on January 29, 2008 which included a DVD of the concert, an audio recording of the concert on CD, a booklet, as well as a dropcard to download additional tracks through a webpage.

Dispatch played an acoustic show at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. on June 12, 2009 at the request of Morgan Tsvangirai, the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe. This was another benefit show for Zimbabwe, and the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe was in attendance. The show sold out within ten minutes of going on sale.

Elias Fund

After the song "Elias" was written by Chad Urmston about his experience living and teaching in Zimbabwe, the nonprofit organization the Elias Fund was formed. The Elias Fund looks to provide hope and opportunity to Zimbabwean youth through community development and education while empowering the American youth culture to embrace their global role and make it an active one.

Relief Project

On December 22, 2005, Corrigan helped to organize a benefit concert, known as The Relief Project, at Irving Plaza in New York City. Along with several other performers, Corrigan invited Heimbold and State Radio to play. The three reunited very briefly, playing the song "Here We Go" as an encore. Corrigan stated there that he plans further Relief Project concerts featuring all three.

Discography

Studio albums

• 1996: Silent Steeples - Bomber, Foundations, Universal Records
• 1998: Bang Bang - Bomber, Foundations, Universal Records
• 2000: Who Are We Living For? - Bomber, Foundations, Universal Records

Live albums

• 1999: Four-Day Trials - Bomber, Foundations, Universal Records
• 2001: Gut the Van - DCN, Universal Records
• 2004: All Points Bulletin
• 2007: Zimbabwe

DVDs

• 2002: Under the Radar - DCN, Universal Records
• 2005: The Last Dispatch - Fabrication Films
• 2007: Dispatch: Zimbabwe - Live at Madison Square Garden

Compilation albums

• 2005: The Relief Project: Vol. I by Various Artists (as part of The Relief Project)
• 2009: The Eddie Mixtape

Band members

• Chad "Chetro" Urmston
  • Instruments: vocals, guitar, bass, percussion, trombone, and piano
• Brad "Braddigan" Corrigan
  • Instruments: Vocals, guitar, percussion, drums, and harmonica
• Pete "Repete" Francis Heimbold
  • Instruments: Vocals, guitar, and bass

External links

Official sites

• Dispatch
• The Elias Fund
• The Relief Project
• Last Dispatch Documentary
• Dispatch: Zimbabwe - Live at Madison Square Garden DVD

Post-Dispatch projects

• Braddigan
• Pete Francis
• State Radio

Other links

• Dispatch collection at the Internet Archive's live music collection
• Dispatch discography at MusicBrainz