About O.A.R.
O.A.R. is an American rock band, founded in 1996 in Rockville, Maryland. The band consists of lead vocalist/guitarist Marc Roberge, drummer Chris Culos, guitarist Richard On, bassist Benj Gershman and saxophonist/guitarist Jerry DePizzo. Touring members include trumpet player Jon Lampley and keyboardist Mikel Paris. Together, the band has released ten studio albums. The band is well known for their live shows and extensive summer touring, and have released six live records, with the latest release, Live From Merriweather, in November 2019. Four of the band members grew up in Rockville, Maryland, and attended Thomas Sprigg Wootton High School. After graduating, they went on to study at Ohio State University. There they met the fifth member, saxophonist/guitarist Jerry DePizzo from Youngstown, Ohio.
Their newest album, "The Arcade", was released on July 15, 2022.
After earlier iterations performing together as far back as middle school, O.A.R. was formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Marc Roberge and drummer Chris Culos, inspired in part by Roberge's older brother, who plays drums for the band Foxtrot Zulu. They later recruited Richard On and Benj Gershman. In 1996 they recorded their debut album, The Wanderer, at Gizmo Recording Company in Silver Spring, Maryland with engineer/producer Gantt Kushner. Many songs from the album, including "Black Rock" and "That Was A Crazy Game of Poker", became staples of their live shows and are still played at most concerts today.
Three of the four band members attended one semester at Alexander Muss High School in Israel, graduated from Wootton High School in Rockville, Maryland, then moved to Columbus, Ohio, to attend Ohio State University. While at OSU, they met Jerry DePizzo, from Youngstown, Ohio. He joined the band as the saxophonist, completing the current lineup. In 1999, they returned to Gizmo Recording to record their second album, Soul's Aflame.
Unlike other similar bands, O.A.R. did not use much formal advertising/marketing plans to obtain an audience, instead choosing to rely on word-of-mouth and touring alone. Their third album Risen debuted at No.11 on the Billboard top internet sales chart. They received offers from various major labels, but ultimately chose to sign with Lava Records in 2002. The following year, their fourth album In Between Now and Then debuted at No. 156 on the Billboard 200 chart.
In 2005, O.A.R. released their fifth album, Stories of a Stranger, which debuted at No. 40 on the Billboard 200. It produced the singles "Love and Memories", "Heard the World", and "Lay Down." "Love and Memories" was the band's first single to chart and receive significant radio airplay, peaking at 98 in the Pop 100, at 30 in Modern Rock Tracks, and at 18 in Adult Top 40. The music videos for "Love and Memories" and "Lay Down" received airplay on VH1 and MTV. The video for "Lay Down" received a "Woodie" award from MTV for streaming video.
On January 14, 2006, O.A.R. reached a new peak of popularity by drawing roughly 18,000 fans and selling out New York City's Madison Square Garden, which earned them a review in The New York Times. On October 5, 2006, a press release declared that O.A.R. had officially sold in excess of 1.2 million albums over their career. The band attributes much of its popularity to the recording and subsequent trading and downloading of their live shows.
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