About The Whigs
The Whigs are an American garage rock band from Athens, Georgia, consisting of lead singer and guitarist Parker Gispert, drummer Julian Dorio and bassist Timothy Deaux.
Formed in Athens, Georgia in 2002, The Whigs have released five studio albums and have toured the world with acts such as Kings of Leon, The Black Keys, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Drive-By Truckers, The Hold Steady, Band of Skulls, Dead Confederate, and Wax Fang. They have become Late Night television regulars, having appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno twice, the Late Show with David Letterman four times, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and Jimmy Kimmel Live! twice.
The band was formed in 2002 by Parker Gispert, Julian Dorio, and original bass player Hank Sullivant. Gispert and Dorio both attended The Westminster Schools in Atlanta together, but didn't start playing together until they were both at the University of Georgia in Athens. After 6 months of playing and writing together, the pair hooked up with Sullivant whom they met through mutual friends.
The trio played their first gig together at the DT's Down Under Club in Athens in May 2002 and started setting up gigs in New York once a month. Soon the band were sharing stages with bands such as Franz Ferdinand, Drive By Truckers and The Killers. Following a negative experience during a "development deal" with major label RCA Records in 2004, the Whigs opted to record and release their first album independently.
In July 2005, the band recorded their first album, Give 'Em All a Big Fat Lip at Ross Crane House, a fraternity house in downtown Athens with engineer Billy Bennett. They used equipment purchased on eBay, which they resold after recording was finished to help offset the cost of production. The album was released independently in December 2005 and in April 2006 saw the band described by Rolling Stone Magazine as "perhaps the best unsigned band in America." Following this media exposure, in July 2006, The Whigs were signed to ATO Records by Jonathan Eshak who had earlier seen the band play at the Pianos venue on Ludlow Street in New York, and Give 'Em All a Big Fat Lip was re-released on September 19, 2006.
The band appeared at Summerfest and Voodoo Experience following the re-release of Fat Lip.
Founding member Hank Sullivant left the band in late 2006 to tour with MGMT and later pursue his solo project Kuroma. Both parties remain on good terms as Kuroma supported the band at a show in Athens in 2010 and Sullivant stepped in to play at a show in Memphis.
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