The frontman of the rock band Augustana, Dan Layus is known for his breathy vocals and skills on the piano and the guitar. Best known for the hit single, "Boston," the band that started in Greenville, Illinois hit the big time with their debut album on Epic All the Stars and Boulevards. After three years of relentless touring, opening up for well-known acts such as the Counting Crows, Maroon 5 and Snow Patrol, Augustana is back on the road supporting their assured, more grown-up, follow-up album Can't Love, Can't Hurt. The 10 studiously-chosen cuts of modern, melodic, piano-driven rock featured on this album unveil the amount of growing up Dan and the other members of the band had to do when they suddenly found themselves in the midst of a hit single, with little preparation for the road ahead. The result is an intensely emotional album, and the debut single "Sweet and Low" is already climbing the charts.
In 2004, Dan Layus became one of the founding members of Augustana, an American rock band with an honest story to fame. While Augustana has made it, their rise to become one of modern rock's leading lights has proven circuitous.
Augustana formed in Greenville, Illinois during the winter of 2004. It was then that the four college friends who made the band's first incarnation – Layus, Jared Palomar, Justin South and guitarist/vocalist Josiah Rosen – decided to leave school to make the band a priority. When the band released All The Stars and Boulevards in 2005, stardom seemed assured. The album was filled with soaring, subtle anthems, brilliantly captured in the studio by renowned producer Brendan O'Brien (Pearl Jam, Bob Dylan, Rage Against The Machine). However, after what Layus calls "a couple tough years on the road," co-founder Rosen left the band.
As a result of Rosen's departure, in 2006 Augustana welcomed two old friends into the fold to fill out the band's sound: John Fredericks joined on piano and Hammond B3 organ duty, while Chris Sachtleblen, a childhood friend of Justin's, took over Rosen's lead guitar spot. Throughout this time, the band never stopped touring, making appearances and earning fans through performances with the likes of Snow Patrol, Counting Crows, the Fray, Switchfoot and the Goo Goo Dolls.
Slowly but surely the momentum picked up, and it doesn't show any sign of stopping anytime soon. Augustana's contemplative, melodic sound characterized by numerous piano lines and the breathy vocals of frontman Layus has finally found the audience it was looking for. Some two years after the release of All The Stars…, their first single "Boston" has catapulted to the top of the charts and sent the band's debut album into the spotlight and to the top of the Billboards Heatseekers Chart.
In the Spring of 2007 Epic released "Stars and Boulevards" as the single follow-up to "Boston," with a new video for the song. As well, the band began its first headlining tour, selling out 2,000-capacity gigs at legendary venues like San Francisco's Fillmore and Chicago's Cabaret Metro. The milestones keep on piling up: in the past year, they've been seen all over TV, with performances on The Tonight Show, The Late Show With David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel Live, MTV's TRL and their songs have been featured on shows like Scrubs, Six Feet Under, and One Tree Hill. As well, Augustana set records for most CD sales ever at Colorado's famed Red Rocks venue.
