Dispatch: История американской инди-рок группы

American indie rock band

Dispatch is an American indie/roots band. The band consists of Brad Corrigan (vocals, drums, guitar, percussion, harmonica) and Chad Urmston (vocals, guitar, bass, percussion). The band's original bassist, Pete Francis Heimbold, left in 2019. The band, which is based in the Boston area, was originally active from 1996 until 2002. The members then announced a hiatus, which would ultimately last for almost a decade; during this period, the band came together for reunion concerts in Boston (2004), New York City (2007), and Washington, D. C. (2009). The hiatus ended at the beginning of 2011, when the band announced a national tour. In May of the same year, Dispatch released an EP containing six new songs, their first all new release since 2000. The band released both their first studio album in over a decade, Circles Around the Sun, and an iTunes session in 2012 and toured North America that summer in support of the album. On April 22, 2013, Dispatch announced a double disc live album called "Ain't No Trip to Cleveland Vol. 1", released on June 4, 2013. After a long hiatus, Dispatch returned with their new album, America, Location 12, released on June 2, 2017.

Hermit Thrush and Woodriver Bandits 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, 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, North Carolina, while on a trip to visit the younger sister of one of the band members at Duke University.

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 often found themselves playing on the jamband circuit. The musicians displayed their versatility at live performances, with each member of the band switching instruments throughout the set. 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, 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?, painted and designed by artist William Quigley, 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 The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.

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, and was called "The Last Dispatch". 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, Speculation turned to the idea of a possible tour when more QR codes were released on each of the five subsequent Mondays, pointing to pins on Chicago, Illinois; Berkeley, California; Boston, Massachusetts; Atlanta, Georgia; and Harrison, New Jersey. On January 1, 2011, Dispatch officially announced that they would mount a reunion tour the following June. Additionally, the band announced that "a portion of all ticket proceeds will go towards education programs in local communities." They also decided to join Dave Matthews Band as well as several other prominent bands and performers on two stops of the DMB CARAVAN. They were slated to perform at Governors Island in New York on Saturday, August 27 and the Gorge, in George, WA on Sunday, September 4. The second two days (Saturday, August 27 and Sunday, August 28) of the Governor's Island caravan stop were canceled due to Hurricane Irene, and Dispatch agreed to play the rescheduled Caravan on Randall's Island, also in New York. They agreed to two shows, on Friday, September 16 and Saturday, September 17. Throughout the rest of the winter, Dispatch released short clips of themselves rehearsing new songs, as well as photos of themselves in a studio, fueling suspicion that a new album or EP would accompany the tour. On April 5, 2011, Dispatch released a short video via YouTube confirming that they were in the process of recording a new EP. On Wednesday, April 27, 2011, Dispatch performed the song "Melon Bend" on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, to be released on their upcoming "Dispatch EP". On Tuesday, May 10, 2011, Dispatch confirmed via their YouTube channel that their new EP would be released on May 17, 2011. Along with the news, Dispatch also released a sample of their song "Valentine", which appeared on the EP. On May 17, 2011, Dispatch released their new EP. Within hours of its release, it shot to No. 2 in the iTunes albums chart. On November 28, 2011, Dispatch announced their first UK/EU tour. In 2012, Dispatch released their first full length studio album in over a decade, called Circles Around the Sun. On April 2, 2012, Dispatch announced a North American tour in support of the release. On April 22, 2013, the band announced the release of a double disc live album called Ain't No Trip to Cleveland Vol. 1. The album consists of versions of songs performed at shows during their 2012 tour. It was released on June 4, 2013. Dispatch played a number of dates in the summer of 2013. On September 2, 2014, Dispatch announced via an email newsletter that they had begun production of their sixth full length studio album. On January 1, 2015, Dispatch announced that they would be playing a benefit show on July 11, 2015, at Madison Square Garden in New York City to shine light on the issue of hunger in America. DISPATCH:HUNGER is set to be the only show in North America in 2015, and $1 from every ticket sold will go directly to starving Americans. John Butler Trio is slated to guest at the benefit concert. Due to increased demand, on January 20, 2015, Dispatch announced that they would be adding a second night to their DISPATCH:HUNGER show on July 10, 2015, at Madison Square Garden. Dispatch announced on their website on April 5, 2016, that they would be playing in Germany and Austria that July. On February 10, 2017, Dispatch announced on their website that they would be touring the United States in June and July, and would be joined by Guster for most of their shows. In the same announcement, the band released a new song, "Only The Wild Ones" from their upcoming album, entitled America, Location 12, released on June 2, 2017. The band went on tour following the release of their new album, with shows throughout the US and Europe. In 2018, Dispatch announced another summer tour and a new "album project" titled Location 13. The band began releasing songs every couple of weeks throughout the summer, culminating in a release in late 2018. The first single, Cross the World, tracks the band's history from formation through the present. On February 25, 2021, Dispatch announced that their eighth studio album, titled Break Our Fall, would be released on May 28, 2021.

Dispatch experiments with a variety of genres, and thus is known as a very difficult band to categorize. Different styles and idioms employed by the band include reggae, flamenco, funk, ska, folk, rock, and rap.

2005: The Relief Project: Vol. I by various artists (as part of The Relief Project)

TitleYearPeak chart positionsAlbum USAAA "Bound by Love"2015— Non album single "Only the Wild Ones"20179America, Location 12 "Skin the Rabbit (Edit)"— "Painted Yellow Lines"15 "Father Christmas"— Non album single "Midnight Lorry"201832America, Location 12 "Dear Congress, (17)"—Location 13 "May We All"202125Break Our Fall "—" denotes single that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

The story behind the song "Elias" written by Chad Urmston about his experience living and teaching in Zimbabwe inspired the nonprofit organization the Elias Fund to form in 2005. 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.