Augustana

Mellow piano rockers Augustana are a heartland equivalent to Coldplay or Keane, with a little bit of mid-'90s adult alternative throwback (think Counting Crows or the Wallflowers) as well. The band formed in Greenville, IL, in 2002, while singer and keyboardist Dan Layus and guitarist Josiah Rosen were attending a small evangelical college there. The original lineup of the band was completed by bassist Simeon Lohrmann, second keyboardist David Lamoureaux, and drummer Kyle Baker. This lineup released a pair of self-distributed CDs, the full-length Midwest Skies and Sleepless Mondays and the EP Mayfield, both in 2003. Choosing music over academia, Layus and Rosen left Greenville for Los Angeles in 2004, jettisoning the rest of the band and re-forming with a new lineup that included keyboardist John Vincent, bassist Jared Palomar, and drummer Justin South. The reformulated Augustana signed with Epic Records in 2005 and released their major-label debut, All the Stars and Boulevards, in September of that year. A slow starter, the album eventually gained attention when the single "Boston" started receiving radio (and later VH1) airplay. A limited-edition reissue of the album, with extra songs and video content, was released in September 2006. Josiah Rosen left the band for a solo career in early 2006, replaced by guitarist and mandolin player Chris Sachtleben. ~ Stewart Mason, All Music Guide

Natasha Bedingfield

Originally from New Zealand, Natasha Bedingfield grew up in southeast London, where she and her siblings were raised around music. By their teens, Natasha, brother Daniel, and sister Nikola had formed an R&B-based singing group. It didn't last, but the experience encouraged the Bedingfields to keep pursuing music. In 2001 and 2002 Daniel Bedingfield scored a hit with the single "Gotta Get Through This," and the following year it was Natasha's turn. Leaving university to sign with BMG, Natasha immediately started working on her first record. Buoyed by advance singles like "These Words" and "Single," Unwritten debuted at number one on the British charts. The golden reception for Bedingfield's rhythmic pop sound netted her platinum record sales and numerous BRIT awards. It also set up her assault on the American pop charts, which began in July 2005 with Unwritten's domestic release. In 2007 the single "I Wanna Have Your Babies" announced the coming of her sophomore effort, NB. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide

Auf Der Maur

Bassist Melissa Auf der Maur was briefly a member of two of the biggest alt-rock groups of the '90s, Hole and the Smashing Pumpkins, before launching a solo career during the early 21st century. Born on March 17, 1972, in Montreal, Canada (her mother, Linda Gaboriau, was one of Montreal's first female rock radio DJs), Auf der Maur started her music career by playing bass in local outfits, including Tinker. But the course of her musical career was inadvertently changed due to a thrown bottle. Auf der Maur and some friends went to see the Smashing Pumpkins on one of their first Canadian tours, and when one of her friends in the audience threw a bottle on-stage, Auf der Maur made it a point to apologize to Pumpkins leader Billy Corgan for the incident. Soon the two got to talking, and a friendship was born.
By 1994, when Corgan heard that friend Courtney Love was in sudden need of a bass player (due to the drug-related death of Kristen Pfaff), the head Pumpkin recommended Auf der Maur to Love as a replacement. Soon after, Auf der Maur landed the gig and bid adieu to Tinker (who managed a brief recording career with other members). After Hole's world tour wrapped up in support of their breakthrough release, Live Through This, Corgan helped land Auf der Maur a spot on the 1997 solo release by ex-Cars leader Ric Ocasek, Troublizing (which Corgan produced as well). After a brief U.S. tour wrapped up (which saw Auf der Maur take Ben Orr's spot to sing "Drive" each night), the bassist returned to Hole, who finished up work on their third full-length overall, 1998's Celebrity Skin, on which Corgan served as a "consultant." Once the album's tour wound down, Corgan came a-callin' once more, this time inviting Auf der Maur to join the Smashing Pumpkins (who had dismissed co-founding bassist D'Arcy under mysterious circumstances). But the Auf der Maur era of the band didn't last long -- after a pair of albums, 2000's MACHINA/The Machines of God and Friends and Enemies of Modern Music (the latter of which was never formally released by the group's record company), the Pumpkins split up.
In the wake of the Pumpkins' split, Auf der Maur kept herself busy with a few projects, including a Black Sabbath tribute band called Hand of Doom (for whom she handled lead vocals), as well as an all-star side project, the Virgins, with former Pumpkins bandmate James Iha (which was rumored to also include Ryan Adams and Evan Dando, among others). In summer 2004, the bassist's solo debut, Auf der Maur, was released. Produced by Chris Goss, the album featured appearances by a variety of renowned guests, including Blinker the Star's Jordon Zadorozny, Tinker's Steve Durand, Tomahawk's John Stanier, James Iha, Hole's Eric Erlandson, Rocket from the Crypt's Atom Willard, Fu Manchu's Brant Bjork, and Queens of the Stone Age main men Nick Oliveri and Josh Homme. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide

Daniel Bedingfield

New Zealand-born Daniel Bedingfield grew up in southeast London. Mostly influenced by contemporary R&B artists, his sisters Natasha and Nicola teamed up with him to assemble their first band, called the DNA Algorhythm. Inspired by a girlfriend from Leeds, Daniel Bedingfield recorded "Gotta Get Thru This" in his bedroom with a microphone plugged to his home computer. In December 2001, just a few weeks after its release by the independent Relentless Records, his song went straight to the top on the U.K. singles chart. At the age of 21, the promising pop singer became a local celebrity. Signing to Polydor UK, Bedingfield worked on some new material and released his first album, Gotta Get Thru This, in the fall of 2002. Second First Impression followed in 2005. ~ Drago Bonacich, All Music Guide

The Audition

Drummer Ryan O'Connor and bassist Joe Lussa formed the core of punk-pop/emo hybridists the Audition in their hometown of Chicago in 2003, working with a revolving cast of early members to hone the band's sound and play shows. After recording a demo and playing some gigs with locals like the Academy Is..., the Audition caught the ear of Victory Records, and Controversy Loves Company, their full-length debut for the label, appeared in September 2005. By that point the band's lineup included O'Connor, Lussa, guitarists Seth Johnson and Timmy Klepek, and vocalist Danny Stevens. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide