Augustana is back with new music, and through its formation, its creator Dan Layus has stepped into a new musical universe.
While the artist is well-known for its anthemic indie-rock leaning hits like “Boston”, “Sweet and Low” and “Steal Your Heart”, Augustana’s consistent march of new and ever-evolving material has embodied a refusal to settle artistically. Never has that been more clearly evident than with the artist’s latest studio album, “Everyday an Eternity: Solo Piano Works”, a genre-shaking full-length record that redefines what can be expected from this artist.
Composing and performing a series of piano pieces that can easily live in the contemporary classical world, Dan Layus confidently chooses to leave his singing voice aside for the project and instead finds his lyricism echoing through the hammers and strings of the piano. The album` finds the composer’s unique melodic and structural stylings effortlessly blending between the classical, the romantic and the modern. Along the way, the unfamiliar terrain for the artist seems to become more familiar with each note, each modulation, each variation, as he makes his way out to the edge of musical expression and safely back home again.
Dan Layus has fronted Augustana as it’s singer and primary songwriter since its formation in 2002. Building a dedicated following of fans off the backbone of hits like “Boston”, “Sweet and Low” and “Steal Your Heart”, Augustana have gone on to release 5 Full Length LP’s and multiple singles and EP’s. As a touring artist for over 16 years, Augustana have performed throughout North America, Europe and Asia and have opened for artists across multiple genres, including One Direction, The Chicks, Snow Patrol, OneRepublic and Counting Crows.
The most recent LP release AUGUSTANA-LIVE (RECORDED FROM A LIVESTREAM EVENT) was recorded live in December of 2020 and released in March of 2021. The concert recording was a long awaited arrival for fans of the band, who’d never released a live album until that point. In a solo performance setting, Dan Layus plays through some of the most well loved music from the groups catalogue in a chronological order. The concert is intimate and authentic, nuanced and powerful. He makes the songs feel experienced and lived in, and cements a moment into a recording that mirrors what he’s done on stages across the world for so many years.