Most great bands got their start playing in bars and clubs around the country. Many of them played in college bars and frat houses. This blog is dedicated to the great College Jam Bands of the last 20 years. Enjoy!
Sister Hazel's Champagne High was on their 2000 album Fortress. If you ever get the opportunity to see these guys play live, take it. They are fantastic live as this video I posted earlier can attest. Enjoy!
Here's Big Head Todd singing their biggest hit, Broken Hearted Savior. The guys formed the band back in 1986 while they were attending the University of Colorado. They soon built up a big following in Denver and Boulder, Colorado. They toured extensively throughout the Mountain States and West Coast of the United States in their van dubbed "The Colonel", which clocked up over 400,000 miles. Broken Hearted Savior peaked at #9 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts back in 1993. Enjoy!
Better Than Ezra is an alternative rock band from New Orleans, LA that formed in 1987 when the band members were attending Louisiana State University. They played college parties and clubs for years before releasing their first major label album in 1995 called Deluxe. Their first single from that album called Good was and still is their biggest hit as it went all the way to #1 on the Billboard Modern Rock charts and #30 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. Enjoy!
The Radiators are one of my favorite college bands to see live. I've seen them a couple of times, and they were awesome both times. Here's the video for one of their most popular songs: Like Dreamers Do. Enjoy!
Before Jennifer Nettles became the superstar lead singer for the band Sugarland, she was playing clubs and bars all over the Atlanta area with her own band playing her version of blues mixed with country and rock. This is a rare look at one of her early performances at the Variety Playhouse here in Atlanta. Enjoy!
The Afghan Whigs were one of those bands that were always on the brink of making it big, but instead they always remained a great alternative college rock band. That's probably why their die-hard fans were and still are so loyal. Gentlemen is from their album of the same name that was released in 1993. Enjoy!
The Replacements are considered to be one of the greatest bands to come out of the 80's college rock scene. They were notorious for showing up for their gigs completely wasted and many times, they would play an entire show of nothing but covers songs rather than their own songs. Bastards of Young was from their first major label release called Tim. Enjoy!
The quality of this video isn't great, but it's one of the only videos of Jupiter Coyote live. I've seen them play live more than any other band, and they always put on a great show. Back in my college days, I helped the band set up at our fraternity house. If anyone out there has any other footage of them, please forward the link to me. Thanks and enjoy this clip!
Cake is very hard to label. Some say they're a college jam band that hit the mainstream. Others label them as alternative funky rock. Still others, label them as alternative country music. Whatever you want to call them, if you've ever been a to a Cake concert, you'll understand why I label them as a college jam band. They're a blast to see live, and they thrive in smaller more intimate settings. This is their biggest hit, Never There. Enjoy!
