Chicago Artist : Plain White T’s

Jun 04, 2015 James Currie Local Loop 0

Plain White T’s (read as “plain white tees”) is an American pop punk band from Lombard, Illinois, formed in 1997 by high school friends Tom Higgenson, Dave Tirio, Ken Fletcher and Steve Mast. The group had a mostlyunderground following in Chicago basements, clubs and bars in its early years.^[5]^[6]

The band is best known in the USA for the number-one hit song “Hey There Delilah“, which achieved platinum status in 2007 and earned two Grammy nominations,^[7] as well as “1234” and “Rhythm of Love“, which were certified platinum in 2009 and 2011.

The Plain White T’s was formed in Lombard in fall 1997. The group began as a trio, with Higgenson as singer and guitarist, Fletcher on bass guitar and Tirio on drums.^[8] They played mostly local punk shows in Chicago’s suburbs, eventually having gigs at the Metro in Chicago’s Wrigleyville neighborhood. As the band began to establish itself in the local scene, a fourth member was recruited, Steve Mast, who joined playing lead guitar and sang backing vocals.^[9]

Higgenson broke several vertebrae in a car crash in 1999^[10] while driving the band’s van. He was in a back brace for three months and had to learn to walk again. Higgenson changed his song-writing process, choosing songs that were more meaningful to him, and the band began taking its music career more seriously.^[11]

In 2000, the band recorded its first album, titled Come On Over. In 2002, the band self-financed the recording of Stop, a full-length album that attracted the attention of Fearless Records. While the band toured in support for the album, both Fletcher and Mast left and were replaced by Tim Lopez and Mike Retondo. Shortly after, Tirio decided to switch from drumming to rhythm guitar, and a new drummer named De’Mar Hamiltion was added to the line-up.

The 2005 release, All That We Needed’,’ was the first studio album from the reformed line-up.^[12] “Hey There Delilah” was first released on their third album, All That We Needed, in 2005. They recorded Every Second Counts that year, on which “Hey There Delilah” was added in order to allow it a chance on mainstream radio. The band signed with Hollywood Records, which released Every Second Counts on September 12, 2006. That same year, “Hey There Delilah” reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for two weeks.^[13] The song was written for the track star Delilah DiCrescenzo, whom Higgenson had met in 2002. The song received two Grammy nominations, and Every Second Counts was certified gold.^[14] In early 2006, the band teamed up with Motion City Soundtrack for a winter/spring tour.^[15]

In 2008, they released the album Big Bad World. The album had two hit singles: “1, 2, 3, 4” and “Natural Disaster“. Both were on the American Top 40 at numbers 1 and 2 for three consecutive weeks.^[16] By late 2008, the band had joined the Rock Band Live tour with Panic! at the Disco, Dashboard Confessional and The Cab.^[17] Later that year, the band played at the Give It a Name festival in the UK.^[18] In 2007, they performed the single “Our Time Now” on an episode of the Nickelodeon television series, iCarly. “Our Time Now” was also the theme song of the ABC Family dramedy series, Greek.^[19]

The band’s “Rhythm of Love” single was the first to be released from their 2010 album, The Wonders of the Younger. The song reached number five on the Hot AC chart, and was in the top ten in 2010 as well.^[16] In 2012, the band also covered The Ramones‘ “Pet Sematary” for the song soundtrack of the 2012 Disney filmFrankenweenie.^[20] Should’ve Gone to Bed, a four-song EP, was released on April 9, 2013.

The band left Hollywood Records after creative conflicts with the label during the production of the American Nights album.^[21] American Nights was released byMegaforce Records on March 31, 2015. In 2013, Higgenson and Tirio formed a side project called That Lying Bitch to return to their punk rock roots.

(source wikipedia)