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In late 2003, Fountains Of Wayne received a flattering, but rather puzzling, “Best New Artist” Grammy nomination (one of two categories in which they were named that year). This certainly made long-time fans chuckle; those in the know knew that Welcome Interstate Managers, the album that spawned the ubiquitous “Stacy’s Mom” and topped critics’ polls everywhere, was actually the New York-based group’s third collection of melodic pop/rock gems. And far from being a flash in the pan, the quartet was considered by many to be—in the words of Robert Christgau—”peerless” and “true art heroes”, or as Entertainment Weekly called them, “America’s greatest extant rock and roll band.” But FOW couldn’t help enjoying the new-found attention as they began headlining bigger venues, topping charts on MTV and VH1, and appearing on a “Now That’s What I Call Music” compilation CD next to the likes of Jay-Z, Nickelback, and Black Eyed Peas.
Former schoolmates Adam Schlesinger and Chris Collingwood formed Fountains Of Wayne—named after a semi-legendary statuary and garden furniture store in Wayne, NJ—in 1996 as a vehicle for their mutual love of pop song craft, after having played together in a series of precursor bands with even more ungainly names. They enlisted ex-Posies drummer Brian Young and lead guitarist Jody Porter, formerly of The Belltower, just before the release of their self-titled debut album, which had been recorded largely as a duo. The band’s line-up has remained constant ever since. Their second album, 1999’s widely-heralded Utopia Parkway, featured all four members in the recording studio, as did 2003’s breakthrough Welcome Interstate Managers. By now, the band has developed a sixth sense for arranging Schlesinger and Collingwood’s songs, and Young’s muscular backbeat and Porter’s endlessly inventive riffs and countermelodies are integral parts of the FOW sound. And while the records have gotten progressively more detailed and nuanced, FOW live remains a lean, loud guitar band with a decade’s worth of sing along faves to pick from.
Fountains Of Wayne uses Dean Markley VintageBronze
Acoustic ML and NickelSteel
Electric MED & JZ.
Chris Collingwood said:
I wouldn’t even think about starting
a recording session or hitting the road without my Dean Markleys.
For years we’ve turned to Dean Markley strings for exceptional
reliability and a consistent tone that’s never dull nor
too bright.
Be sure to visit the Fountains Of Wayne website at:
www.FountainsOfWayne.com.
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