O.A.R.’s island-vibe roots rock sound first developed in Rockville, Maryland in 1996 in the basement of drummer Chris Culos' childhood home. While still in high school, the band released their first album, The Wanderer. Unlike most high school bands, which dissolve after graduation, O.A.R. decided it needed to expose its music to a larger audience and all of its members went on to The Ohio State University. By the time they had graduated from college, O.A.R. already had three albums - and hundreds of shows – under their belts.
After selling over 300,000 CDs on their own label (Everfine Records), O.A.R. joined forces with Lava Records for their major label debut, In Between Now and Then, followed two years later in 2005 by their most recent studio effort, Stories of a Stranger. The album produced radio favorites “Love and Memories” and “Heard the World” as well as mtvU’s Most Downloaded video of 2006, “Lay Down.”
During the past year, the band continued to tour throughout the country, playing in front of more than 250,000 people, and released LIVE FROM MADISON SQUARE GARDEN, a live double-disc CD set and double-disc DVD set. The band wrapped up the summer of 2007 with USO performances in both Kuwait and Iraq, followed by several months in the studio working on their next release.