State Radio - Year of the Crow

State Radio is Chad's band. I absolutely love his stuff, mostly because his lyrics have a story or meaning behind them that makes you think. Criticism of the war, issues in sudan, and even tales of the homeless are just some of the songs that you will encounter as you listen.

Of the forty-seven songs Chad has penned for State Radio, one can expect to hear any of forty-one (the number performed since Mike "Mad Dog" Najarian took over the drum kit) at a live show. In addition to these, Dispatch's "Time Served" has become a State Radio staple, and "Just Like Larry," more recently along with a cover of Rage Against the Machine's "Bullet in the Head," is often appended to "First One Shot." The Hermit Thrush (Urmston's pre-Dispatch band) song "Sister" has also been played once. Some State Radio songs were written during the Dispatch era: verses from "Once and Future King" were included in the Dispatch improv song "Cut It Ya Match It," a song consisting entirely of random verses from songs Chad had written or was writing at the time. ("Cut It Ya Match It" also included a verse from "Revolutionaries", one of Chad's pre-Dispatch songs that has recently become a State Radio staple) "Riddle in Londontown" made its first appearance at Dispatch's farewell concerts in July 2004, then entitled simply "Riddle."State Radio is known for their outstanding stage presence, and encourage frequent audience participation. Another exciting aspect of live shows is that the band, instead of waiting to perfect songs before playing them live, starts playing new cuts soon after Chad comes up with them, and then improves them on the road. As such, the "Wicker Plane" played live back in 2002 is very different from the song's most recent renditions. And in recent news the song "Keepsake" was used in the final episode of season 3 of TV series "Weeds".

I have seen State Radio five times live and each time the experience is amazing. His new album will be out in stores in February, however, you can get the new CD at State Radio concerts. Please check out State Radio's website at www.stateradio.com

State Radio - Gunship Politico
State Radio - Democracy in Kind
State Radio - Wicker Plane
*some of this material was used from ccbsayit.com*