O.A.R.'s latest albumMy current Can’t-Get-Enough favorite band is O.A.R.(short for “Of A Revolution”). I only just heard them a few weeks ago when they appeared on Conan O’Brien’s show. I jumped straight to the ‘net to find more stuff, to see if they had more music that I’d like before buying a CD.

It turns out they did. I’ve since picked up 5 of them, as a matter of fact. OAR is surviving and thriving in the modern age of music, using all of its potential. They are the model for other up-and-coming bands to emulate. They must be scaring the bejeezus out of the music industry.

O.A.R. started out as a garage band, basically. The core of the band formed in high school but the band really started going somewhere during their college days in Ohio. They built a rabid fanbase by staying on the road and playing as many gigs as they could. They recorded CDs on their own as demos. Those CDs weren’t synthesized-sounding crap. The band would go into the studio, play their song, and record it then and there. No tracks and computerized effects. The raw energy of the band was maintained through the recordings. Those four CDs sold better than 250,000 copies, by all accounts.

In addition, they have an open taping policy. They invite their fans to record their shows and trade them on the ‘net, so long as no money traded hands. Dozens of concerts are now available on-line to be downloaded. (A broadband connection is required, unless you’re very patient. These recordings are not in the lossy compression format of MP3. They are full-scale .WAV files, slightly compressed with a program called SHN, coming complete with a MD5 checksum to verify the proper downloading of the files.)

Earlier this year, they released their first record from a ‘major’ label (Lava Records, home of Uncle Kracker and Kid Rock). Called “In Between Now And Then,” it comes with a bonus DVD that has video of three live performances (including their signature hit, “Crazy Game of Poker”), plus all sorts of behind-the-scenes stuff.

OAR group picTheir web site includes all the songs from their demo recordings, available for free. If you want to hear their stuff, they’re going to let you do so. No charge. What a brilliant idea, eh?

The best account of the history of the band that I’ve read so far is on their web site, from the Phoenix New Times.

The music, itself, is a mix of rock, reggae, and ska. It’s three guys on guitar, one guy with a sax, and a drummer. They’re often compared to Dave Matthews Band, but I think OAR is a bit more up-tempo than that. To my ear, they’re also more memorable and more interesting. They have a tendency to play around with their songs a lot live. “Poker” is a 7 or 8 minute recording on its first album, but I have concert recordings that range from 13 to 23 minutes for the song. OAR is not afraid to experiment. You’ll even get the occasional cover song.

If you want to give them a shot, their web site is at ofarevolution.com. Click on the “OfARevolution Player” button and choose and album and a song. I’d suggest starting with the album, “The Wanderer.” It’s a good sampling. If you like that, jump right to the live albums, “Any Time Now” 1 and 2.

To download the concerts, hop on over to Archive.org, where you can find all the concerts available for download.

Finally, here’s a list of all sorts of OAR links to keep any fan busy.