Everclear

About Everclear

Art Alexakis formed Everclear during the height of alternative rock's mainstream moment, and the band found steady traction with their no-frills approach to the genre. The core three-piece of Alexakis on vocals and guitar, Montoya on bass and vocals, and Eklund on drums (who joined in 1994 replacing Scott Cuthbert) became the stable face of the band through their most productive years. When Montoya and Eklund departed in 2003, many assumed that would be the end of the project.

Instead, Alexakis chose to keep the Everclear name alive. After a solo tour that fall, he assembled a new lineup featuring Sam Hudson on bass, Dave French on guitar, and drummer Eric Bretl, debuting the reconstituted band in March 2004. The lineup went through adjustments that same year, adding keyboardist Josh Crawley and swapping Bretl for Brett Snyder, a former drum technician for the original band. The new Everclear released a cover of Woody Guthrie's This Land Is Your Land in summer 2004, followed by the self-released XM Satellite Radio performance collection Closure that fall.

Alexakis took his time with the next full-length release, spending over a year recording Welcome To The Drama Club, which arrived in early 2006. This period proved difficult personally for the frontman, who weathered his third divorce and a bankruptcy filing during the gap between lineups. By 2008, Snyder had exited after four years, replaced by Tommy Stewart, who brought experience from Fuel and Godsmack. The Groove Hunter catalog currently tracks 4 editions of Everclear releases, including The Very Best Of and Live At The Whisky A Go Go, documenting the band's output across different eras.