Chad Urmston

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Chadwick Stokes Urmston
Background information
Birth name Charles Stokes Urmston
Born (1976-02-26) 26 February 1976
Origin Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Genres Rock, reggae, funk, acoustic
Occupations Musician
Instruments Electric guitar, acoustic guitar electric bass (with Dispatch), trombone, djembe, harmonica, piano
Years active 1994–present
Associated acts Dispatch, Hermit Thrush, State Radio
Website stateradio.com

Chad (Chadwick) Stokes Urmston (born February 26, 1976 in Boston, Massachusetts) is an American musician. Urmston was a member of the band Hermit Thrush and this later gave birth to the band Dispatch. He is the frontman for the Boston, Massachusetts-area band State Radio, as well as a constant activist for improved living conditions in Zimbabwe. In 2008 he co-founded Calling all Crows, a non-profit dedicated to improving the lives of women all over the world, as well as local communities on tour stops for State Radio. Because of Dispatch's recent reunion, Chad is currently a member of both State Radio and Dispatch.

Personal life

Born into a large family, Chad graduated from Dover-Sherborn High School in 1994,[1] and went on to attend both Middlebury College and NYU. He met Pete Heimbold in 1995 and formed the band Hermit Thrush. He later formed a band called One Fell Swoop with Heimbold and Brad Corrigan; they would ultimately become known as Dispatch, and would become known for their grassroots college following and independent success. He is now touring with his new band, State Radio. Chad writes the majority of his songs about historical and contemporary social issues, and advocates social change in many of State Radio's songs. He is married to Sybil Gallagher, who has a key role in State Radio. In addition to being the band's tour manager, three songs, Sybil I, Sybil II and Sybil III, found on Us Against the Crown, Year of the Crow and Let It Go, were written by him about her.

Chad Urmston with Dispatch in Germany, Hamburg, 2012
In 2004, while a member of Dispatch, Chad, Pete, and Brad performed a final show at the Hatch Shell in Boston, MA. Though the band, and the Boston Police Department, expected a crowd of about 20,000, the show attracted over 110,000 fans from all over the world, the largest crowd in independent music history.[2]

In 2006, Urmstron collaborated with Boston local punk band "Plan b" to record the track "Bandwagon" from their sophomore release; "Welcome! Generations".

In 2007 the band again reunited for a single show at Madison Square Garden in NYC. After selling out the concert in mere seconds, the band added 2 more nights to the MSG venue, selling all three out. Again, Dispatch made independent music history, becoming the first independent band to sell out the world's most famous arena.[3]

Dispatch completed a tour during the summer of 2011 with stops in Boston, Red Rocks, and Governor's Island at the Dave Matthew's Caravan.

He released a solo album entitled Simmerkane II on June 28, 2011 under the name Chadwick Stokes, and launched a solo tour in August to promote it.

Equipment

Guitars

  • Creston Electric Instruments custom
  • 1958 Gibson Les Paul Junior
  • 1979 Fender Stratocaster
  • Modulus G3CT (Customized for Chad with a truck inlay)
  • Township Special AfriCan Gas Can Guitar
  • Guild D40AE Acoustic Guitar
  • Gretsch G5135 Electromatic Corvette
  • Modulus Genesis 3

Amplifier

  • Fender Hot Rod DeVille Amplifier

Effects

  • MXR Micro Amp
  • ProCo The Rat
  • Fulltone Fat Boost
  • Dunlop Crybaby GCB95
  • Menatone The Blue Collar Overdrive
  • Fulltone Supa-Trem
  • Boss DD-5 Digital Delay
  • Rapco AB100
  • Boss TU-2 Chromatic Tuner

Notes

  1. Beaderstadt, C. "State Radio's Chad Urmston takes the stage ...and takes a stand", The Lawrentian. Retrieved on 2007-06-14
  2. "DISPATCH History." Retrieved June 5, 2013.
  3. "DISPATCH Short Biography", Ticketmaster, retrieved Jul 6, 2011.

External links

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