Virginia Coalition 'Ok To Go' album

Although the DC area has traditionally been known as a musical no-man’s land, the four members of the Virginia Coalition feel it has largely been misunderstood.

DC is all about the blending of many different styles of music - layered and textured with no restrictions - It's rock with soul, hip-hop with hippie, R&B with bluegrass… and all of these styles are in Virginia Coalition’s blood.

The band’s homage to Virginia may be a bit misleading. Alexandria, Virginia began as a section within the original borders of Washington, DC until things heated up between the North and South just before the Civil War. If DC is Chocolate City, then Alexandria is the white cousin buried way back in the family tree.

Virginia Coalition is made up of four friends who met in the T.C. Williams High School music program. Their school was where the inspirational fact-based movie “Remember The Titans” took place. The movie documents the integration of black and white students on the school's football team in 1971. "By the time we got to T.C. Williams [years later] there were 75 languages and 56 different countries represented."

Every member of the band can play almost every instrument. They sing just as well as they play and every one of them writes. Their collaborative song-writing style creates the textured, sometimes eccentric, and always melodic songs that have allowed Virginia Coalition to stand out. Jarrett Nicolay comments, "everybody writes and plays most instruments; we are never at a loss for new material,” adding, “it is also great that we can all contribute to making the songs 'stage ready.'"

Virginia Coalition's live show is a larger-than-life party that has helped the band garner a rabid fan base who affectionately call them “VACO.” It was also Virginia Coalition's extraordinary live show that got them signed to New York City based label bluhammock music. Based on a tip from a friend, the founders of the label came to a show to check them out. "Then they came back a second time, then they kept coming back until we got signed. That's pretty much how everything has happened for us. " Ottinger said. "All the success VACO has is due to people passing the word around and saying good things." Word of mouth is how they sold 60,000 records and it's how they won the 2003 Washington Post Reader's Choice Award for Best Local Band in 2003.

In the spring of 2004, VACO entered the studio with acclaimed producer Matt Wallace (Maroon 5, The Replacements, Train) . “Matt was great at helping fine-tune the songs,” says Nicolay, “it is pretty obvious that he has made many awesome records. His input really made the whole process easy, and made the end result something we are all extremely proud of."

With their upcoming fourth album, the band hopes to continue the evolution they have started with their last effort Rock N Roll Party. They are hoping to showcase the energy of their live show as well as take their listeners on a journey that shows their evolution as musicians, and introduce themselves to new listeners while serving up the stuff that their loyal following loves.

History

* The Late 80's - Junior high school, the Band meets in music class at their public school. "We had the most insanely funded public high school music program you could imagine." Paul Ottinger, keyboards / percussion / bass guitar

* Spring of 1998 - Virginia Coalition released their first album, "The Colors of the Sound." The local buzz started in their hometown.

* 2000, released second album, "Townburg," another all-original album recorded by Ted Comerford and mixed by Mitch Easter (REM). The album helped create the grassroots support that quickly propelled them from local to regional success across the East Coast and into the Midwest.

* Virginia Coalition begins selling-out shows regularly at the 9:30 club in DC and packing venues such as the House of Blues in Chicago, the Paradise in Boston, TLA in Philadelphia and Irving Plaza in NYC.

* Jan 2003 - They release their third album, Rock & Roll Party (DCN/Koch) this release has helped the band expand their already solid tour base to the West. They play 250 shows from coast to coast throughout 2003.

* Rock & Roll Party hits the Billboard Charts at #18 on Billboard's Top Internet Selling Albums (Feb 8, 2003), and was the #1 seller at the Aware Store for over two months.

* August 2003 - Virginia Coalition receives the Reader's Choic Award for Best DC Band from the Washington Post.

* September 21, 2004 – Virginia Coalition release “OK to Go”

Virginia Coalition Have Appeared With: Dave Matthews Band, Train, Live, Fuel, Blues Traveler The Roots, funkyMeters, Fastball, Pat McGee Band, Gavin DeGraw, Maroon 5, Sister Hazel, O.A.R., Nine Days, Guster, evan & jaron, Cracker, Dispatch, Ben Folds Five, Counting Crows, 2 Skinnee J's, Bela Fleck & the Flecktones, and Blondie

Virginia Coalition

Andrew Poliakoff ( lead vocals / guitar / percussion)
Paul Ottinger (keyboards / percussion / vocals / bass guitar / guitar)
Jarrett Nicolay (bass guitar / banjo / guitar / vocals / Casio)
John Patrick (drums / vocals / trailer)

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Virginia Coalition - Ok To Go