Louden Swain
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| Louden Swain | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Los Angeles, California |
| Genre(s) | Indie Rock |
| Years active | 1997-present |
| Label(s) | |
| Members | Rob Benedict (lead vocalist, guitar) Michael Borja (bass, vocals) Billy Moran (lead guitar, vocals) Stephen Norton (drums, vocals) |
| Social Media | |
| Official Website | https://www.loudenswain.com/ |
Louden Swain got their start back in 1997 when Benedict and Michael Borja met Stephen Norton at a party in L.A. Guitarist Billy Moran joined the band in 2006 and their music truly has grown to completion.
The band is named after Matthew Modine’s character’s name Louden Swain in the 1985 movie Vision Quest.
Contents
Louden Swain in Supernatural
Three of their songs were featured in Supernatural - Worlds Collide in 7.13 The Slice Girls, Big One in 11.03 The Bad Seed and Pop Tart Heart in 15.12 Galaxy Brain.
Fun fact: Mike, Billy and Stephen were supposed to appear on the show, specifically in 11.20 Don't Call Me Shurley. They were supposed to play in the bar but that changed to Rob singing Fare Thee Well.
Louden Swain in The Winchesters
They appeared on 1.08 Hang On to Your Life as their Elastic Waste Band alter-egos.
Rich, Billy, Mike, Rob, Steve
posted by Louden Swain in Jan 2023
Louden Swain in fandom
Louden Swain’s first appearance on the con circuit was a concert at Salute to Supernatural L.A. 2010, their subsequent appearances were concerts at Asylum 7 2011 and Salute to Supernatural L.A. 2012.
At Salute to Supernatural Las Vegas 2013, they not only played a concert, but also were the house band under the alias Elastic Waste Band.
At Salute to Supernatural Burbank 2013, due to Rob’s health issues, Jason Manns became lead singer of the band. Actors performed Swain songs and covers. This gave birth to Saturday Night Special as we know it today.
Since 2014, they have been the house band and have been playing concerts (SNS) at every Supernatural con held by Creation.
House Band
In 2013, Creation asked Rich to host the first ever Vegascon. He would do it only if Rob’s band would be the house band, so it would look like a late night talk show (Kimmel-esque). But Creation didn’t want a real rock band, so Richard came up with ‘Elastic Waste Band’ as their alter-ego. The alter-ego was dropped in 2015.
Their house band responsibilities are playing the guests on and off the stage (each guest has a song specifically selected for them), playing made up jingles to introduce other stage actives, and playing songs to kill time when the guest is late to their panel.
Early on, they stayed on stage for most of the panels, nowadays it’s just for J2 main panels.
After the last panel on Sunday ends, they and Richard sing a song called It's the end of the con as we know it (so go home).
Saturday Night Special
On Saturday afternoon, at the beginning of their auto session, they do ‘Vendor Jam.’ It’s a mini acoustic concert that consists of them playing typically 2-3 of their songs in the vendor room.
Saturday Night Special (in 2014 known as ‘Saturday Night Cabaret’) is a about hour and half long rock concert that takes place on Saturday night of the con. The band plays their original songs, and actors (guests) sing covers, occasionally an actor sings a Swain song.
Regular guest singers are Kim Rhodes, Briana Buckmaster, Jason Manns, and Richard Speight, Jr., Matt Cohen, Ruth Connell, David Hayden-Jones. Occasional guest singers are Lisa Berry, Emily Swallow, Gil McKinney and Osric Chau. Jensen Ackles is also known to partake every once in a while.
Some guests don’t sing but play musical instruments instead. Chris Schmelke, the con photographer, plays bass guitar, Mark Sheppard used to play drums, and JVP plays bongos.
A special guest is Richard Speight, Jr. He plays bass guitar on multiple songs throughout the concert, and when it’s his time to sing, he usually also plays acoustic guitar.
Discography
They boast a long list of albums, beginning in 2001 with Able-Legged Heroes, 2003’s Overachiever, 2006’s Suit and Tie, 2009’s A Brand New Hurt, 2011’s Eskimo, 2014’s Sky Alive, 2017's No Time Like the Present and Saturday Night Special (Live), 2018's Splitting the Seams, 2022's Foolish. Their 10th studio album, Feelings and Such, came out on 11th November 2022.
The band also made couple singles - 2006’s Here Come the Snakes (Seeing Is Believing) (remixed and re-released in 2018) and 2011’s Help You
Throughthout 2021 and beginning of 2022, they released 6 singles which are part of their 2022's album Foolish.
Links
Official links
- Louden Swain website
- Louden Swain on YouTube
- @LoudenSwain1 on Twitter
- @loudenswainmusic on Instagram
- Louden Swain on Fabebook
Clips, Articles and Interviews
- Louden Swain talk about their new acoustic album with Nerds and Beyond
- Louden Swain talk about conventions, fans, music and more! with Nerds and Beyond
- Nerds and Beyond's interviews with Billy Moran, Michael Borja, Stephen Norton and Rob Benedict
