Taking to the road with another band can be a fun experience, especially when it’s the Barenaked Ladies and the members are your friends.
“We’re excited to be out with Barenaked Ladies. It’s a great show, very unique show. They are wildly entertaining. They are some of the best musicians I’ve ever known. They have some great songs, and there a lot of spontaneous thigs that happen,” said Dean Dinning of Toad the Wet Sprocket who will be in Augusta Oct. 19 at the Bell Auditorium.
The last time the two groups were in the same arena they found themselves spontaneously singing a song by the Traveling Wilburys, he said. Who knows what could happen in Augusta?
Dinning said he practically stumbled on their music in the mid-90s and became an instant fan.
“I bought their CD because I’d like the name, I liked the cover, and I didn’t know what was going to find,” he said. “I used to go to record stores and buy quite a few CDs at a time. Every once in a while you gamble on one, and it’s a wildcard, and I really liked what they were doing. It sounded like a Canadian country band in a way.”
It’s an exciting year for Dinning and his bandmates as they celebrate the 30th anniversary of their Dulcinea album, which was released in May 2024. It was reissued in a limited-edition vinyl earlier this year.
Dinning said songs from that album will be among those featured at the Bell stage.
“’Fear’ had been successful and we were just hoping for more than one successful album, let alone have people still listening to it 30 years later,” he said. “We’re always trying to make music that is timeless. It has aged well hopefully. You don’t think what it’s going to sound like 30 years from now when you’re making it. You’re thinking hopefully it will connect with people, and it did,” he said.
“Dulcinea” which contained nods to Cervantes’ Don Quixote In its title as well as its songs “Windmills” and “Crowing” went onto become a platinum-selling record.
They recently released some acoustic versions of “Fall Down” and “Something’s Always Wrong.”
Dinning said they continue to produce new music as well, not resting on their early successes.
“We’re doing better tours, better records, writing better songs. That’s the future for us,” he said.
Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for more than 35 years and is a Georgia Press Association award winner. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.
