![]() Much like DeLaughter, Clark embodies punk-chic magnetism, and the well-earned confidence reserved for radicals. Even she can’t keep tabs on two decades worth of rotating musicians’ whereabouts, but here are the highlights of what we've gathered on your favorite members. Paramount to the sounds, lyrics, scale of membership, psychedelic aesthetics, commercial contracts and TV appearances - stuff that tends to shift with time’s passage - is a “very spiritual thing,” Doyle says. Things have evolved for some members, but the Spree soul - rooted in artistic expression - subsists. Probably,” “The Polyphonic Spree: Maybe a Cult” and “They Are a Cult”). The latter frequently tackled the hemming and sewing of the band members’ signature robes (dress that no doubt inspired such headlines as “The Polyphonic Spree is No Cult. ![]() Sandy Toby Kay, Doyle’s mother, quips that it’s more like thousands. “At least not until we started adding robes, hotel rooms, buses, salaries, sleeping double in a single bunk, literally,” she lists.ĭoyle estimates that the Spree counts some 70 band members who have passed throughout the years, with as many as 32 having taken the stage at once. "Looking back, it only hinted at the broad scope of what the Polyphonic Spree would become.”ĭoyle says they didn’t even think about the number of members until it made general costs multiply. “We started with about 15 players because it was an attempt to present the music and instrumentation Tim desired in a live setting," Doyle says. Julie Doyle, the group’s co-manager and one of several vocalists, supports the notion that members absorbed a unique enlightenment via the Spree experience. The group grew along with its concept and never stopped growing, which makes an accurate recounting of each Polyphonic Spree member, past and present, a particularly tricky task. In his mourning, DeLaughter dreamed up a different sort of group, one that would deliver euphoria and change lives. That captivating countenance comes, in part, from participating in a club formed 20 years ago by a young musician emerging from darkness when Tripping Daisy’s Tim DeLaughter lost bandmate and friend Wes Berggren to a drug overdose. They're behind you in the checkout line, teaching yoga class, inventing new technology in a Dallas garage, writing your favorite fashion blog or operating the local bar. Most are unrecognizable at a glance, but one could sense a jubilant energy just waiting to jump out. However, it’s always been clear that DeLaughter found healing solace in first forming and then guiding The Polyphonic Spree.The Polyphonic Spree members walk everywhere among us. Cynics might look askance at his earnestness and wonder if it - or he - was for real. Onstage, DeLaughter’s demeanor was a cross between a passionate preacher and a giddy choir conductor. Musically, The Polyphonic Spree was also relentlessly positive, drawing on the lilting sunshine pop movement of the 1960s (i.e., the harmony-heavy music of the Association or the Fifth Dimension), ELO’s layered orchestral arrangements, and the Beach Boys’ lush, summery melodies. Vincent - and the group wore matching white robes onstage. More than 20 musicians were in the troupe, for starters - including, at one point early on, Annie Clark, aka the future St. The quirky Dallas pop-rock group Tripping Daisy, led by vocalist Tim DeLaughter, had a top 10 alternative radio hit with 1995’s “I Got a Girl” and two other modest hits with the soaring “My Umbrella” and buzzsawing “Piranha.” Sadly, the band broke up in late 1999 in the wake of the drug overdose death of guitarist Wes Berggren.Ī grieving DeLaughter and several of his Tripping Daisy bandmates turned around and formed The Polyphonic Spree, a self-proclaimed “choral symphonic pop rock band” that was a far cry from anything else going on in music circa Y2K. However, Nirvana wasn’t the only popular ’90s rock band to spawn a long-running, fan-pleasing project. A quarter-century or so later, the Foos are now the biggest (and most consistently awesome) rock band in the world, thanks to a catalog overflowing with radio hits. After the death of frontman Kurt Cobain, Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl hunkered down and formed a solo project he dubbed Foo Fighters. Dozens of unlikely underground bands (Butthole Surfers, anyone?) leapt into the mainstream as grunge and punk became the dominant rock ‘n’ roll trends. Nirvana changed music in the early ’90s with “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and their landmark 1991 album Nevermind. To kick things off, we’re going on a search to find The Polyphonic Spree, a choral rock band from Dallas formed by Tim DeLaughter in 2000. We’re reviving our Whatever Happened To series after a decade-long break.
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