Guster is one of those bands that hangs around on the periphery of people's musical awareness - no one-hit wonders, but plenty of talent and enough tenacity to retain relevance and a solid fan base.
The original threesome - guitar/lyricists Adam Gardner and Ryan Miller, and percussionist Brian Rosenworcel - met at Tufts University, gaining popularity through interaction with fans at concerts and continuous touring. Guster developed a strong grassroots reputation that spread westward from the East Coast.
But now, vocalist Adam Gardner is getting the band to act not only as a form of entertainment but as a force for environmental change - a new trend among other big names in the business like Dave Matthews Band.
Their 2006 release, Ganging Up on the Sun, allowed Guster to expand their influences. Two years earlier, Gardner and his wife Lauren Sullivan founded Reverb, a company dedicated to helping bands "green" their performances and raise environmental awareness. On April 10, Guster's Satellite EP will drop as Warner Brother's first carbon-neutral release, and the band will head out on the Campus Consciousness tour.
Warner Bros. purchased renewable energy credits through NativeEnergy to offset the effect of carbon dioxide released in the production, manufacturing and shipping of each CD. The Native American-owned renewable energy company uses the money from purchased credits to fund alternate forms of power, like wind farms. Since teaming up with NativeEnergy, every Guster CD ever printed has been retroactively created carbon-neutral.
"I just became aware of some of the things that are available to us today," Gardner says of the group's greening. This year's Campus Consciousness tour is traveling to colleges, promoting clean lifestyles and demonstrating earth-healthy alternatives.
Many elements of the tour are eco-friendly: the band uses biodiesel-fueled buses, 100% recycled paper products and reusable water bottles, as well as completely biodegradable cleaning fluids.
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