3 Iconic Jam Bands from the File-Sharing Era

Many music fans of a certain age have a fondness for the late 1990s and early 2000s, if for no other reason than they (we) can remember sitting at a computer for hours and hoping at least a portion of their illegal song downloads would finish. Thanks to services like Napster and LimeWire, file sharing became the norm and certain bands majorly benefited from it.

Here below, we wanted to explore three such groups. A trio of bands that were aided and even made world famous thanks to the early days of file sharing. While many decried (rightly) the elicit nature of the then-new technology, some also valued the easy access.

[RELATED: Dispatch Reflects on “The General,” Napster, and Current Mentality]

O.A.R.

The band known as O.A.R. (which stands for Of a Revolution) formed in Rockville, Maryland, in the mid-1990s. And while their debut LP The Wanderer was released in 1997, it and the group’s next two or three albums would become hot commodities on the internet, passed between high school and college music listeners and played at parties all across North America. With songs like “Hey Girl,” “Black Rock,” and “I Feel Home,” the band knew how to hit notes of friendship, nostalgia, and passion, doing so with acoustic guitars and lo-fi recordings. It was the perfect storm for Napster and beer pong-loving music fans everywhere.

Dispatch

The Middlebury, Vermont-born band rose to fame thanks to perhaps one song in particular, “The General.” Telling the story of a military man who actually wanted to stop fighting, the track made a statement during a time when the whole world seemed to be at war. Utilizing acoustic guitars and friendly singing voices, Dispatch became fan favorites at liberal arts schools across America. They even released the live album Gut the Van in 2001 that included some of their best performances from shows on tour. It’s hard to say how many times “The General” was downloaded on file-sharing platforms at the turn of the century, but it has to be millions.

Dave Matthews Band

While Dave Matthews and his self-titled Dave Matthews Band were well-known by the mid-1990s (indeed, it could be argued they are the proverbial fathers of the groups above), the group went up another notch thanks to file sharing around 2000. Fans were sharing deep cuts, live songs, acoustic tracks, and even an entire then-unreleased album of songs known as The Lillywhite Sessions. Recorded with longtime DMB producer Steve Lillywhite, the underground LP was a hit among fans. At first it was dashed because the band wanted to go in a different sonic direction, but due to the outcry and love for The Lillywhite Sessions, DMB eventually released a formal studio album with many of the same songs called Busted Stuff in 2002. Chalk another one up for the popular acoustic guitar-playing Dave Matthews.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Photo by Rich Polk/Getty Images On Location