arts & life

mu s i c

T

he word “revolution” may
be a major 2016 politi-
cal buzzword, but it has
been employed in the epithet of
O.A.R. — an abbreviation for Of a
Revolution — for two decades now.
At the time of forming, four of
the band’s five members — three
of whom have a Jewish heritage —
had begun to make and perform
music together in their hometown
of Rockville, Md., while all attend-
ing Thomas Sprigg Wootton High
School.
“Revolution as a part of our
name was in reference to what the
music was doing for us back in
high school,” says Benj Gershman,
the band’s bassist. “It was a posi-
tive change. It was a revolution in
our daily lives. As far as now, it still
hasn’t changed. It’s still about the
music. It’s not political.”
He’s speaking on the phone from
New York on the first day of the
band’s current tour, XX — which
will bring them to Royal Oak
Music Theatre Thursday, Aug. 25,
and bears the same name given to

A
Revolution Of
Positivity

Reisa Shanaman
Special to the Jewish News

O.A.R. celebrates 20

years of good vibes

at the Royal Oak

Music Theatre.

details

O.A.R. brings its XX Tour:
Evolution of a Revolution to
the Royal Oak Music Theatre
7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 25.
$49.95-$79.75. (248) 399-2980;
royaloakmusictheatre.com.

their new compilation album. Both
serve as celebrations marking their
20 years together of performing
rousing live shows and creating an
alternative rock aesthetic with roots
and jam-band overtones.
“We wanted to basically create
an album that had the quintes-
sential O.A.R. songs. When you
think about O.A.R., these are
the songs that represent us,”
Gershman says. The album
includes 18 cuts off their previ-
ous eight studio albums and
five live albums, as well as two
new singles — 20 songs for
20 years, during which O.A.R.
transformed themselves from an
indie college band to a Billboard
chart-topper.

“The album is a culmination of
what we’ve been through and also
a look forward,” he adds. A couple
of those “quintessential songs”
he speaks of — including the
band’s first big hit, “Crazy Game
of Poker” off 1997’s The Wanderer
— were inspired and took shape
while the band’s other two Jewish
members spent a semester of
high school in Israel. “I think it
was ’95. Marc [Roberge, vocal-
ist/guitarist] and Chris [Culos,
drummer] traveled to Israel on
a high school-in-Israel program.
They were just expressing them-
selves over there, and some of
those ideas turned into songs and
some of those songs turned into
O.A.R. songs,” says Gershman,

O.A.R., left to right: Jerry DePizzo,
Chris Culos, Marc Roberge,
Benj Gershman and Richard On.

who attended the same program
in Israel the following year.
Gershman, who grew up in
a Conservative household, was
active both in his congregation,
Har Shalom of Potomac, Md., as
well as the greater local Jewish
community. He cites his sum-
mers at the Jewish Capital Camps
as helping prepare him for a life
spent frequently on the road tour-
ing. “Camp gave me a precursor to
being around people 24/7 and rec-
ognizing that the dynamics of your
relationships are vital to having
a good time,” he says. “Being in a
band and traveling with people day
in and day out, you really have to
be mindful of everyone, how things
feel to each person. Otherwise
things can get off balance. I think
I probably started learning about
this [concept] early on at camp.”
Although Gershman doesn’t
associate a correlation between the
band’s religious backgrounds and
their music, he does believe it is
guided by the principles instilled in
its members.
“I gained a lot of my morals and
values through my family and our
community growing up. Going to
Hebrew school was a part of that,”

he says. “I think that spirituality
and morals and values play a role
in our music, but I don’t think
religion directly has played a role in
the crafting of songs or the brand-
ing of our band, so to speak.
“I think we are people who are
open to everything in the world
we live in. We’re inclusive of every-
thing. We try to include everything
into our lives. I don’t know that
any of us focus on religion in that
way. It definitely guides, and it has
guided, the way we were brought
up and the experiences that we
now draw from,” he explains.
O.A.R.’s strong ethical sensibili-
ties led them to form, in 2006, the
Heard the World foundation, a
charity organization that supports
youth, education and sustainable
programs. The band also has raised
money for the Paralyzed Veterans
of America, gone on tour in sup-
port of Habitat for Humanity and
performed at the opening and clos-
ing ceremonies of 2015’s Special
Olympics World Summer Games.
It makes sense, then, when
Gershman succinctly sums up in
just one word the band’s message:
“Positivity.”

*

August 18 • 2016

45