Biography
The rock outfit Virginia Coalition formed when its four members—vocalist Andrew Poliakoff, multi-instrumentalists Paul Ottinger and Jarrett Nicolay, plus drummer John Patrick—first crossed paths during junior-high music class in Alexandria, Virginia. Their self-released debut, The Colors of the Sound, generated immediate regional interest upon arrival in spring 1998. Two years later Townburg broadened the group’s reach across the East Coast and Midwest; local devotees, who often shorthand the band as VACO, began packing clubs throughout Washington, D.C.
KOCH picked up the January 2003 release Rock & Roll Party for wider distribution, sending it onto Billboard’s Internet chart. Steady touring reinforced that momentum: the quartet logged 250 dates nationwide that year and, through grassroots word-of-mouth, moved more than 60,000 records. In August the band earned The Washington Post’s Reader’s Choice Award as Washington, D.C.’s top act, an honor repeated the following year.
New York independent label bluhammock music issued the Matt Wallace–produced OK to Go—Wallace’s résumé includes work with Maroon 5 and the Replacements—in September 2004. The band’s first live document, Live at the 9:30 Club, captured a January 6, 2006 performance at the D.C. venue and reached stores that September, with additional fall routing to follow.
KOCH picked up the January 2003 release Rock & Roll Party for wider distribution, sending it onto Billboard’s Internet chart. Steady touring reinforced that momentum: the quartet logged 250 dates nationwide that year and, through grassroots word-of-mouth, moved more than 60,000 records. In August the band earned The Washington Post’s Reader’s Choice Award as Washington, D.C.’s top act, an honor repeated the following year.
New York independent label bluhammock music issued the Matt Wallace–produced OK to Go—Wallace’s résumé includes work with Maroon 5 and the Replacements—in September 2004. The band’s first live document, Live at the 9:30 Club, captured a January 6, 2006 performance at the D.C. venue and reached stores that September, with additional fall routing to follow.