Mention Nebraska and most people are
apt to immediately think of collegiate football and long,
cold winters. But, Nebraska is more than center stage
for great football – in fact, it was within the
borders of this storied state that the iconic rock band
311 was born.
It was in their hometown of Omaha that 311’s members
– Nick Hexum, S.A. Martinez, Tim Mahoney, Chad Sexton,
and P-nut – first came together in friendship. Hexum,
Mahoney, and Sexton all went to the same high school while
Martinez and P-nut were schoolmates at another high school
on the south side of Omaha. Through a twist of fate that
brought them all to Omaha at the same time, the five musicians
jelled together in 1990 to form 311.
311 quickly took their hometown by storm, winning a
loyal legion of fans and released three successful records
in 1990 and 1991, under their own record label, “Dammit,”
“Hydroponic,” and “Unity.” To
hone their sound and increase their fan base, 311 went
on a rigorous touring schedule throughout Nebraska and
the Midwest. It was only a glimpse of things to come:
from then on, 311 concert tickets would be a premium
wherever they played. When their tour concluded, they
set their sites on the music base of the west coast:
Los Angeles.
The move to California proved to be a test of their
strength as both band mates and friends. Times were
tough. Broke and at a low point, 311 finally got the
break they needed: a record deal with Capricorn records,
and their first album “Music” quickly followed
in 1993.
The tour to promote “Music” proved to be
another huge hurdle – and one that could have
cost the band members their lives. Traveling to one
of their gigs, the band’s RV caught fire. Escaping
with their lives, 311 refused to allow losing everything
they had, including their equipment, to bring them down
and continued with the tour.
The following summer 311 released their sophomore album,
“Grassroots,” and followed with a tour that
crisscrossed the United States and helped the band build
a nationwide following. A year after releasing “Grassroots,”
311 released a self-titled album, which in 1996 would
catapult them to the big leagues. The single “Down”
sizzled at the top of the Billboard charts, and its
follow-up “All Mixed Up” shot to number
two.
From there, 311 continued making music and winning
fans, releasing “Live” (1999), “Soundsystem”
(1999), “From Chaos” (2001), “Evolver”
(2003), and “Greatest Hits” (2004). They’ll
be hitting the road in the summer of 2006 to promote
their latest album, “Don’t Tread on Me.”
311 has now been together for more than a decade and
is poised to remain a fixture on the rock scene for
many more years to come.
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