The Departed (band)

The Departed
Origin	Yukon, Oklahoma, USA
Genres	Americana Southern rock Heartland Rock Country Rock Roots rock Red Dirt Alternative Rock Texas Country
Years active	2011-present
Labels	Underground Sound
Associated acts	Cross Canadian Ragweed, ZZ Top Jason Boland & the Stragglers Wade Bowen Stoney LaRue Mike McClure Band Jonathan Tyler and the Northern Lights
Website	thedepartedmusic.com
Members	Cody Canada-Lead Vocals, Ross Smith-Rhythm Guitar, Keyboard, Jeremy Plato-Bass Guitar, Eric Hansen-Drums
Past members	Dave Bowen, Seth James, Steve Littleton, Chris Doege

The Departed (also known as Cody Canada and the Departed) is an American Red Dirt/Southern Rock/Alternative Rock band. The band was formed by Cross Canadian Ragweed frontman Cody Canada after Ragweed broke up in 2010. Canada’s longtime bassist Jeremy Plato followed and joined guitarist/vocalist Seth James, keyboard player Steve Littleton, and Drummer Dave Bowen. Chris Doege would eventually replace Bowen on drums. In December 2014, Littleton and Doege left the band. Drummer Eric Hansen and keyboardist / rhythm guitarist Ross Smith joined the group in early 2015 and played their first show with the band on January 8, 2015 in Steamboat Springs, Colorado at The 2015 MusicFest.

History

Formation and This Is Indian Land

In 2011, Canada and fellow Ragweed musician Jeremy Plato formed a new band billed as Cody Canada & the Departed. The band consists of Canada (guitar/vocals), Plato (bass guitar/vocals), Seth James (guitar/vocals), Steve Littleton (keyboards) and Chris Doege (drums). They released their first album in June 2011 titled This Is Indian Land through the band's own record label Underground Sound, consisting of covers written by Oklahoma songwriters. Among the favorite and most popular songs voted by fans off the record was "The Ballad of Rosalie", "Long Way to Nowhere", "A Little Rain Will Do", "Skyline Radio", and "Hold On Christian."

Adventūs

On August 24, 2012, the band, now billing themselves as simply The Departed, announced through their website and social media that they would release their first original album titled Adventūs the Latin word for Arrival, on November 13, 2012 through Underground Sound. Leading up to the album's release, the band released the first single from Adventūs, titled "Worth the Fight." In February 2013, the album's second single "Prayer For the Lonely" was announced, shooting for the music video also began. Later, the band also released "Flagpole." This album was noted by music critics as being the hardest driving album from a musical sound perspective.

HippieLovePunk

In September 2013, Seth James announced that he intended to leave the band. James said in a statement: “After three years of great times and great music, I have decided to take a step down as a band member of the Departed. It has been an unbelievable ride and I am so grateful for the support and love along the way. My last show will be November 23 at Gruene Hall. I look forward to supporting these guys alongside you as they continue down the road.”^[1] The band continued performing as a four-piece group.

In 2014, the band finished a new album, titled HippieLovePunk.^[2] The album was released on January 13, 2015, and it debuted at No. 9 on the Top Alternative Country Albums chart, with 4,700 copies sold in the US in its debut week.^[3]

2015 Lineup & Beyond

Cody Canada and The Departed, as they are once again known as, debuted a revamped band lineup at The MusicFest in Steamboat Springs, Colorado on January 8, 2015. Ross Smith, formerly of Wade Bowen's band, is on keyboards and rhythm guitars, while Eric Hansen is now on drums. In late November 2015, the band produced a music video for the song "All Nighter" on HippieLovePunk at John T. Floore's Country Store in Helotes, Texas. In early 2016 The band announced via social media that they would be releasing an album consisting of covers of many old country songs by artists such as Willie Nelson and other older songs, in addition to new songs that have been written and will be recorded.

Discography

Studio albums

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions
		US Country [4]	US [5]	US Indie [6]
This Is Indian Land	Release date: June 21, 2011 Label: Underground Sound	13	68	11
Adventūs	Release date: November 13, 2012 Label: Underground Sound	19	133	16
HippieLovePunk	Release date: January 13, 2015 Label: Underground Sound	9	136	9

Music videos

Year	Video	Director
2011	"Staring Down the Sun"[7]	Tony Gates
2012	"Worth the Fight"[8]
2013	"Prayer for the Lonely"[9]
2015	"Inbetweener"[10]
2016	"All Nighter"[11][12]

References

1. Brandy McDonnell (September 16, 2013). "Cody Canada announces The Departed lineup changes, new solo acoustic live album due this fall". NewsOK.
2. Jim Casey (July 21, 2014). "5 Minutes in Texas With Cody Canada". Rolling Stone.
3. Matt Bjorke (January 21, 2015). "Country Album Chart Report For January 21, 2015". Roughstock.
4. "Cody Canada Album & Song Chart History – Country Albums". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved July 31, 2012.
5. "Cody Canada Album & Song Chart History – Billboard 200". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved July 31, 2012.
6. "Cody Canada Album & Song Chart History – Independent Albums". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved July 31, 2012.
7. "CMT : Videos : Cody Canada and The Departed : Staring Down the Sun". Country Music Television. Retrieved July 31, 2012.
8. "CMT : Videos : The Departed : Worth the Fight". Country Music Television. Retrieved November 10, 2012.
9. "CMT : Videos : Cody Canada & The Departed : Prayer for the Lonely". Country Music Television. Retrieved May 8, 2013.
10. "Cody Canada & the Departed Return to Roots for 'Inbetweener' Video [Exclusive Premiere]". Taste of Country. Retrieved Feb 3, 2015.
11. "The Texas Music Scene Debuts Cody Canada and the Departed's "All Nighter"". The Texas Music Scene. Retrieved Feb 5, 2016.
12. Solomon, Dan. "Exclusive Video Premiere: Condy Canada and The Departed Pay Tribute To A Friend In "All Nighter"". Texas Monhly. Retrieved February 4, 2016.