A Look At: Dashboard Confessional*

[HelloAngel]

By Brenda Clemons
2005.11


Dashboard Confessional has been busy lately following the success of its latest album, 2003's "A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar," touring, doing benefits for hurricane relief and recording a new album. Still the band made time to open for U2 during the September start of the third leg of the Vertigo Tour.

But Florida-based Dashboard Confessional might never have existed if lead singer, guitarist and songwriter Chris Carrabba had followed his first dream of becoming a professional skateboarder. Luckily, his uncle gave him a guitar and his musical talent flourished.

Carrabba taught himself to play guitar in high school and played in a number of punk bands such as Vacant Andies after graduation. Looking for a change, he decided to go solo. It was during this time that Carrabba experimented with acoustic guitar and discovered the mellow sound that critics and fans rave about, and when the band’s other three members joined up—Scott Shoenbeck (bass), John Lefler (guitar) and Mike Marsh (drums). The Dashboard name came from a line in a song that Carrabba had written and performed acoustically, "Sharp Hint of Tears" ("On the way home, this car hears my confessions").

The band's first album, "The Swiss Army Romance," was released in 2000 to rave reviews but it was 2003’s "A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar" and an appearance on the soundtrack to "Spiderman 2" that launched the band into the big time. Dashboard Confessional was the first band not to have gone platinum to be given an unplugged performance on MTV and the band has since won an MTV VMA and made the cover of Spin magazine.



The band is currently in the studio working with U2 producer Daniel Lanois on an album due to be released next year. Like U2, Dashboard Confessional has a reputation for being honest with its music. Both fans and critics alike describe Carrabba as a master storyteller who wears his heart on his sleeve with lyrics that leave you feeling like you know something intimate about him. His collaboration with Lanois may just be the album that takes Dashboard Confessional truly over the top.

For more information on Dashboard Confessional, visit the band's official website.