Stir

Stir
Stir (original lineup)
Background information
Origin	Saint Louis, Missouri
Genres	Alternative rock
Years active	1994–2005, 2016 - Present
Labels	Capitol
Members	Andy Schmidt Kevin Gagnepain Brad Booker
Notable instruments
Gibson Les Paul Custom Shop Silver Sparkle

Stir is a St. Louis, Missouri musical group.

Stir was founded in 1994 as a three piece band at the University of Missouri, and consisted of lead vocalist and guitarist Andy Schmidt, bassist Kevin Gagnepain, and drummer Brad Booker. Schmidt, Gagnepain and Booker had been in another band previous to Stir named "The Choice" and decided to form the band when that band's lead singer, Rick Smith, decided to no longer pursue a career in music.

The band released a self-produced, independent LP titled "Until Now" in 1995 under its own label, Stir Music. Later that year, the band played at the South by Southwest festival. The band signed with the indie label Aware Records following the performance, subsequently releasing their eponymous debut album, "Stir" in 1996. This record included much of the material from the independent release. Later signed up by major label Capitol Records, the self-titled "Stir" was re-released to wider distribution.

Under the Capitol imprint they also released their second record "Holy Dogs" in 2000 and were praised by radio program directors as the "new golden boys."

The band found some radio success in the alternative rock genre. The highest charting single was "Looking For", from the eponymous debut, which peaked at number 8 in 1997 on the Billboard mainstream rock chart. However, the follow-up single, "One Angel" was said to be their breakthrough song, but failed to significantly chart during its release. The two singles from Holy Dogs, "New Beginning" and "Climbing The Walls", also saw some success on the Billboard charts in 2000, but were ill-supported by Capitol. While on tour with Train, five songs from the band's set, including "Superstation", were broadcast live on the Westwood One radio network. During this time the band also made two appearances on the nationally syndicated radio show, Rockline, on May 12, 1997 and March 13, 2000. During support of Holy Dogs they made an appearance on then-popular VH1 show The List, performing "New Beginning" as well as a cover of the Nirvana single "In Bloom" live in the studio. Rumors and talks of a late night TV performance never blossomed, although the band has stated they were close to appearing on the Late Show with David Letterman.