Weenie Roast 2010 Artist Spotlight: Sublime With Rome

If their surprise set at the 2009 Almost Acoustic Christmas wasn’t enough, the guys in Sublime With Rome will be taking the stage this year at Weenie Roast! Sublime, with newly-added Rome Ramirez on vocals and guitar, just finished their first U.S. tour with The Dirty Heads.

Find out Sublime With Rome’s story after the jump!

Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh are childhood friends who grew up in the same Long Beach neighborhood. They originally created a band with Michael Happoldt (who would later manage Sublime) called The Juice Bros. Bradley Nowell then joined the band, having recently dropped out of UC Santa Cruz. Sublime’s first gig was July 4th, 1989, and they went on to playing small clubs and venues for the next few years.

In 1992, as their fan base grew, the band released their first album, 40 Oz. To Freedom, which became widely known after we here at KROQ began playing “Date Rape.” The album was initially only available at live shows. In June 1994 the band signed to Gasoline Alley of MCA Records and put out their second album, Robbin’ The Hood, later that summer. The toured heavily during 1994 and 1995 promoting their albums, even co-headlining the first Warped Tour and making a stop at Weenie Roast in 1995.

In the beginning of 1996, the band headlined the SnoCore Tour and recorded material for their third, self-titled studio album. On May 25, 1996, Nowell died of a heroin overdose in San Francisco, two months before the release of their major label debut. That album would eventually reach platinum status (five times) with hits like “What I Got,” “Santeria,” Wrong Way” and more. After the death of Nowell, the band decided to split up saying they had no interest in continuing on with the Sublime name.

A number of albums have since been released, including Second-Hand Smoke (1997), Stand By Your Van (1998) and Sublime Acoustic: Bradley Nowell & Friends (1998). A Greatest Hits album came out in 1999, and a box-set of rarities and demos called Everything Under The Sun was released in 2006. Wilson and Gaugh had gone on to create the Long Beach Dub Allstars in 1997 and continued to make music until the band broke up in 2002.

Things were stagnant in the Sublime community until 2009, when Gaugh and Wilson performed a show in Nevada under the name Sublime, with a 20 year-old Ramirez handling vocals. The newly assembled lineup announced they would play at the Smokeout Festival, but went under scrutiny for performing under the name Sublime. Nowell had trademarked the name, so his family sought out to protect his wishes. The band and Nowell’s family eventually settled on the name Sublime With Rome.

The band surprised everyone with a secret performance at last year’s Almost Acoustic Christmas, and have made a stop by the KROQ studio to perform some of their tracks. Check them out below. They also just finished up their first U.S. tour with The Dirty Heads.

“Date Rape”

“What I Got”

Check out pictures from ACX!

KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas 2009 –…

Don’t miss Sublime With Rome at Weenie Roast!