Early years, Rubberneck, and commercial breakthrough (1989–1996) Toadies began in 1989 in
Fort Worth, Texas. They recorded a few cassette self-releases and an
EP titled
Pleather before signing to
Interscope Records. Their first full-length
album,
Rubberneck, was released in the summer of 1994. Featuring a sound described as "distinctly grunge" and "distinctly Texan", until "Possum Kingdom" became a successful single in late 1995, reaching number nine on the
Mainstream Rock Chart. Toadies toured extensively throughout the 1990s supporting
Rubberneck, opening for artists such as
Red Hot Chili Peppers,
White Zombie,
Bush, and
The Butthole Surfers. The band also headlined and co-headlined tours with acts such as
Supersuckers, and
The Reverend Horton Heat. Toadies were a regular act at the festivals Edgefest in
Dallas, and
Buzzfest in
Houston during these years.
Feeler sessions, Hell Below/Stars Above, and breakup (1997–2002) The band entered the studio in 1997 to record new tracks for a second album,
Feeler.
Interscope Records did not approve the finished product, and rejected its 1998 release. In 2000, they went back to the studio, salvaged some of the songs from the
Feeler sessions, and released their second full-length album
Hell Below/Stars Above in the spring of 2001. The band toured in the spring and summer of 2001 in support of the new album, until bassist Lisa Umbarger unexpectedly resigned from the band on July 14, 2001. Umbarger told the Dallas Observer that she resigned after realizing that Interscope Records was not going to promote the band. In March 2007, they embarked on a mini-tour, playing dates in
Austin,
Houston, and
Dallas. The final show of the mini-tour was recorded and released as the
live album Rock Show. The band released its third
studio album,
No Deliverance, on August 19, 2008, via
Kirtland Records. The
lead single for the
album was the title track. Toadies performed at Lollapalooza on August 2, 2008,
Wildflower! Arts and Music Festival on May 16, 2009, and May 18, 2013, and Austin City Limits Music Festival on October 4, 2009. In addition, on August 31, 2008, the Toadies headlined the inaugural
Dia De Los Toadies, an annual Texas music festival organized by and featuring the band. In June 2010 it was announced that
Feeler, the follow-up album to
Rubberneck that was shelved by
Interscope, would finally be seeing a release. Vaden Todd Lewis was quoted as saying: "Since there are unfinished versions floating around on the Internet, it is important to us that people hear it as we meant it to be." The band was unable to obtain the original 1997
Feeler masters from Interscope, and re-recorded the album in 2010. , during the Rubberneck 20th Anniversary Tour.
Rubberneck 20th anniversary celebration, Heretics and The Lower Side of Uptown (2014–2021) On January 7, 2014, the Toadies announced via its
Facebook page that its
Rubberneck album would be reissued by Kirtland Records with five previously unreleased bonus tracks. The announcement also revealed plans for a nationwide
Rubberneck 20-year anniversary tour, featuring the Toadies playing the entire
Rubberneck album "front to back", with supporting acts Supersuckers and
Battleme. The tour ended in September 2014 with a final
Rubberneck start to finish performance, followed by performances of the band's more recent songs, at the seventh annual Dia De Los Toadies festival in Fort Worth. In January 2015,
Everclear announced its fourth annual multi-city Summerland Tour via Twitter. The 2015 Summerland Tour featured Everclear and Toadies, as well as alternative rock bands
American Hi-Fi and
Fuel. The album "re-imagines and reinterprets" several Toadies songs such as "Possum Kingdom" and "Backslider," and featured two new songs and a cover of
Blondie's 1979 single
"Heart of Glass". The Toadies released its ninth album,
The Lower Side of Uptown on September 8, 2017, via
Kirtland Records. On September 6, 2017, band members kicked off their fall tour with
Local H in Denton, Texas.
Damn You All to Hell EP, Rubberneck 25th anniversary tour and The Charmer (2022–present) Toadies released the EP
Damn You All to Hell on September 13, 2022, as they began touring North America to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the album
Rubberneck. The EP is four previously unreleased tracks, including a cover of
David Bowie's "Sound and Vision". Three of the songs were recorded during sessions for the band's latest studio album
The Lower Side of Uptown, while "Forgiven" was recorded during the
No Deliverance sessions. On January 8, 2024, Toadies announced that their eighth studio album
The Charmer, which was recorded with
Steve Albini at
Electrical Audio in Chicago, was scheduled to be released later in the year. However, following Albini's death in May of that year, the album was delayed multiple times before its release on May 1, 2026. ==Band members==