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72Hours began as a last-minute replacement to fill a time slot at a show. Forming just three days before the show, and not expecting to last much longer than that, longtime friends Ben Blobaum, Joe Gunia, Tom Sheehy, and Joseph Luat formed in October of 1999 as 72Hours.
The guys stuck together, playing whatever venues they could. After amassing a small repertoire of songs, they released a demo tape and later a self-produced, self-titled CD, featuring classics hits such as "Peak" and "Won't Settle For Less."
Several bassists played with the group but by the middle of the decade the band was rotating bass duties between the four original members, or omitting it altogether. In late 2004 Dave Putziger joined the group, rounding out the lineup that would see the band explode onto the local music scene.
The band spent the Spring of 2005 in the studio, recording the album "It's About Time." After its release that summer, they hit the local scene hard- moving from hole-in-the-wall dive bars to Chicago mainstays like the Elbo Room, Fireside Bowl, Double Door, and Cubby Bear. The singles "Ragnar Roc" and "I Know, I Know" were featured on local rock radio stations Q101 and 94.7 The Zone.
In late 2007 the boys started working on their next studio album at Chicago's legendary Paragon Recording Studio. During this time, they joined with other local acts to form the Chicago Noise Machine, a coalition of local bands, artists, and filmmakers dedicated to developing local talent and to put the local Chicago scene back in the spotlight. They were featured on Chris Payne's "Local 101" radio segment, played to a sold-out Cubby Bear CNM showcase in 2008, and headlined the I AM Fest at the Congress Theater in front of thousands of people in 2009. The band was also featured in a nationally-televised promotional campaign for the FX Network show "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia," featuring several clips of the band covering the song "Dayman" and the voiceover at the end of the commercial, "You don't say stage freeze, just do it!"
In October of 2009, 72Hours performed at a bittersweet show at the Cubby Bear: it was their 10 year anniversary, the release of their album, "Era," and the last show they would play with drummer Ben Blobaum, who had announced his resignation from the band. Playing to a near-capacity crowd at the Cubby Bear, the boys played songs off the new album as well as revisiting some old favorites. True to form, you could see how well the band played off each other, how much chemistry they shared, and how much fun they were having on stage. Pardon the cliche, but this truly is a band of brothers.
With the loss of Ben, it is surely the end of an era for 72Hours- but also the beginning of a new one. The band continues to write and record on their own, and will be playing shows even as they continue their search for a permanent drummer.
View 72Hours's EPK
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