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In the 1990's grunge hit the rock world at mach 5 speed. Seattle was thrust into the limelight thanks to bands like Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden - ALL the darlings of the local and national hipster music scene. In response to this arose a local club band, Inflatable Soule, that defied this sound and became intent on being the alternative to Seattle's alternative sound. Though often linked to Soundgarden's Chris Cornell due to three of Chris' family members being musical forces in the band and due to sharing the same management company, Inflatable Soule became known for its gifted musicianship and solid west coast fan base. Forged from equal parts of folk, jazz, rock and with, yes, some flannel thrown in, an extensive live touring calendar and soaring guitar solos over long outro jams cemented the band's reputation as group that was closer in kinship to the hippie-jam bands than to grunge. Though Inflatable Soule sold an amazing amount of records for an indy club band and did the requisite dog and pony A&R showcases with Columbia records and others, and played a ton of gigs with bands that included the Cranberries, Train, Counting Crows, Cake, among numerous others, the band ultimately imploded from the desire of the band members each wanting to stretch out into new directions. Some members signed to major labels like Epic and Universal while others kept focused on breaking new ground while staying close to Seattle as they were raising young families and a couple decided to travel the world. As for the primary lineup from the recording period of So Sad and Goldenboy: Peter is now found playing with his band Black Market Radio in the NYC area, Joel is playing regularly in his singer/songwriter project in Seattle, Katy has a band called Going South, Suzy recently finished working with famed producer Jack Endino, Dave is a well respected music journalist and session player in NYC, Bert has a band called Deboinair that is based in Seattle.
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