Sweet Water

A Seattle, WA based band that got rolling just as that city's musical revolution of the early 1990s was taking hold — their first show happened to be with a band (also making its first live appearance) named Mookie Blaylock, who would go on to find a bit of success as Pearl Jam — Sweet Water managed to ply their trade through the waning years of the alt rock movement before being felled by the dreaded "hiatus" in 1999. Originally known as S.G.M., Sweet Water rode the wave of interest in the Pacific Northwest's musical offerings, and landed a major-label deal with Atlantic in 1992. The self-titled offering (not their first, however. The band put forth an independent release called Ter in 1990.) was a moderate success, but nowhere near that of other acts from the scene, i.e., Mudhoney, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Nirvana, etc., Sweet Water maintained a solid profile, touring and performing with Alice in Chains and Candlebox, in addition to landing a deal with Elektra's East West label, which would put out the bands' third offering, Superfriends, in 1995. As the decade drew to a close, however, the alt rock momentum had been killed off by the rise of boy bands and vapid dance-pop, and Sweet Water called it a (sort of) day after 1999's Suicide. Dormant for six-plus years, the group reformed in 2007, playing shows and working on material for a new album. In 2009, members Adam Czeisler (vocals), Rich Credo (guitar), Cole Peterson (bass), and Paul Uhlir (drums) were back in the game, with a new album — Clear the Tarmac — and a busy schedule of gigs on the agenda, including that year's South by Southwest Festival in Austin, TX.