ABOUT THE MUSIC

A decade in the making, the new Drive to the Ocean LP, Go to Pieces, will be performed for guests at the band’s album release show on November 14^th, 2026, at the Rigby in downtown Madison. Drive to the Ocean started in 2009 after several members of the Madison Area Music Award-winning group 8889 went their separate ways. Two band members, Ross Benbow and Casey Collins, started writing and recording original material soon thereafter for a new rock and soul album. Released in 2015, Drive to the Ocean’s self-titled debut LP garnered media praise, a MAMA nomination, and no small amount of joy from local fans who warmed to the group’s songwriting chops, soaring harmonies, and musical DNA, including performers like Blur, Hall & Oates, and Vampire Weekend. Benbow and Collins began work on a follow-up album in 2016 with former 8889 bass player Mark Henkelmann and drummer Jamison Stokdyk. With help from MAMA saxophonist of the year Nick Bartell, vocalists Sidney Straley and Robert DeBroux, and flutist Richard Patterson, the group has now returned—three elections, one child, and one pandemic later–with nine new, carefully crafted melodic Brit-Pop songs. The album will be available on Spotify, Apple Music, and other major streaming services this fall. LP fans can purchase a vinyl copy of the record at Bandcamp. drivetotheocean.com.