About Bag of Toys

Bag of Toys is... Robert Tait - Vocals, rhythm guitar Steve Cowgill - Lead guitar Brandon Hawks - Bass Greg Phillips - Drums Fresh from San Francisco, Bag of Toys is a four piece acoustic surf-rock band now based in Wilmington, NC. The band has released three albums and has sold thousands of CDs across the globe. Original music by Bag of Toys has been licensed for use on a national Microsoft commercial, an episode of "Bones" on the Fox network, two Universal Pictures movies as well as numerous surfing DVDs. They've also had the distinction to share the stage with bands like Fishbone, Pato Banton & Sean Kingston (to name a few). The foundation was laid in San Francisco in late 2004 when lead vocalist Robert Tait and lead guitarist Steve Cowgill met through the musicans section of craigslist.com. After a single jam session and several beers at Tait's apartment, the two decided to start a band and eventually found the perfect fit with Joe Schewe holding a bass and Robert Stadler behind a drum set. The foursome spent the summer of 2005 in Tait's apartment molding his early creations into the addictive sound that has become known as Bag of Toys. In 2006, the group released their full-length debut album, "Nooner" and quickly propelled to the top of the rankings for unsigned acoustic artists on myspace.com. Mastered by Dave Collins (Jack Johnson, No Doubt, Ben Harper), the CD has since sold thousands of copies worldwide and the band has since surpassed 1 million song plays on myspace. In 2007, "Share", one of the band's original songs from "Nooner", was prominently featured on both a national television commercial for the Microsoft Zune media player and San Francisco's KFOG Local Scene (Vol. 4) radio station compilation.Ê "Share" was later used in an episode of "Bones" on the Fox network, "Surf Song" was featured in the motion picture "Beethoven's Big Break" and numerous songs by the band were licensed for use in the film "Parfection: The Golf Movie". Bag of Toys released their second full-length album in July of 2008.Ê Entitled "Afternooner," the album was recorded at Gadgetbox Studios in Santa Cruz and produced by Andy Zenczak. Mastered by John Cuniberti (Dave Matthews, The Grateful Dead, Aerosmith), "Afternooner" features 13 contagious tracks which not only have the signature sound that made their debut album popular, but also incorporates some new elements such as funk, country, and Latin rhythms. "Afternooner" was well received by both fans and critics alike and continues to sell thousands of copies worldwide. 2010 brought some big changes to the band as Stadler and Schewe left to pursue other interests while Tait and Cowgill relocated to Wilmington, NC. In May of 2010 Tait and Cowgill released a third album called "Stripped Alive" which captured the duo blasting through 12 of the band's biggest hits, recorded completely live in the studio. The two immediately started looking for a new rhythm section and found Brandon Hawks on bass and Greg Phillips on drums to once again bring the Bag back up to full power. Bag of Toys is currently playing shows throughout the southeastern US and is working on material for a fourth studio album that is sure to captivate current fans and new listeners alike.