| Band Members | ||
| Justin Furstenfeld | – | lead vocals, guitar |
| Ryan Delahoussaye | – | violin/viola, mandolin, piano, backing vocals |
| Jeremy Furstenfeld | – | drums, percussion |
| C.B. Hudson | – | lead guitar, backing vocals |
| Matt Noveskey | – | bass guitar, backing vocals |
Early Years
Blue October was formed by lead singer/songwriter/guitarist Justin Furstenfeld, his brother Jeremy, and multi-instrumentalist Ryan Delahoussaye. The band was discovered by former Kid Rock manager Michael Rand performing at the Atchafalaya River Cafe. His agency proceeded to book over 350 dates on the group unsigned. Extensive publicity and artist development was regimented. This work eventually led to Michael bringing the band to Universal Music Group CEO Doug Morris under the direction of long time A&R rep Reen Nalli.They were later joined by former guitarist/vocalist C.B. Hudson and bassist Matt Noveskey.
Members
Blue October’s founding members are Justin Furstenfeld and Ryan Delahoussaye, who met in high school. Prior to forming the full band, the duo played together under the name “Harvest” with Justin singing and playing guitar and Ryan playing mandolin and violin and singing backup. Ryan was working at a restaurant in Houston at the time, and invited restaurant patron Liz Mullally to join on bass. Justin’s older brother Jeremy was watching the group practice at Liz’s house one day. Liz had a drum kit and Justin persuaded Jeremy to join in on drums, even though he had never played before.
The band played their first show just a few weeks after Jeremy joined. Jeremy lived in San Marcos, and the other members moved to join him there in 1997. Liz left the band in 1999 and was replaced by Matt Noveskey. The band wanted to add a second guitar player to allow Justin to focus more on singing during shows, and auditioned guitar players in 1999. Brant Coulter was chosen as the new lead guitarist, however he was fired during the Consent to Treatment tour in the summer of 2000. C.B. Hudson joined on lead guitar in late 2000 after a chance meeting with Justin at a restaurant in San Marcos.
At the end of the Consent to Treatment tour in 2002, Matt Noveskey left the band due to health reasons and was replaced by Dwayne Casey. Dwayne and Matt both played on the band’s next album, and Dwayne toured with the band in 2003. In August 2003 Dwayne was replaced by Piper Skih, who is married to one Blue October’s co-managers and is also an established professional bassist. Piper toured with the band through 2004 and appeared on the live album/DVD Argue With a Tree…
During preparations for recording the band’s next album Foiled, Piper left the band, and Matt Noveskey was called back in as the official bassist, thereby returning the band to their most recognizable lineup. This lineup recorded and toured the next two Blue October albums. At the end of the Approaching Normal tour, C.B. Hudson announced he was leaving the band to focus on raising a family and pursuing his dream of owning a recording studio. C.B. was replaced by former Canvas guitarist Julian Mandrake who had previously been a touring guitarist for Blue October in 2006, covering Justin’s guitar parts while Justin was recovering from a broken leg. Julian played with Blue October on their acoustic tour and also on the Any Man in America tour but was never a formal band member.
During the recording sessions for Sway in early 2013, C.B. Hudson was asked to come back and play on the album and to play a few shows over the summer of 2013, once again returning Blue October to their previous lineup.