THE SWOON came out of Cottonwood, MN (pop. 850) in the late 1980s, a teenage garage band intent on making powerful music and shaking up the Contemporary Christian Music Scene. The original four members, Austin Dacey, Emmett Dacey, Jeana Nanette Gillispie, and Daniel Thomas Lancaster ranged from 11-15 years of age when they picked up instruments. Emmett was taking drum lessons anyway, why not start a band?

They called themselves by the unfortunate moniker Restricted Access, and for several years, they played various venues in Cottonwood including the Lancaster basement, a local garage, and an unfinished wing of the Gillispie house. They emerged in 1987 with a furious sound that began sweeping various battle-of-the-bands competitions. They landed shows at large summer festivals such as Minnesota’s SONSHINE FESTIVAL and the Illinois CORNERSTONE FESTIVAL where they caught national attention.

In 1988, they took the name THE SWOON, a name they lifted from a book of poetry by band-members’ mom Florence Dacey. Laden with a bag full of songs, they hit the college scene. A fifth Cottonwood member of THE SWOON, Troy Baartman, joined on bass guitar in 1989, leveling out the sound and tightening up the rhythm section, shortly before the band relocated to Minneapolis. That same year, THE SWOON released an eponymous album under Narrowpath Records. Jeana left the band in 1990. The remaining quartet continued to write songs, playing the college scene and Minneapolis club scene until disbanding in the summer of 1991. Before separating, THE SWOON recorded a final swansong album titled Spectacular Illusions which has never been officially released.

In 2021, Lo-Fidelity Records hopes to re-release the original SWOON album in addition to Spectacular Illusions and a bootleg live-show under the title Glory Lights.

THE SWOON was and ever will be

• Troy Baartman: Bass Guitar
• Austin Dacey: Guitar and Music
• Emmett Dacey: Drums
• Jeana Nanette Gillispie (White): Keyboards
• Daniel Thomas Lancaster: Words

Contact THESWOON.BAND below.