Has Augustana broken up? According to Red Bull the band has. In a recent interview with the entertainment hub lead singer and chief song writer Dan Layus put the future of the band highly in doubt. Layus didn’t come out and say that he wouldn’t trudge on with the Augustana moniker despite two original members of the band leaving but he definitely sounded like he was closing the book on the band. “Basically the two original members with me as well, Justin [South] and Jared [Palomar], have parted ways “It’s a sad thing, but it’s been an amicable split and it’s just kinda tough,” Layus revealed to Red Bull. “It’s hard to keep a band together. We had a good run and it was a blast while we could do it, but everybody is good. Everybody is friends. It’s just tough to sustain a business like that.” After a strong build-up in the earlier part of the last decade with an independent album and then the Mayfield EP, Augustana signed with Epic Records. The pairing fit extremely well for the band on their first Epic release in 2005 “All the Stars and Boulevards.” The album produced several great tracks that were hits on Alternative Addiction and other online sites like “Stars and Boulevards” and “Bullets.” The breakout single off of that album and a song that led to Augustana’s six year run was “Boston.” The song did well across several formats and led to the group getting key support slots on the road for the Goo Goo Dolls and several other known bands. After that, Augustana kept releasing superb music with “Can’t Love, Can’t Hurt” and their self-titled release in April of this year. But despite making great music and having strong sales by today’s standards another single never really took off for the band like “Boston.” In a singles-driven market that can make things even tougher than they already are with a poor economy, high travel prices, and the numerous other challenges that bands on Augustana’s level and below have to deal with these days. While the band did play some shows in September they have been relatively inactive on their official website with no activity since the cancelation announcement of their involvement in the Jack’s Mannequin tour all the way back in July. As it turns out, the September shows were set contractually and had to be done by the band before they could move on. “The timing is never right when you’re talking about ending a working relationship with somebody you’ve been working with for ten years. But like I said, there is no love lost and everybody’s happy to move on,” Layus said. As for Layus calling it quits with the moniker or just starting something fresh he was understandably vague on his thoughts and plans. “It’s tough to tell the future of Augustana at this point,” he continued. “I don’t think I’m looking for any permanent members or anything. We’re just sorta assessing where to go with the band. It’s not a new story. It’s tough to keep bands together for really long periods of time. I have to say all of us are really proud of how far we were able to take it — especially because we had our backs up against the wall from day one. It’s been a long fight to even stay alive this long, but we’re really proud of what we were able to accomplish and I don’t really know what the future holds for Augustana at this point.”