Thanks for visiting my web site (grahambrownsongs.com).
Here's a brief history about my music and where it all
started. Looking for even more detail? Then please
see my extended version bio
for the full scoop!
Latest News…
My freshly pressed CD is called Graham Brown &
The Prairie Dogs "Do What You Should".
As usual a lot of these songs
were written while on the road in support of the
"Stand Tour Ground" release.
As for the title, I don't usually like to name my
albums after a song on the CD but like to sum them up
with a phrase that covers the feelings of the
songs. To me, "Do What You Should" does
cover the feeling and vibe of the recording. The
title can be taken in many ways and that's just the way
I like it. Whatever it is you love to do, do it.
"Do what you should" so to speak.
I did make an effort not to wank out on the guitar
too much this time around but really wanted the songs to
breathe their own sentiment. I started with 16
songs and ended up with 11. Not to say the others
sucked. But sometimes when recording you just
don't capture the proper feel or textures of the song,
and to release it that way would be an injustice to the
song.
So Turn On - turn Up & Tune In.
Wrong turn #1…
I was born in Glasgow, Scotland and moved to Canada
as a child, with my parents and older brother and
sister. We landed in Winnipeg and moved to Toronto
shortly after. Although I was still too young to
be in school, I have very strong memories of the old
house we lived in and the trees that lined our
street. From Toronto we moved back to Winnipeg for
a brief period and then headed west. As fate would
have it, we missed our highway turn-off for Calgary and
ended up in Edmonton. (Maybe Dad was still confused
about driving on the "wrong" side of the
road????) It was obviously meant to be, and we
only moved once more in my childhood - to a town about 5
miles north of Edmonton called St. Albert.
First Goes…
My first bands were in high school ("Stone"
in grade 7, "Triton" in grade 8). We
played covers and also did some songs I was writing at
the time. Strangely enough, I can still remember a
few. As always, I was playing a lot of sports
(hockey, soccer, baseball) and chasing girls, so I
wasn't taking the music thing seriously…until 1984.
On My Way…
By 1984 I was a founding member of Edmonton-based Jr.
Gone Wild, playing with them for a year.
I moved to Vancouver in 1985 and put together the
band Brilliant Orange. Our first release,
an EP on Zulu Records, became a national hit on college
and university radio stations.
In 1987, Brilliant Orange released a full
length CD on BMG Records. (only released by BMG's
U.S.A. label)
By 1992 my new band was Greenhouse, and we
released a six song cassette.
In 1993 our band was renamed Happyman.
We released the first of three full length CDs on Stomp
Records. Our first release, "Born
to Entertain", was met with good
reviews and an emerging fan base.
In 1996 Happyman's second CD, "Sunburst"
was also released to strong reviews.
It has gone on to sell well in Europe through our
American distributor.
Here I am…
In 1998 I released my first solo CD: Graham Brown
- "Brand New Smile".
My solo work has given me a new found freedom and I was
pleased "Brand New
Smile" was met with such positive
reviews.
In 1999 I got back together with Happyman and
we released our third CD, "Just
Like You". It was our toughest sounding
recording to date and was also met with good
reviews.
In 2001 I released my second solo
CD: Graham Brown - "Good
'n Broke" (July 2001 - Stomp Records). The
reviews were absolutely astounding and brought me a
whole new fan base in Europe and the US.
In 2005 I released my third solo CD
entitled Graham Brown - "Stand
Your Ground" .
It's now 2008 and I've just released my fourth solo CD
"Do What You Should".
But this time I'm giving the guys in my band (The
Prairie Dogs) full billing because they deserve
it. All of their hard work through the years is
only part of what they do. Mark Gruft (drums) and
Dave Bridges (bass/vocals) are both fine musicians, good
friends and superb human beings.
This is my 9th full length release to date and my 7th
for Stomp Records. I have just agreed to a
distribution deal with Bongo Beat Records. What
this means is that this new CD will be much easier to
find in record stores. The distributors (by
country) are: Pinnacle in the UK, Burnside in the
USA, and Outside for Canada. Hopefully this will
make radio play somewhat easier to achieve. I
guess we'll see soon enough.
Lots of people have asked for more photos, so I
promise to take more photos this year when we're on the
road. It's no problem for me to get up on
stage and play for an audience - in fact, it seems kinda
natural to me. But, for some reason, I really
don't like getting my picture taken. It just
doesn't feel comfortable. But hey, if you are out
in the audience some night and take some great shots,
please send them through. We might even put them
on this website!
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