ABOUT GRAHAM BROWN
CANADIAN Singer/Songwriter/Guitarist
Graham Brown’s 14th album, *Outside Within*, is a killer vibe—12 tracks of raw, electric rock that hit like a late-night road trip with the windows down. The Vancouver guitar slinger teams up with his longtime band—Rob Blackburn on guitar/keys, John Werner on bass, Mark Gruft on drums—and lays it all down live in one blazing afternoon at Hipposonic Studios. After the introspective acoustic detour of 2023’s *Solo*, Brown’s back with his amp cranked, serving up songs that balance heart and edge with a nod to Tom Petty and Neil Young.
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Standouts like “Courage Comes,” a taut rocker inspired by Terry Fox’s grit, show Brown’s knack for writing tunes that stick with you. Penned the morning of the session and nailed in two takes, it’s got a fiery solo that’ll make you nod in approval. Tracks like the gritty “Graveyard Trees” and the pedal steel-laced “Tell The World” keep things real, exploring what it means to stay true to yourself without getting lost in the rearview. Brown’s voice and unconventional chords carry the weight of a guy who’s lived these stories.
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Since his ‘80s cow-punk days with Jr. Gone Wild, Brown’s played legendary spots like The Cavern Club and The Roxy, and *Outside Within* proves he’s still got that spark. With 400 songs under his belt, he’s all about keeping it honest. “I’m still sharpening my craft,” he says, and you hear it in the band’s tight, live-wire energy. This album’s a bold return for the Graham Brown Band, ready to light up stages worldwide. *Outside Within* is the real deal—plug in and let it roll.
ARTICLES
GRAHAM BROWN BAND
Get ready for a night of pedal steel heavy country-smoked cow-punk!
Graham Brown doesn’t do labels. His style is a mix of rock-n-roll, country, roots, and everything in between. Graham began his professional career over 30 years ago as a band member of Jr. Gone Wild and has since honed his craft, marked by hundreds of songs and thousands of miles.
Graham is a songwriter first. As he puts it, “I create songs because it’s in my DNA – it’s a release – an understanding of the world around me.”
Vancouver-based Brown and his band makes, guitarist/keyboardist Rob Blackburn, Bassist John Werner, and drummer Mark Gruft are keeping their remarkably consistent winning streak intact with their latest effort ‘Spirit And Soul’, 11 nre original songs that once gain carry on the high energy, melodic, no-frills spirit of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and Uncle Tupelo.
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GRAHAM BROWN BAND - HAUNTED
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I’m told Graham Brown is that most rare of species – a bona fide roots-rock guitar hero. Since he was first heard in 1984 playing with Canada’s alt-country pioneers Jr. Gone Wild, Brown’s rich and graceful style has evolved alongside his songwriting. Still, he remains under the radar for much of the Canadian listening audience. This new album, given the current appetite for Canadiana, could change all that.
The latest phase of that evolution can be heard on Spirit And Soul, available now on all digital platforms, Bandcamp and from grahambrownsongs.com. The video for the first single, "Haunted," premieres today at Americana UK.
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Vancouver-based Brown and his bandmates, guitarist/keyboardist Rob Blackburn, bassist John Werner, and drummer Mark Gruft are keeping their remarkably consistent winning streak intact with Spirit And Soul, 11 new original songs that once again carry on the high energy, melodic, the no-frills spirit of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and Uncle Tupelo.
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Ironically, Spirit And Soul captures the Graham Brown Band in top live form just before pandemic lockdown restrictions were implemented in March 2020. The album was cut in a single day at Edmontone Studios in Edmonton, Alberta before the band’s gig in town that night, although any “live-off-the-floor” raggedness is nearly impossible to detect. That wouldn’t have been a bad thing, given the context of the album but the band is so tight there are no cracks for things to fall through.
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They have been proving that for at least the last decade since the release of the 2011 album Hiwatt, playing hundreds of shows around the world, including such hallowed venues as The Cavern Club in Liverpool, The Marquee in London, and both The Roxy and The Troubadour in Los Angeles. As the band patiently awaits the opportunity to get back on the road, the time off has reinforced a lot of the messages contained on Spirit And Soul in terms of finding resilience through love.
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Songs such as “Don’t Be Afraid,” “Through Your Darkness” and “To The End,” each offer a message of hope that Brown did not foresee being so essential over a year after writing them. That's also true of "Naturally," written in tribute to Tom Petty on the day he died.
“I guess a lot of these songs are about a search for truth,” he says. “It may be dark and inconvenient at times, but it’s all part of learning from the past without becoming stuck there. We all have to keep moving forward.” With Spirit And Soul, the Graham Brown Band is doing precisely that, on the strength of their finest collection of songs to date.
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