Jr. Gone Wild and the road to records...

Last week, we tracked my early days from Scotland to St. Albert, where music first took root. Now, let’s dig into the teenage years that launched my career. My time in St. Albert laid the groundwork, but the real ride started in 1984 when I formed my first professional band, Jr. Gone Wild, with Kim Upright (drums), Mark Brostrom (bass), and Mike McDonald (guitar/vocals). We jammed in the house Mark and I shared in Edmonton—a party spot we called the Sheridan Club. Those sessions had a raw energy, and Mike’s band name stuck. Our first gig hit hard in the basement nightclub Scandals at The Sheraton Hotel in downtown Edmonton, opening for Moe Berg’s Ramage & The Belts. We tore it up, and the next day, the Edmonton Sun ran a half-page photo of Mike and me with the caption, “Jr. Gone Wild – Mike McDonald and Graham Brown make a powerful one-two punch.” We were on our way.

Over the next year, we played nonstop—opening for Rank and File and headlining at the University of Alberta’s Dinwoodie Lounge. We pushed to Vancouver to record and play shows, though my van got stolen after a gig at The Railway Club. That didn’t slow me down—I decided to move to Vancouver. It took a year, but I pulled together a solid crew with Mark Findler (guitar), Dave Glendening (bass), and Rick Vellow (drums). Mark and I weren’t the best singers, but our harmonies worked, and our songwriting fell into place. A demo we cut got heavy airplay on CITR-FM, catching Grant McDonagh’s ear at Zulu Records. He helped us press our EP, Brilliant Orange – “Happy Man”, which became a national college radio hit. A MuchMusic video for “Happy Man” spread our name wider—could this be the break we needed?

We swapped Rick and Dave for Kevin Lucks (bass) and Marcel Belly (drums), and the band stepped up. With management tied to L.A., we hit the road, playing The Troubadour, The Roxy, and The Palomino. We toured Canada, dipped into New York City for gigs at CBGB and other clubs, and recorded tracks for a BMG release in the U.S. That album was a dud—management and producers messed with it too much. I still prefer our demos. The band fell apart after that, but I wasn’t finished. After a season tree planting, I came back to Vancouver and started Greenhouse with Mark Gruft (drums), Bob Petterson (bass), and Jay Homenchuk (guitar/vocals). That shift to Happyman—and our first album—unfolds next week. Keep reading.

--GB