SOBRE GRAHAM BROWN
Cantor/Compositor/Guitarrista CANADENSE
O 14º álbum de Graham Brown, *Outside Within*, tem uma vibe matadora — 12 faixas de rock cru e elétrico que te impactam como uma viagem de carro noturna com as janelas abertas. O guitarrista de Vancouver se junta à sua banda de longa data — Rob Blackburn na guitarra/teclados, John Werner no baixo e Mark Gruft na bateria — e grava tudo ao vivo em uma tarde incandescente no Hipposonic Studios. Após o desvio acústico introspectivo de *Solo*, de 2023, Brown está de volta com seu amplificador no máximo, apresentando canções que equilibram emoção e intensidade, com uma pitada de Tom Petty e Neil Young.
Faixas de destaque como “Courage Comes”, um rock tenso inspirado na garra de Terry Fox, mostram o talento de Brown para compor músicas que ficam na cabeça. Escrita na manhã da sessão e gravada em duas tomadas, ela tem um solo incendiário que vai te fazer concordar com a cabeça. Canções como a visceral “Graveyard Trees” e a repleta de pedal steel “Tell The World” mantêm a autenticidade, explorando o que significa ser fiel a si mesmo sem se perder no passado. A voz de Brown e seus acordes não convencionais carregam o peso de alguém que viveu essas histórias.
Desde os seus tempos de cowpunk nos anos 80 com o Jr. Gone Wild, Brown tocou em locais lendários como o Cavern Club e o Roxy, e *Outside Within* prova que ele ainda tem aquela faísca. Com 400 músicas no currículo, ele preza pela autenticidade. "Ainda estou aprimorando minha arte", diz ele, e isso se reflete na energia vibrante e precisa da banda. Este álbum marca o retorno triunfal da Graham Brown Band, pronta para incendiar palcos do mundo todo. *Outside Within* é a verdadeira essência da banda — ligue o amplificador e deixe a música rolar.
ARTIGOS
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.
GRAHAM BROWN BAND - HAUNTED
https://cashboxcanada.ca/features-music/btw-white-cowbell-oklahoma-arkells-graham-brown-band-shred-kelly-cristina-vane
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
READ MORE ON SHOWHUB
READ MORE FROM ROOTS MUSIC CANADA