Brad

Brad from Seattle, Washington, USA formed officially in 1992 (though the members had been playing together for a long time before that) and in 1993 released their debut album Shame. Brad includes 4 friends from the Seattle area who are musicians, including Stone Gossard (of Pearl Jam fame), Regan Hagar (former member of an early grunge band Malfunkshun), Shawn Smith (also a member of Pigeonhed and Satchel) and Jeremy Toback also of Ons.

While often considered simply a side-project of Stone's, Brad has a sound all its own, due to the wide variety of influences brought to the band by its members. The distinctive vocals of Shawn Smith are a major factor in this sound.

Shawn Smith contributed on the tiltle-track for the Belgian group Arsenal on their album Lotuk. He is currently spending his 2008 summer touring along with the band.

Brad has released 4 albums for so far and a new release is expected in 2008.

Origin Seattle, Washington, USA
Genre(s) Alternative rock, neo-psychedelia
Years active 1992?present
Label(s) Epic, Redline
Associated acts Malfunkshun, Pearl Jam, Satchel, Pigeonhed
Website www.bradcorporation.com
Members
Stone Gossard
Regan Hagar
Shawn Smith
Jeremy Toback
Mike Berg

* History

Brad formed officially in 1992, although the band members had been playing together for a long time before that. The band's line-up was composed of vocalist Shawn Smith, guitarist Stone Gossard, bassist Jeremy Toback, and drummer Regan Hagar. The band originally wanted to go by the name Shame, however the band found that the name was already taken by a band featuring musician Brad Wilson.[1] Instead, the band took the name Brad and decided to name its debut album Shame. Shame, released on April 27, 1993, was recorded in roughly 20 days, with many tracks taken from in-studio jam sessions. Shame, featuring a raw sound and an eclectic mix of styles, was released to mixed reviews and moderate sales.[2] The track "20th Century" was a minor hit in the UK.

The band's follow-up album, Interiors, released on June 24, 1997, was much more polished. Interiors was met with poor sales, however the band saw its cult audience expand.[2] The single from Interiors, "The Day Brings", features Mike McCready from Pearl Jam on lead guitar. The album was accompanied by a tour in the United States that same year, as well as a small tour in Australia and New Zealand in 1998.

A third album, Welcome to Discovery Park, was released on August 13, 2002. The recording of Welcome to Discovery Park saw contributions from Mike Berg, who had taken over as the touring bassist for Toback.[2] The album mixes the rawness of Shame and the polished, produced sound of Interiors. In July 2005, the band released an album of unreleased and incomplete Brad and Satchel tracks called Brad vs Satchel.

As of January 2006, the band's fourth studio album, tentatively titled Best Friends, had been recorded and was being pared down to a 13-track release.[3] As of September 2007, the album was still awaiting release as the band reunited for a small series of live performances, starting in October 2007, with Kevin Wood (of Malfunkshun) joining the band as an additional guitarist. To date, there has been no indication as to whether this is a permanent personnel move or just a temporary addition. Songs from the forthcoming Best Friends album were played at the 2007 and 2008 performances, but there was no announcement as to when the album would be released.

Current members

* Stone Gossard ? guitar
* Regan Hagar ? drums
* Shawn Smith ? keyboard, vocals
* Jeremy Toback ? bass guitar
* Mike Berg ? bass guitar (1997?present)

Additional personnel

* James Hall ? guitar, keyboard (1997)
* Matt Brown ? guitar, keyboard (1997)
* Elizabeth Pupo-Walker ? percussion (2001?2002)
* Thaddeus Turner ? guitars, bass (2001?2002)
* Kevin Wood ? guitar (2007?present)

Studio albums
Year Album details
1993 Shame

* Released: April 27, 1993
* Label: Epic
* Format: CD, cassette (CS)

1997 Interiors

* Released: June 24, 1997
* Label: Epic
* Format: CD, CS

2002 Welcome to Discovery Park

* Released: August 13, 2002
* Label: Redline
* Format: CD

Compilations
Year Album details
2005 Brad vs Satchel

* Released: July 26, 2005
* Label: The Establishment Store
* Format: CD

Singles
Year Single UK peak
chart position
[4] Album
1993 "Screen"/"Buttercup" ? Shame
"20th Century" 64
1997 "The Day Brings" ? Interiors
"Secret Girl" ?
2003 "La, La, La" ? Welcome to Discovery Park
"Shinin'" ?
"Revolution" ?
"?" denotes singles that did not chart.

Notes and references

1. ^ Gumbuoy. "Hang Out In Discovery Park With Brad". fasterlouder.com.au. September 27, 2005.
2. ^ a b c Erlewine, Stephen Thomas and Torreano, Bradley. "Brad". Allmusic. Retrieved on January 31, 2009.
3. ^ Prato, Greg. "Brad Finishing Up Fourth Album". Billboard. January 18, 2006.
4. ^ "UK Singles & Albums Chart Archive ? Brad". http://www.chartstats.com/artistinfo.php?id=6825. Retrieved on 2007-12-08.

External links

* Brad's official website
* Brad at MySpace
* Brad at Allmusic
* Brad at Last.fm