The band
|
Panos Grames
lead vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards |
Johannes Grames
lead guitar, vocals |
Billy Mendoza
electric bass, vocals |
Randall Stoll
Him play drums. DRUM! |
History
The Grames Brothers played their first gig together in July 1990 with members Johannes Grames (guitar), Dinos Grames (bass) Panos Grames (guitar, vocals), and Ivan Duben (drums). Each of the three brothers had been living abroad, and within 10 days of finally all finding themselves back in Vancouver at the same time, they had written new songs and performed for the first time under the name The Grames Brothers.
Soon they were playing to sold out crowds at the Town Pump, The Commodore, The Starfish Room and other Vancouver venues. The Roberts Creek Hall and other community halls around coastal B.C. were also regular stops. After recording their first album In Our Time, the Grames Brothers toured Western Canada several times, playing universities and downtown clubs like the Sidetrack in Edmonton, Sparky's in Calgary, Amigo's in Saskatoon, and the Spectrum in Winnipeg, among others.
Soon they were playing to sold out crowds at the Town Pump, The Commodore, The Starfish Room and other Vancouver venues. The Roberts Creek Hall and other community halls around coastal B.C. were also regular stops. After recording their first album In Our Time, the Grames Brothers toured Western Canada several times, playing universities and downtown clubs like the Sidetrack in Edmonton, Sparky's in Calgary, Amigo's in Saskatoon, and the Spectrum in Winnipeg, among others.
The band took a short break in 1993, while Johannes toured with former B.B. King bassist Russell Jackson, Panos started his band People Playing Music, and Dinos played with The Spirit Merchants (featuring Jesse Zubot and Steve Dawson). In 1994, the Brother regrouped adding drummer Randall Stoll (k.d. lang, Tom Cochrane, Soulstream) and started gigging again, playing to packed houses.
In 2000, the Grames Brothers released Strange Beautiful featuring 12 new original songs. In 2002, brother Dinos left Vancouver and bassist Billy Mendoza stepped in (with Dinos' blessing) becoming a surrogate Grames Brother. Mendoza had played with Panos and Johannes in other bands for seven years . Billy's talents as a musician and his incredible vocal range are a huge part of the Grames Brothers sound for over a decade now, but it might his humour and good nature that are his most important contributions!
The Grames Brothers lost an entire album in 2003 when a hard drive failed. Yikes! The Grames Brothers have finished recording a new album, which should be available in 2017.