Canvas (band)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Canvas
Origin	Austin, Texas
Country	United States
Years active	1999–2006
Genres	Alternative rock
Labels	Desert Tide Records
Members	Joseph King Julian Mandrake Scott Thomas Brad Byram
Past members	Ben Rada Tabber Millard

Canvas is a rock band from Austin, Texas. They are currently on indefinite hiatus.

1 History
2 Where Are They Now?
3 Members
- 3.1 Touring Members
4 Discography
5 External links

[edit] History

The roots of Canvas begin in San Francisco in the mid 1990s with singer-songwriter Joseph King and guitarist Ben Rada while they were students at Stanford. In 1999 King and Rada played the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas and became so enamored with the city that they decided to move there. They added established Austin musicians Julian Mandrake, Scott Thomas, and Brad Byram on guitar, drums, and bass, respectively and began work on their first album Invocation.

Invocation's two singles, "In These Walls" and "Sirens", were added into regular rotation at Austin's KLBJ-FM and climbed to No. 1 most requested and top 5 phones within a week, and stayed at the top for two months. The station also included a live version of Canvas's song "Lessons From Underneath the Kachina Woman's Skirt" as the opening track of their 2002 Local Licks Live compilation.

The group built a cult following due to their raucous concerts, which often included fire dancing, a practice they had to abandon in 2003 after clubs imposed tighter restrictions following the The Station nightclub fire. Canvas is probably best known, however, for their connections with fellow Texas rockers Blue October. In addition to opening several Blue October concerts, Canvas also wrote and recorded the song "All About You" with Blue October frontman Justin Furstenfeld. Canvas's lead guitarist, Julian Mandrake, also was a touring guitarist for Blue October in 2006 while Furstenfeld was recovering from a broken leg.

Canvas played an emotional farewell show in Austin on October 1, 2005. The band reunited for one more show on January 28, 2006 before disbanding indefinitely.

[edit] Where Are They Now?

In early 2006 Joseph King and Scott Thomas along with former Billy Idol guitarist Mark Younger-Smith formed the band Murder My Sweet, which was well received at the South by Southwest Festival in Spring 2006. King has since left the project and moved to New York where he is persuing a solo career and fronting the band Deadbeat Darling.

Julian Mandrake has a new band, Avenue For Affair. Brad Byram is currently playing with Austin's The Wartime Social and Johnny Goudie and the Little Champions. Scott Thomas drums for Murder My Sweet.