Craig's Brother

Craig's Brother is an American punk rock band. They have released three full length recordings internationally, two on Tooth & Nail Records and one self-released.

History

Foundation and Homecoming (1995-2001)

Craig's Brother began in 1995 when Ted Bond, singer and guitar player for General Handywork, joined forces with Andy Snyder, Scott Hrapoff, and Heath Konkel, to pursue a sound that was inspired by the early Fat Wreck Chords releases, particularly Lagwagon. The story behind the name is that Scott's brother was popular in high school, and people would often refer to Scott simply as "Craig's Brother".^[1]

After Adam Nigh joined the group in 1997 Craig's Brother signed a contract with the independent label Tooth & Nail Records, and in 1998 the band released their first full length album Homecoming. Recorded at Westbeach Studios in Hollywood, and produced by Donnell Cameron.

After spending the summer of 1998 touring to promote Homecoming Andy and Adam left Craig’s Brother to form the band Too Bad Eugene. Determined not to give up, Scott, Ted, and Heath began searching for a new guitar line up. In December of that year a young guitar player from Florida by the name of Ryan Key convinced the band that should allow him to come out to California to audition. Ryan later memorialized his experiences auditioning for Craig’s Brother in the hit song “Rock Star Land” by Yellowcard. Ryan was joined shortly thereafter by Dan McClintock from Inspection 12.^[2] At one point, the two of them represented Craig's Brother at the Cornerstone Festival as an acoustic duo. After touring vigorously the majority of 1999 the band found themselves without a van or money to buy one in August. When the band decided to go home and regroup, Ryan decided to go back to Jacksonville where he got a job with Sean Mackin and eventually joined Yellowcard. The band returned home and started to work on their second album, Lost at Sea. After recording finished in Vancouver, Canada in January, Dan McLintock also opted to return home to Jacksonville, rejoining his old band Inspection 12. In fall of that year Heath also announced that he was quitting. The band continued to play shows experimenting with a number of drummers and guitar players including Garrett Baldwin, Justin (Juice) Cabrera and Steven Neufeld.

During this time the band experienced a sudden upsurge of fans with the advent of Napster when an unknown fan uploaded an mp3 of the song "Who Am I?" from the first album with the artist name "Craig's Brother (NOFX & Lagwagon)". The band openly gave their support to file sharing, arguing that sales would ultimately benefit from the free publicity, although reminding the fans that their label was against it.

Craig’s Brother has had a tenuous relationship with the Christian music industry since its inception. Although the band originally accepted the label "Christian Band" they quickly realized that it did not necessarily describe what they were attempting to do. Early on the band tried make it clear that in spite of the Christian beliefs of some of the band members, the band was not necessarily a "Christian Punk Band", that in fact they were just punks who happened to be Christian. Their early willingness to play Christian venues, sing about religious issues, and their relationship with Tooth and Nail records however has made "Christian Band" a label that Craig’s Brother has never been able completely get away from.^[3] Both of Craig’s Brother’s Tooth and Nail releases were initially banned from Family Book Stores only to be picked up later due to demand from customers.

The band's perspectives on the Christian Music industry, and Napster led to strained a relationship with their label and in fall of 2000, Craig's Brother was released from their contract by Tooth & Nail Records. Tooth & Nail would press the album in February 2001, but did little to promote it, even neglecting to inform retailers of its existence.^[4] Record outlets would usually only stock the album at the customer's requests, so sales were not surprisingly disappointing.

The band continued to play shows but could not keep a solid line up. Finally in March 2002 Ted announced that he was quitting.

Reformation and The Insidious Lie (2003-present)

The three longest-lasting members, Ted Bond, Scott Hrapoff and newly divorced Heath Konkel reunited around Christmas 2003 and Craig's Brother was reformed, with Sam Prather as their new guitarist. The following year, E.P.idemic was released on Takeover Records, a label run by former Yellowcard guitarist Ben Harper, with former guitarist Steven Neufeld playing the second guitar. Following its release, Sam left the band. At this point, the band members were all busy with their family lives and jobs, in and around the Santa Cruz area. Struggling to find any suiting guitarists, as Steven was often busy working with his own band, HeyMike!, lead singer and songwriter Ted himself took up the role of rhythm guitarist. He was later joined by permanent lead guitarist Glade Wilson in late 2006.

On March 23, 2009 the band began recording their third full length album at The Compound recording studio in Felton, CA with Kyle Black acting as producer, collaborating with their former guitarist Andy Snyder, and also again incorporating the services of former members Steven Neufeld and Adam Nigh. Without a record label, they financed this record themselves, and worked on it over the next year and a half at DK2 Studios in Santa Cruz, CA with Andy and Ted producing. On December 22, 2010, the band announced the completion of the album dubbed The Insidious Lie via their Twitter feed.^[5] It was made available for streaming its entirety on Christmas Day and then released on January 24, 2011 as a digital download, and later that spring on CD, and finally Veritas Vinyl pressed an LP in the summer of 2011. Craig's Brother followed the release The Insidious Lie with a few California shows and a European tour. In Fall 2013 Craig's Brother released a compilation of 10 of their earliest recordings entitled The Early Years.

Music style and influences

The band have cited Lagwagon as one of their main sources of inspiration. Others that have been listed as inspiration for the band include Bad Religion, The Beatles and NOFX.

Discography

Albums

• Homecoming (1998)
• Lost at Sea (2001)
• The Insidious Lie (2011)
• The Early Years (2013)

EPs

• Keepin' It Real (1997)
• E.P.idemic (2004)

Demos

• Self-titled Demo Tape (1996)

Compilation appearances

• Dominate '98, contributed "Homecoming" (1998)
• Songs From The Penalty Box, Tooth & Nail Vol. 2, contributed "Dear Charlotte" (1998)
• Songs From The Penalty Box, Tooth & Nail Vol. 3, contributed "Lonely Girl" (1999)
• Songs From The Penalty Box, Tooth & Nail Vol. 4, contributed "Head in a Cloud" (2000)
• Tooth & Nail 10th Anniversary Box Set, contributed "Dear Charlotte" (2003)

Band members

• Ted Bond - Guitar & Lead Vocals (1995–2001, 2003–present)
• Heath Konkel - Drums & Backup Vocals (1995–2000, 2003–present)
• Scott Hrapoff - Bass (1995–2001, 2003–present)
• Glade Wilson - Lead Guitar & Backup Vocals (2006–present)

Timeline^[6]

References

External links

• Official website
• Craig's Brother at AllMusic