Biography
Hailing originally from Enterprise, Alabama, Course of Nature relocated to Los Angeles and developed into an American post-grunge and alternative pop/rock group styled after 3 Doors Down, Nickelback, and Creed. The band represents the polished, market-oriented wing of post-grunge, delivering music that serves as the 1990s/2000s counterpart to classic 1970s and 1980s arena rock. Genres that begin underground often migrate toward the mainstream, as occurred with punk and gangsta rap; grunge followed the same trajectory, holding only a modest cult audience while Nirvana, Tad, and Alice in Chains performed in Seattle during the late 1980s before Nirvana and Pearl Jam achieved broad commercial success in 1992 and 1993, much to the astonishment of Eddie Vedder and the late Kurt Cobain. Although traces of Pearl Jam and Nirvana appear in Course of Nature’s material, the group pursues the radio-friendly variant of post-grunge favored by 3 Doors Down and Nickelback instead of an oppositional approach.
Mark Wilkerson, serving as lead singer and rhythm guitarist, established Course of Nature alongside collaborators in Enterprise, Alabama, during 2001, though this was not his initial project. In the late 1990s and 2000, Wilkerson and guitarist/bassist John “Fish” Milldrum performed together in the Alabama outfit Cog, a name distinct from the Australian progressive rock act sharing the moniker. Cog issued its debut album, No Time at All, independently in March 2001. Later that year Wilkerson and Milldrum departed Cog to launch a fresh ensemble and recruited drummer Rick Shelton, previously a member of the post-grunge band Dust for Life. They briefly considered naming the project Pull before settling on Course of Nature, taken from a track on No Time at All. Throughout 2001 the group also secured a deal with Lava/Atlantic and cut its first album, Superkala, under the production of Matt Martone, whose credits encompass work with 3 Doors Down, Seven Mary Three, Saliva, Breaking Point, and Sister Hazel.
Superkala appeared in 2002, propelled by the hit single “Caught in the Sun.” Subsequent difficulties, encompassing both label and management setbacks, placed the band in limbo for roughly five years. Milldrum and Shelton ultimately exited amid the upheaval. Wilkerson, who wed actress Melissa Joan Hart of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch renown, sustained the group’s continuity; in 2007 Course of Nature aligned with the Silent Majority label, which issued the follow-up album Damaged, produced by David Bendeth, in 2008. At that time the lineup featured Wilkerson on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Sean Kipe on lead guitar, Jackson Eppley on bass, and Shane Lenzen O’Connell on drums.
Mark Wilkerson, serving as lead singer and rhythm guitarist, established Course of Nature alongside collaborators in Enterprise, Alabama, during 2001, though this was not his initial project. In the late 1990s and 2000, Wilkerson and guitarist/bassist John “Fish” Milldrum performed together in the Alabama outfit Cog, a name distinct from the Australian progressive rock act sharing the moniker. Cog issued its debut album, No Time at All, independently in March 2001. Later that year Wilkerson and Milldrum departed Cog to launch a fresh ensemble and recruited drummer Rick Shelton, previously a member of the post-grunge band Dust for Life. They briefly considered naming the project Pull before settling on Course of Nature, taken from a track on No Time at All. Throughout 2001 the group also secured a deal with Lava/Atlantic and cut its first album, Superkala, under the production of Matt Martone, whose credits encompass work with 3 Doors Down, Seven Mary Three, Saliva, Breaking Point, and Sister Hazel.
Superkala appeared in 2002, propelled by the hit single “Caught in the Sun.” Subsequent difficulties, encompassing both label and management setbacks, placed the band in limbo for roughly five years. Milldrum and Shelton ultimately exited amid the upheaval. Wilkerson, who wed actress Melissa Joan Hart of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch renown, sustained the group’s continuity; in 2007 Course of Nature aligned with the Silent Majority label, which issued the follow-up album Damaged, produced by David Bendeth, in 2008. At that time the lineup featured Wilkerson on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Sean Kipe on lead guitar, Jackson Eppley on bass, and Shane Lenzen O’Connell on drums.
Albums
Singles
