Biography
The core lineup of Grand Champeen first connected during their years at a Virginia boarding school in the closing years of the 1980s. From the outset the musicians resolved to pursue a high-energy, direct, and forceful brand of rock & roll. Drawing primary inspiration from the Rolling Stones, Neil Young, the Replacements, early Soul Asylum, Uncle Tupelo, and additional like-minded acts, the group specialized in straightforward rock songs intended to be heard at full volume. Guitarists-vocalists Channing Lewis and Michael Crow encountered drummer Ned Stewart while all three attended the same rural Virginia boarding school. During high school the trio recruited fellow student Will Minor on bass and launched the Frosted Megawheats, a band devoted to the Minneapolis post-punk sound that had flourished throughout the 1980s. After completing a self-produced album the four graduated in spring 1993 and relocated to Boulder, Colorado, where they kept performing on the local circuit. In summer 1994 the ensemble, by then operating under the name Mucho Maas, traveled to Chapel Hill and cut a second album that featured fIREHOSE guitarist Ed Crawford. Minor departed shortly afterward. Lewis and Crow returned briefly to Boulder before deciding, in summer 1997, to settle in Austin, Texas. There they were rejoined by Stewart and by bassist Rob Hargrove, a childhood friend of Crow’s who was then studying law at the University of Texas. The musicians adopted the name Grand Champeen and began appearing regularly at area clubs. Their debut album, Out Front by the Van, appeared in January 2000 and received favorable notices, quickly establishing the band as one of the city’s strongest live draws. Following the release Hargrove stepped away to concentrate on his studies and was succeeded by Alex Livingstone, who performed with the group at the March 2000 South by Southwest Music Conference. Throughout 2000 Grand Champeen tracked the successor to Out Front by the Van; that follow-up arrived in spring 2001. Two years afterward The One That Brought You extended the band’s indie-rock base, after which they shifted to In Music We Trust for the 2007 release Dial T for This.
Albums