About Grey
Interview | Biography | The Musicians | Recording Journal
Biography
written by D. Lang & Grey
Grey, a singer-songwriter from Enid, Oklahoma, blends the psychedelic, progressive, acoustic,
and alternative stylings of Rush, Yes, the Beatles,
the Doors, and Pink floyd to create a unique rock and
pop sound sometimes compared to that of Dave Matthews
Band, Coldplay, Phish, and David Bowie. He has released the following CDs:
Words & Music, Grey's Christmas Memories, Anamnesis, Rock & Pop, Colours, Faded Colours, Faded Colours II, and these now out-of-print live
recordings: Live at Pegasys, and Acoustic Grey. He is currently working on his latest album, Ice World.
Grey began writing songs in 1981 while still a high
school student. He played in the band Elixir that
opened for Ritchie Havens at the Myriad in 1983. He
later played in the Blithering Idiots while
stationed in Germany in the late 80's, early 90's.
During the original Colours recordings, Grey lived in
Toulouse, France, having teamed up with Yvan "Doc"
Mirouse and J.C. Nogues. They needed an English vocalist for
their “Milo” project. In the summer of 1993 at Studio
Queenriver and Filataires' Cellar, Grey and "Doc"
recorded and mixed Colours. Colours was originally
released on mp3.com in March of 2000.
Due to the success of Colours, Grey decided in
February of 2001 to release his musical evolutionary
albums Faded Colours I and II, songs that were written
previous to Colours (1981 - 1992) and aside from
"Farewell to Arms" and “Song of a Broken Glass" the
tracks were recorded while Grey lived in Landstuhl,
Germany.
In the summer of 2001, television producer, Timothy
Eck, offered to record a half-hour television special
on Grey, entitled "Introducing Grey" for television station, PEGASYS. Grey teamed up
for the first time with Zane Davis (bass), Jason Harbour (guitar), and
Mikey Harbour (drums)to record live versions of "Joyous
Occasion," "It's You And I," and "In The Spring of
Youth I Died" from the Colours album, along with three
songs from the then upcoming album Rock & Pop,
entitled "Dying in Denial," "Addiction," and "Stop the
Car." The performance was also released as a CD, Live
at Pegasys that is now out of print.
Enjoying the success of the first television special,
Grey allowed D. Lang into the studio for the filming of
a television series "Grey: The Rock & Pop Sessions."
The series premiered April 8th, 2002.
What followed was the evolution of an album
and the drama and humor involved during the original
recording of the 2002 release Rock & Pop.
The songs on Rock & Pop were written between 1995 to
2001. Grey played bass, rhythm guitar, and sang lead
vocals. The album also featured the piano solos of Stephen Harwood,
the guitar solos of Jason Harbour, the percussive talents, keyboard
playing and synthesizer of Mikey Harbour.
Jerry Patterson, engineered and sang harmony vocals and helped
produce the album at his Champagne Studios. Jerry Patterson would die young,
at the age of 55, in the summer of 2005 and he is missed by all who knew him
and worked with him.
On August 1st, 2002, Grey was nominated as artist of
the week, and given airplay and a live radio interview
on 104.7 KUAL. During this interview Grey & Jason
Harbour spoke of their music and all contributors to
the latest album, Rock & Pop. "This is the time, This
is the Place," "Walking Today," and "Sex Is..." were
played during the interview. Copies of Rock & Pop were
given away to lucky winners. D. Lang, the official webmaster
and photographer for Grey was there to document it.
Grey's music videos had not aired on television until
after this interview. "This is the Time, This is the
Place" premiered on the 3rd of August 2002, on KXOK,
the sister television station to KUAL radio. The full
video collection later won Best Music Video at the
2003 Bare Bones International Film Festival, and aired
on stations in New York City, Buffalo,
Atlanta, San Francisco, and Hollywood,
as well as PEGASYS.
The now out of print album, Acoustic Grey, featured
the live acoustic recordings of Grey and Jason Harbour
at the 2002 "A Fling at the Springs" Acoustic Music
Festival at Government Springs Park. The performance
also aired on October 14th on PEGASYS.
Following the award of Best Music Video at Bare Bones
Grey was invited back to KUAL, where he premiered
"S.P.R." from Anamnesis and "Some Days I Don't Want
To," the Faded Colours track remake. The transcript of
the interview can be read here.
In the Winter of 2003 at his newly built Grey Havens Studios with
fellow musicians Jason Harbour, Mikey Harbour, Patrick
Costello, and Mark Dorman, Grey completed the recording of
Anamnesis, his concept album following the lives of a
family across 65 years. Dave Skinner of 3 Legged
Monkey assisted Grey in the mastering of his new
material.
Due to the now non-existence of mp3.com, all albums
before Anamnesis became out of print. This gave Grey
the opportunity to re-record Rock & Pop, Faded
Colours I & II, and Colours with different musicians: Jason
Harbour, Mikey Harbour, Steve Harwood, and Kevin Bunch
at his new Grey Havens Studio. These albums are now
available direct from Grey via the
internet through Paypal. Anamnesis, Colours, and Rock & Pop
are available for download via iTunes and other popular download services.
"Joyous Occasion" was featured in Liquid Wind, a
windsurfing and kiteboarding documentary, edited by
D. Lang. The documentary, that aired thrice on OETA, was an official selection of
the 2004 Bare Bones International Film Festival,
Digital Independent Film Festival, and Dead Center
Film Festival.
 On April 7th, 2006, Grey and Jason Harbour did an interview with Clint and Will at "The Rock" 97.5 Alva/Kiowa classic rock radio station. They played several songs from Anamnesis and Rock and Pop.
In July 2006, two years after recording began at Grey Havens Studios, Grey finished his sixth studio album, Words & Music. The album is currently distributed by cdbaby.com and available for download on such services as iTunes.
Phantom Music Reviews described Grey as having, "a psychadelic vibe" and "unlike any other rock band you will hear."
The Plastic Ashtray, an independent zine in the UK reviewed the entire album: "Steeped in classic reference points 'Words & Music' mixes classic American rock sounds together with the arrangements of The Beatles."
In October 2006, Grey set two personal records on myspace.com, reaching 10,000 total plays and 5,000 fans.
On November 8th, 2006, D. Lang returned to Enid to film Grey, Jason Harbour, and Mikey Harbour as they performed at Db Studios acoustic versions of Grey's songs, spanning a 20 year history of songwriting. Videos were posted on youtube for fans to enjoy, and a DVD of the project is planned for limited release sometime in 2007. Meanwhile, by 2007, Grey's fanbase on myspace hit an all-time high of 15,000 friends, and also surpassed 30,000 plays.
For the latest details, read Grey's Recording Journal
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