The
GoodBrothers - One True Thing
The Good Brothers have gained
a worldwide audience over the course of their
accomplished career. It all started when twins
Bruce and Brian Good formed a folk group with
Marty Steiger and Bruce’s soon to be wife
Margaret Queen. They were known as The Kinfolk
and performed at folk clubs and coffeehouses
in the mid to late 60’s.
In 1970 Bruce and Brian met
James Ackroyd and formed a band simply called
James and The Good Brothers. Their first show
was at Maple Leaf Gardens with Grand Funk Railroad.
Then came the cross Canada tour on the outrageous
Festival Express with such bands as The Grateful
Dead, Janis Joplin, Ian & Sylvia and The
Band just to name a few. With a little help
from friends The Grateful Dead and Jefferson
Airplane, they recorded their first album on
Columbia records. What excitement – the
gigs at San Francisco’s famed Fillmore
West, the nights at L.A.’s Troubadour
with John Hammond and Tracey Nelson, the shows
in Northern California with The Grateful Dead,
Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service,
and The New Riders of The Purple Sage.
Later, James would choose to
remain in the U.S. while the brothers would
return home to Canada and recruit younger brother
Larry. This was 1973 and would be the beginning
of a wonderful musical trip… The Good
Brothers. The brothers’ first gig was
the legendary Toronto club The Riverboat, on
May 14, 1974. They played simple music, straight
from the heart that encompassed country, bluegrass,
folk and the occasional taste from their rock
and roll songbook. Fiddle tunes flowed as did
original and cover songs, highlighted by Larry’s
banjo breaks, Bruce’s award winning autoharp
styles, their unique sibling harmonies and enough
on-stage energy to burn down the corn field.
It wasn’t long before
The Good Brothers were packing Toronto’s
fabled El Macombo five nights a week; breaking
bar records, attendance records and exhausting
determined dancers. Then there were eight straight
Juno awards for Best Country Group, and headline
gigs at Massey Hall, Roy Thompson Hall, The
National Art Centre and the weeks at L.A.’s
Universal Amphitheatre with (“their mentor”)
Gordon Lightfoot. There was even a self-titled
double gold album.
Fast-forward 30 years –
and they’re still here. No long breaks
for the Goods – they kept making records,
and gigged relentlessly. More recently they
where honoured by being the 2004 inductees into
the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame as well
as two nominations for Country Group and Roots
Artist of the year at the Canadian Country Music
Awards. Next year they’re off on tour
in Europe, again; this will be their 26th tour
on the other side of the Atlantic. They’ve
kept the flame burning, and the music going
and those determined dancers have never stopped.
The 80’s and 90’s came and went,
and Canada’s musical soundtrack, through
all those years, included The Good Brothers.
Yes, the times have changed
– the music business isn’t like
it used to be, and nor is most of the music.
The brave days seem to have vanished, and the
sheer joy of making music seems harder to discover.
And yet… what is this? The new album by
The Good Brothers! One True Thing, as accurate
a title as anyone could use. Simple. Direct.
The sibling harmonies are still
there. The fleetness of banjo, guitar, and autoharp
is joined by John P. Allen’s fiddle, and
the guitar and mandolin of Travis Good from
The Sadies, representing the next generation
of the family.
More than half the songs on
One True Thing are written by Brian and Bruce
while the others include classics like “Old
Man At The Mill” and a rock song by Quebec’s
own Michel Pagliaro. It’s still country,
it’s still bluegrass, it still works in
bars and at folk festivals, and it still gets
‘em up dancing at jamborees.
The songs still come straight
from their hearts to your tapping toes and the
smile on your face.
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