Grand Lake: Knockout Pics, New Drummer, New Song

There's been a lot going on since we last caught up with Grand Lake, and we figured it made sense to bring you up to speed. But first: while we shot some great video when we last caught the band at The Knockout, we also took some photos. Those photos have never seen the light of day until now - we figured we'd dig them up for your enjoyment. Now, on to the news!

The most significant chunk of news is that the band has decided to change drummers. In a statement on their blog, they had the following to say:

A large factor in the formation of our band was our amazing drummer, Mr. Ryan Christopher Parks, AKA B. Hamiliton. Ryan is an excellent musician, and like many excellent musicians, has a lot of projects going on. Its been decided that for everybody's long-term happiness, Ryan will be leaving Grand Lake this month.

They go on to mention that a new drummer has already been chosen, and will be on the band's lineup almost immediately:

Replacing Mr. Parks on the drums will be difficult, however, our good friend Mr. John William Pomeroy will most certainly be up to the task. John is an amazing musician who also fronts his own band called the Cerfs. John's first show with Grand Lake will be at the Starry Plough in Berkeley on June 5th, with our very good friends Sister Grizzy.

We have to admit, we're curious to see how the change will affect the band's sound: a drummer is a huge part of any band, and Grand Lake certainly had a solid on stage rapport. Developing.

In addition to the lineup change, the band has also announced that they are going to forgo any further entries into their "singles series", and instead embark on recording a second record at the end of the summer. We have to say, we definitely endorse the idea. The band's first record is fantastic, and it seems that singles can have the unfortunate consequence of being overlooked until they make their way to a compilation.

Finally, we've managed to get our hands on a new track from the band, and we have to say we like it very, very much. Entitled "Song For Louise", the track was recorded live in Santa Cruz and digs much more extensively into what we see as the band's strengths. Specifically, it leverages Caleb Nichols' fantastic vocals with a strong melody line, and plays them extremely well off the sonics of Jameson Swagnon's guitar. The result is a sparse but aggressive arrangement that manages to transcend the cleanliness of their first record. We can't wait to hear this one in the studio.

Grand Lake are at the Starry Plough on June 5th

mp3: Grand Lake - Song For Louise (Live In Santa Cruz)

More pictures at the HAD Archive