Graham Colton is a name you'll be hearing a lot more from in the future. The talented young musician was discovered by Counting Crows frontman Adam Duritz in 2002, who heard a demo and brought Colton and his Graham Colton Band on tour. Their debut release, Drive is a diverse collection of catchy rock and roll songs. It was produced by Brendan O'Brien, who has worked with some of the biggest names in music including Pearl Jam, Rage Against The Machine, Stone Temple Pilots, Bruce Springsteen and Train. I saw Colton open for Kelly Clarkson, and even though probably 95 percent of the audience had never heard of the Graham Colton Band, by the time they left the stage 95 percent of the audience were Graham Colton Band fans. He has a great stage presence, a lot of musical talent, and to top it off is a really nice guy.
Chad Bowar: You've been on the road nonstop for a while. Does the road life get old?
Graham Colton: It's been about four years. It's all I know. It's how songs happen, it's how I spread my music around. I don't think I could be one of those guys who sits at home on my ass.
You've toured with a very diverse group of bands. Has playing in front of such a wide spectrum of fans helped increase your band's visibility?
Yes. We've been the poster child for openers. It's crazy. Luckily I've been asked by my idols to be an opening act. Counting Crows, Dave Matthews Band, The Wallflowers, the list goes on and on.
Since you've been on the road so long playing the same songs, have they evolved over time in the live setting?
Yeah. When we made the record, Brendan our producer said it was going to be an album that's going to age gracefully with you. I didn't really know what he meant, but now I get it. I don't think of our album as one piece of time, I think of it as an introduction to the band, and you're going to hear something different when you hear us live. You're going to hear an evolution, you're going to hear spontaneity. It's been a fun ride.
How were you discovered?
It's was all the internet. I started writing songs in high school, right about the time of the onset of Napster. I went to college in Dallas, and when I'd get back from class I'd have fans emailing me from different areas of the country asking when the album was going to be out and when I was going on tour. It was crazy, because I didn't even consider myself a professional musician. I just had a couple of songs that I had written in my bedroom when I was 17. I still play those songs live today.
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