Grammatrain is an

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

band from

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

who were active in the

Christian rock Christian rock is a form of rock music that features lyrics focusing on matters of Christian faith, often with an emphasis on Jesus, typically performed by self-proclaimed Christian individuals. The extent to which their lyrics are explicitly Ch ...

industry in the 1990s. After disbanding in 1998, the group reunited as a mainstream act in 2009 and released their third full-length album entitled ''Imperium'' the following year.

History

Singer/guitarist

Pete Stewart Pete Stewart is a singer, guitarist, songwriter and producer from Seattle, Washington. He is the lead singer and guitarist of Grammatrain, was the lead singer for The Accident Experiment, and is the former guitarist of Tait. Stewart released ...

, bassist Dalton Roraback and his drummer brother Paul Roraback recorded a self-titled three-song demo tape in 1994. After hearing the demo,

ForeFront Records ForeFront Records is a contemporary Christian music and Christian rock record label founded in 1987 by Dan R. Brock, Eddie DeGarmo, Dana Key, and Ron W. Griffin. It was purchased by EMI in 1996 from Dan R. Brock and Eddie DeGarmo, and is a divis ...

label executive Eddie DeGarmo signed the band. Before releasing their first major album, Grammtrain released a CD containing four studio recordings and five live acoustic numbers. In 1995 they released their first studio album, ''Lonely House'', produced by

Aaron Sprinkle Aaron Sprinkle (born March 20, 1974) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer from Seattle, Washington. Career His career in music began in high school with a group called BellBangVilla. BellBangVilla became Poor Old Lu and the ...

. The album achieved success on Christian radio. Their second full-length album, '' Flying'', was released in 1997. Critics cited the album's "lighter, more polished feel" when compared to ''Lonely House''. At the end of a tour promoting the album, Grammatrain officially broke up following their final live performance on December 7, 1998 in Germany. An announcement of the breakup can be heard on the band's live album. Following the breakup of the band, Stewart released a self-titled solo album and produced Michael Tait's band, Tait, performing on their first album. He also produced four tracks on the debut solo album for

TobyMac Toby McKeehan (born Kevin Michael McKeehan; October 22, 1964), better known by his stage name TobyMac (styled tobyMac or TOBYMAC), is an American contemporary Christian music singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer. He was first known f ...

, ''Momentum''. In 2003 Stewart reemerged with The Accident Experiment.

Reunited

In early 2009, Grammatrain announced that they had reunited and were in the process of recording a new album. Because frontman

had left the Christian faith, the new album was not directed at Christian audiences. Shortly after the announcement, the band played two reunion shows: one in Seattle and one in Germany. A limited-edition EP with songs from the forthcoming album was released at the shows and on the band's website. In 2010, the single "The Last Sound" was released; the video was debuted at a

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began ...

match. The song has been played at

Qwest Field Lumen Field is a multi-purpose stadium in Seattle, Washington, United States. Located in the city's SoDo neighborhood, it is the home field for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL), the Seattle Sea Dragons of the XFL, the ...

before the kickoff of Sounders matches, and Sounders FC owner

Drew Carey Drew Allison Carey (born May 23, 1958) is an American comedian, actor and game show host. After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps and making a name for himself in stand-up comedy, he gained stardom in his own sitcom, ''The Drew Carey Show'', an ...

endorsed the song and promised to get a "proper video" made of it. The video was produced and directed by Nik Venet, who had previously done videos for U2,

Jane's Addiction Jane's Addiction is an American rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1985. The band consists of vocalist Perry Farrell, guitarist Dave Navarro, drummer Stephen Perkins and bassist Eric Avery. Jane's Addiction was one of the first bands from t ...

and

The White Stripes The White Stripes were an American rock duo from Detroit formed in 1997. The group consisted of Jack White (songwriter, vocals, guitar, piano, and mandolin) and Meg White (drums and vocals). After releasing several singles and three albums with ...

. The song was also picked up by and released through

Rock Band Network The ''Rock Band'' Network (abbreviated RBN) was a downloadable content service designed by Harmonix with the help of Microsoft to allow musical artists and record labels to make their music available as playable tracks for the ''Rock Band'' seri ...

for the

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation ...

. On October 10, 2010, they independently released their newest album, ''Imperium''.

Discography

* ''Demo Tape'' - 1994 * ''Grammatrain'' - 1995 * ''

Lonely House ''Lonely House'' is the second album by Grammatrain Grammatrain is an alternative rock band from Seattle, Washington who were active in the Christian rock industry in the 1990s. After disbanding in 1998, the group reunited as a mainstream act ...

'' - 1995 * '' Flying'' - 1997 * ''Live 120798'' - 1999, Review:
HM Magazine
' * ''Kneeling Between Shields'' (EP) - 2009 * ''The Last Sound'' (single) - 2010 * ''

Imperium In ancient Rome, ''imperium'' was a form of authority held by a citizen to control a military or governmental entity. It is distinct from ''auctoritas'' and ''potestas'', different and generally inferior types of power in the Roman Republic an ...

'' - 2010 * ''Spin Automatic'' (EP) - 2010 Grammatrain has also appeared on ForeFront Records' ''Ten, The Birthday Album'' compilation album, as well as tribute albums to

Stryper Stryper is an American Christian metal band from Orange County, California. The group's lineup consists of Michael Sweet (lead vocals, guitar), Oz Fox (guitar), Perry Richardson (bass guitar), and Robert Sweet (drums). Formed in 1983 as Roxx ...

Petra Petra ( ar, ٱلْبَتْرَاء, Al-Batrāʾ; grc, Πέτρα, "Rock", Nabataean Aramaic, Nabataean: ), originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu or Raqēmō, is an historic and archaeological city in southern Jordan. It is adjacent to t ...

, and

Larry Norman Larry David Norman (April 8, 1947 – February 24, 2008) was an American musician, singer, songwriter, record label owner, and record producer. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of Christian rock music and released more than 100 album ...

References

External links

* *
Artist profile
on

Cross Rhythms Cross Rhythms is a Christian media organisation based in Stoke-on-Trent, England. It operates an FM and online radio station, produces radio shows sent internationally, and its website has resources about contemporary Christian music. Hi ...

{{Authority control American post-grunge musical groups Grunge musical groups Musical groups from Seattle