Sons of Maxwell is a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
music duo who perform both traditional Celtic
folk music
Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...
and original compositions with a pop-folk sound. The duo consists of brothers Don Carroll and Dave Carroll, originally from
Timmins
Timmins ( ) is a city in northeastern Ontario, Canada, located on the Mattagami River. The city is the fourth-largest city in the Northeastern Ontario region with a population of 41,145 (2021). The city's economy is based on natural resource ext ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
, residing in
Halifax,
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
since 1994. They began singing together while studying at
Carleton University
Carleton University is an English-language public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to serve returning Wo ...
in
Ottawa under the band name "The Don and Dave Show" in 1989. One recording was released under that name. They re-christened themselves S.O.M. in 1993, in honour of their father (Max Carroll).
In July 2009 the band became an international media sensation when they released the
protest song
A protest song is a song that is associated with a movement for social change and hence part of the broader category of ''topical'' songs (or songs connected to current events). It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre.
Among social mov ...
and
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...
, "
United Breaks Guitars", explaining how, after
United Airlines
United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois. personnel damaged their musical instruments, the airline refused to take responsibility or give compensation for the loss. As a result, in addition to his musical career, Dave Carroll regularly gives speeches about
customer service
Customer service is the assistance and advice provided by a company to those people who buy or use its products or services. Each industry requires different levels of customer service, but in the end, the idea of a well-performed service is that ...
.
Career
Brothers Don and Dave Carroll began singing together while attending Carleton University in Ottawa. After graduation, they began a full-time professional music career. Sons of Maxwell has toured extensively both in Canada and internationally. The group won an
East Coast Music Award
The East Coast Music Association is a non-profit association that hosts an annual awards ceremony based in Atlantic Canada for music appreciation on the East Coast of Canada. Its mission is to develop, advance and celebrate East Coast Canadian mus ...
in 2006 for the Vibe Marketing Country Recording of the Year with Sunday Morning. The Sons of Maxwell also won an ECMA in 2002 for Roots Traditional Group of the Year with Among The Living. They are 5 time ECMA nominees.
Dave Carroll was named ''Digital Artist of the Year'' and ''Video of the Year'' at the Nova Scotia Awards in 2009.
United Airlines incident
The incident, which occurred on March 31, 2008, when the band was flying from
Halifax to
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...
on
United Airlines
United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois. , resulted in the damage of a guitar belonging to Dave Carroll. After months of unsuccessful wrangling for reparations, Carroll wrote "United Breaks Guitars" to chronicle the real-life experience of how his guitar was broken and the subsequent stonewalling reaction from the airline. The song became an immediate YouTube and ITMS hit upon its release in July 2009 and a public relations humiliation for United Airlines; ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'' reported that four days after the song's release, the company's share price "plunged by 10 per cent, costing shareholders $180 million". A second video, United Breaks Guitars: Song 2 was released on YouTube on August 18, 2009. The song takes a closer look at Dave Carroll's dealings with Ms. Irlweg and targets the flawed policies that she was forced to uphold. The third song, "'United We Stand' on the Right Side of Right," was released on March 1, 2010 as a humorous coda to the incident. In the song, Carroll sings how he is largely satisfied with the resolution of the affair since it has given his career a spectacular boost. However, he also notes that many people have shared their similar complaints with businesses and they must not be underestimated again.
Carroll now gives public speeches about his experiences and his thoughts about
customer service
Customer service is the assistance and advice provided by a company to those people who buy or use its products or services. Each industry requires different levels of customer service, but in the end, the idea of a well-performed service is that ...
. Furthermore, he has also published a book, ''United Breaks Guitars: The Power of One Voice in the Age of Social Media''. In addition, in April 2017, he was interviewed on Canadian media such as
CBC and
CTV for a domestic perspective on the
United Express Flight 3411 incident where a passenger was forcibly removed from a plane due to
overbooking. Furthermore, Carroll also released a YouTube video detailing his thoughts on the incident and how his third protest song already states his general opinions about United and how they need to change. In this situation, Carroll considers a fourth "United Breaks Guitars" song unnecessary at this time, although he reserves the right to write one if the situation changes enough to warrant it.
Personal life
Aside from their busy music schedule, the Carroll brothers have also served as volunteer firefighters.
Don Carroll became a career firefighter in 2008.
Discography
The Carroll brothers are also solo artists.
Dave Carroll has released and toured his album of original work, ''Perfect Blue'', and in 2012 released an album called ''Raincoat in Vegas''.
Don Carroll, featuring his swing band, released a collection of his favourite jazz standards entitled ''Valentine Delivered'' in 2008.
In addition, Sons of Maxwell has released the following albums singles and music videos:
Albums and song tracks
Singles
References
External links
Sons of MaxwellOfficial website
Official Dave Carroll Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sons Of Maxwell
Musical groups established in 1993
Musical groups from Halifax, Nova Scotia
Canadian country music groups
Canadian folk music groups
Canadian folk rock groups
Canadian YouTubers
Canadian YouTube groups