The Brakes are a rock band formed in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 2002. The original five members were Zach Djanikian, Matt Kass, Derek Feinberg, Josh Sack, and Adam Flicker. In 2006, they performed at

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

Showcase, as well as many festivals such as All Good, High Sierra and

Wakarusa Wakarusa can refer to several things in the United States: * Wakarusa, Indiana * Wakarusa, Kansas * The Wakarusa River, a tributary of the Kansas River * The Wakarusa War, part of the Bleeding Kansas violence before the American Civil War * Wakarus ...

. Their national touring has also enabled them to share the stage with artists such as

Dave Matthews Band Dave Matthews Band (also known by the initials DMB) is an American rock band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1991. The band's founding members were singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer and bac ...

O.A.R. O.A.R. (short for Of A Revolution) is an American rock band, founded in 1996 in Rockville, Maryland. The band consists of lead vocalist/guitarist Marc Roberge, drummer Chris Culos, guitarist Richard On, bassist Benj Gershman, saxophonist/guitar ...

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (197 ...

John Fogerty John Cameron Fogerty (born May 28, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. Together with Doug Clifford, Stu Cook, and his brother Tom Fogerty Thomas Richard Fogerty (November 9, 1941 – September 6, 1990) was an American mu ...

Live Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film *'' ''Live'' (Apocalyptica DVD) Music *Live (band), American alternative rock band * List of albums ...

, and

Widespread Panic Widespread Panic is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. The current lineup includes guitarist/singer John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Duane Trucks, percussionist Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz, keyboardist John "JoJo" Hermann, and guit ...

. The band has had multiple EP releases, regular rotation on station

WXPN WXPN (88.5 FM) is a non-commercial, public radio station licensed to The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that broadcasts an adult album alternative (AAA) radio format, along with many other format shows ...

in Philadelphia, and near capacity headliners at

TLA TLA may refer to: Organisations * Tennessee Library Association, a professional organization for librarians in Tennessee * Texas Library Association, a professional organization for librarians in Texas * Tour de las Américas, a professional gol ...

. In 2002, The Brakes set the record for highest ticket sales at The Point in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. In early 2006, The Brakes joined forces with

H&R Block H&R Block, Inc., or H&R Block, is an American tax preparation company operating in Canada, the United States, and Australia. The company was founded in 1955 by brothers Henry W. Bloch and Richard Bloch. As of 2018, H&R Block operates approximat ...

and became the face of the company's "TaxCut program" advertising campaign. The advertisements were featured on major national networks during shows like

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...

and

The OC ''The O.C. '' is an American teen drama television series created by Josh Schwartz that originally aired on the Fox network in the United States from August 5, 2003, to February 22, 2007, running a total of four seasons. "O.C." is an initiali ...

. The "TaxCut Program"'s print campaign graced the back covers of

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

, and

Us Weekly ''Us Weekly'' is a weekly celebrity and entertainment magazine based in New York City. ''Us Weekly'' was founded in 1977 by The New York Times Company, who sold it in 1980. It was acquired by Wenner Media in 1986, and sold to American Media Inc ...

. On Father's Day 2006, Djanikian was chosen to sing "

God Bless America "God Bless America" is an American patriotic song written by Irving Berlin during World War I in 1918 and revised by him in the run up to World War II in 1938. The later version was notably recorded by Kate Smith, becoming her signature s ...

" during the seventh innings stretch at the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

game. Josh Sack, drummer for The Brakes, was diagnosed with

acute myeloid leukemia Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a cancer of the myeloid line of blood cells, characterized by the rapid growth of abnormal cells that build up in the bone marrow and blood and interfere with normal blood cell production. Symptoms may includ ...

in August, 2007 and he died on May 4, 2008, two days before the day of the release of their Hyena Records album, ''Tale of Two Cities''.Joshua Sack, 22, rock drummer , Philadelphia Inquirer , 05/06/2008
/ref> The album is a tribute to Sack's life and a showcase of his talents as a performer. Sack's successor, Spence Cohen, has been drumming with The Brakes since late April 2008. The Brakes are winners of the 8th annual Independent Music Awards Vox Pop vote for best Live Performance Album "Tale of Two Cities".

Discography

*''EP 1'', 2004 *''EP 2'', 2005 *''2006 Demo'' *''Tale of Two Cities'' 2008

References

External links

The Brakes MyspaceThe Brakes WebsiteThe Brakes Tour Blog

Band press

Jambands.com New Groove of the Month
review by Mike Greenhaus, May 17, 2006
WXPN "Philly local" review"The Brakes: Neighborhood band grows together"
Stewart Oksenhorn, ''Aspen Times'', January 19, 2007
Highs and New Lows: High Sierra 2006
John Zinkand, 2006-07-20
The Brakes on The Mag
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brakes, The Alternative rock groups from Pennsylvania Musical groups established in 2002 2002 establishments in Pennsylvania Musical groups from Philadelphia