The Gracious Few (also known as TGF) were an American rock group from
York, Pennsylvania
York (Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Yarrick''), known as the White Rose City (after the symbol of the House of York), is the county seat of York County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the south-central region of the state. The populatio ...
. The band featured guitarist Chad Taylor, bassist
Patrick Dahlheimer
Patrick Michael "Pat" Dahlheimer (born May 30, 1971, in York, Pennsylvania) is the former bassist for Live and bassist for The Gracious Few. Live have sold over 20 million records, including the 8× platinum album ''Throwing Copper''.
and drummer
Chad Gracey
Chad Alan Gracey (born July 23, 1971, in York, Pennsylvania, US) is the drummer for the bands Live and The Gracious Few. Live have sold over 20 million records, including the 8× platinum album ''Throwing Copper''.Live, along with lead vocalist Kevin Martin and guitarist
Sean Hennesy
Sean Robert Hennesy is a guitarist for the bands Candlebox,"Band" ''candleboxrocks.com''
from the band
Candlebox
Candlebox is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington. Since its formation in 1990, the group has released seven studio albums, several charting singles, a compilation, and a CD+DVD.
Candlebox found immediate success with the release of ...
.
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History
Formation
With Live on what they initially termed a "two-year hiatus", Taylor, Gracey and Dahlheimer were on a lookout for a vocalist for the new songs they had written. Gracey called his friend Kevin Martin and suggested that he should join them. Martin explained, "He called me and said Pat, Chad, and I have been writing and we think you are the perfect singer for this project.”
With Chad Taylor asserting that he no longer wanted to play guitar solos, Martin suggested that his Candlebox bandmate, guitarist Sean Hennesy, could do the job. Hennesy explained, "Tonally, he’s got a big, fat, manly beast sound. I have more of a high-cut karate sound that cuts through, so our tones complement each other very well." Once Hennesy was recruited, The Gracious Few's line-up was established.
On November 30, 2009 Taylor, Dahlheimer and Gracey issued a statement announcing that Live had disbanded following the departure of lead singer
Ed Kowalczyk
Edward Joel Kowalczyk (; born July 16, 1971)"Edward Kowalczyk IMDb entry" '' and that The Gracious Few was now their main focus. Their statement alleged that Kowalczyk had demanded a $100,000 "lead singer bonus" to appear with the band at the 2009
Pinkpop Festival
The Pinkpop Festival is an annual music festival held at Landgraaf, Netherlands. It is usually held on the Pentecost weekend (''Pinksteren'' in Dutch, hence the name). If Pentecost falls on an early date in May, the festival is held later in Jun ...
, and had obtained sole publishing rights to the band's songs without the knowledge of the other three band members.
The Gracious Few played their first concert date at ''Fat Daddy's'' in
York, Pennsylvania
York (Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Yarrick''), known as the White Rose City (after the symbol of the House of York), is the county seat of York County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the south-central region of the state. The populatio ...
on May 27, 2010. This was followed by shows at
Summerfest
Summerfest is an annual music festival held in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. First held in 1968, Summerfest is located at Henry Maier Festival Park, adjacent to Lake Michigan and Milwaukee's central business district. Summerfest attracts app ...
in Milwaukee on June 25, 2010 and The Troubador in Los Angeles on June 28.
''The Gracious Few''
The band began rehearsing in California in September 2009 and subsequently recorded their self-titled debut album. It was produced by
Jerry Harrison
Jeremiah Griffin Harrison (born February 21, 1949) is an American songwriter, musician, producer, and entrepreneur. He began his professional music career as a member of the cult band the Modern Lovers before becoming keyboardist and guitarist ...
of
Talking Heads
Talking Heads were an American rock band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991.Talki ...
and mixed by
Tom Lord-Alge
Tom Lord-Alge (born January 17, 1963) is an American music engineer and mixer. He began his career at The Hit Factory in New York. Subsequently, he was the resident mixer at what used to be known as "South Beach Studios", located on the ground ...
. The first single from the album is "Honest Man". In September 2010, Martin explained that it had been difficult to schedule the recording of the album because Gracey's wife was about to give birth, Martin and Hennesy were working with Candlebox and Taylor and Dahlheimer were involved in a film project. Also the band members lived far apart; Taylor and Dahlheimer in Pennsylvania, Gracey in
Orange County
Orange County most commonly refers to:
*Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area
Orange County may also refer to:
U.S. counties
*Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando
*Orange County, Indiana
*Orange County, New ...
and Hennesy and Martin in Los Angeles. Eventually, twenty songs were written in two sessions totalling only twenty two days.
The band undertook an extensive American tour in the latter part of 2010 in support of the album, beginning in
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...
on September 24 and concluding in
Ventura, California
Ventura, officially named San Buenaventura (Spanish for "Saint Bonaventure"), is a city on the Southern Coast of California and the county seat of Ventura County. The population was 110,763 at the 2020 census. Ventura is a popular tourist des ...
on December 11. In February 2011 the band undertook a short European tour, beginning in London on February 18 with a concert at
The Barfly
The Barfly was a chain of live music venues in the United Kingdom originally started by Nick Moore, Jeremy Ledlin and Be Rozzo on Valentine's Day 1997. Club nights and events tended to feature rock, alternative and independent music.
The flags ...
in Camden. They also played at the Rocklahoma festival on May 28, 2011.
In June 2011, Taylor announced that Live would be re-forming without Ed Kowalczyk. He added that new Gracious Few material would also be forthcoming."Exclusive Blog: Chad Taylor talks The Gracious Few and Live" ''The Comet'' - June 8, 2011