Atheneaum

Athenaeum was an alternative pop rock four-piece band from Greensboro, North Carolina, USA formed in 1990 at an eighth grade dance by Nic Brown and Mark Kano.

After several personnel changes, Kano and Brown recorded an eight song EP in 1995 with bassist Alex McKinney and lead guitarist Grey Brewster. The "Green Album," as it is widely known, sold about 10,000 copies.. The album was self-released and also distributed by Redeye Distribution.

In 1996 the band was signed by Atlantic Records. They released their major label debut, Radiance, in 1998. The first single, "What I Didn't Know," was a minor hit. During the recording phase for their next album, Brown left the band to attend college. He was replaced by Jeremy Vogt, who performed with the likes of Tonic and The Connells. Brewster also dissolved his membership with the group and was replaced by Mike Garrigan, the lead singer and songwriter of Collapsis.

This new line up played their first show on March 31, 2001, at Ziggy's in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The new set included Garrigan's Collapsis anthem, "October".

Athenaeum's second album Athenaeum was released on September 18, 2001. However, it received little promotion in the wake of the September 11th attacks.

Athenaeum was eventually dropped by Atlantic Records. They toured for an additional three years and released their final record, Hourglass, a collection of rare outtakes and demos, before performing their last show at Ziggy's in Winston-Salem, North Carolina on December 28, 2004.

Kano and Garrigan subsequently formed the band mg4 (with Alex McKinney, the original bassist for Athenaeum and Jeremy Vogt), who released an EP in the summer of 2004 titled Gravity Affects Me. "mg4" continues touring to date and information on shows can be found at Mike Garrigan's official website.

Brown went on to record and perform with bands such as: Skeleton Key, Claire Holley, Longwave and Ben Lee. He finished a creative writing degree from Columbia University in 2002 and occasionally surfaces around Chapel Hill, NC mostly doing sessions work for local artists or former bandmates. For a brief time Brown worked as a publicist for Yep Roc Records with former Athenaeum manager, Stephen Judge who has been with Redeye Distribution and Yep Roc Records since 2002 and is currently listed as General Manager of the company. Judge also helped start Eleven Thirty Records in 2004 and has worked with artists such as: Concrete Blonde, The Gourds, Daniel Lanois, You Am I, The Hothouse Flowers, Public Enemy and The Alarm.

Brewster's current musical projects are unknown and he currently resides in Charlotte, NC.

Discography

Albums
Untitled EP of eight songs (1995) (widely known as The Green Album and The Green CD)
Radiance (April 7 1998) Billboard Heatseekers peak #46
Athenaeum (September 18 2001)
Hourglass (July 30, 2002)

Singles
"What I Didn't Know" (1998) from Radiance. Billboard Hot 100 peak #58
"Flat Tire" from Radiance.
"Comfort" from Athenaeum.

Guest contributions
"Comfort" - Live in the X Lounge IV (2001)
"Forever and Ever, Amen" (Randy Travis cover) - Songs for Sixty Five Roses (2006)

**wikipedia.org