The Brown Hornets have crawled, slugged, and humped their way to becoming a ‘must-see’ band at several notable festivals: Pop Montreal, Musicians & Emerging Artists New York, Verge Boston, Lilac Festival Rochester, North by Northeast, and *Canadian Music Week (*received A+ review from Chart Magazine). In fact, they were the last Canadian band to perform at New York’s CBGBs several weeks before its unfortunate closure. They’ve also had the good fortune of sharing the stage with BB King, RL Burnside, Ted Leo & the Pharmacists, John Sebastian, Danko Jones, Horsey Craze (Constantines), King Khan, Elvez, Supagroup, Two Gallants, C’Mon, Die Mannequin, Mongrels (ex Tricky Woo), and Grimskunk. Not at the same time, of course.
The Brown Hornets’ lineage is thinly veiled: Little Richard, Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, Otis Redding, Sly & the Family Stone, the Who, the Velvet Underground, the Ramones—and, perhaps most fittingly, the Pointer Sisters. Though enamored by bands of yesteryear, the Hornets make no attempt to recapture the past. They recontextualize these sounds by dressing them up with hyper-aggressive tension and self deprecating humour. (yes, it’s a ‘growing up in the country’ thing). The Brown Hornets is, are, am, and be: Danny Walters on Vocals & Organ, Paul Kehayas on Guitar, Justin Heming on Bass, and Robin Mason on Drums.
Being There Magazine (Toronto) writes, ‘It was charisma that made The Brown Hornets the most memorable performance of the festival (North by Northeast), and one of the few that left me wanting more. Lead singer Danny Walters danced and interacted with the audience as if he had been gracing a stage his entire life. Give these guys enough exposure, and the Brown Hornets could be the saviours of rock ‘n’ roll’.
The Hornets released a self-titled record in May of 2007. It was recorded and produced by Sean Baillie (Pocket Dwellers, ‘Women & Song’ Comp.) and mixed by Darius Szczepaniak (Black Crowes, Sum 41). Thankfully, it has been charting and receiving regular air play in New York, Dover, Boston, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Windsor, and London. The Hornets are currently writing chart-topping material for a new album set for Fall 2008. And I have exhausted my ability to write 3rd person about my band, the Brown Hornets.