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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 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 session work for local artists or former bandmates.
The song "Flat Tire" from Radiance was a minor hit and had wide radio airplay in the Philippines particularly the radio station NU 107. It was in the top ten list for almost a year in NU 107 mid-night countdown.
Brewster's current musical projects are unknown and he currently resides in Charlotte, NC.
hey! what you been up to these days? I'm running a photo shoot SPECIAL till the end of may ;) get at me and lets get something booked, been wanting to shoot with you
This is my favorite band, I really would like to see them again sometime soon. is there anyone that knows when they are playing again? If you know of a place they are playing, can you leave a comment. thanks phillip
I think you guys played at either Riverfest or Azalea Fest in Wilmington like 10+ years ago. Can't remember if you played with Gran Tourino or not but I've been a fan of yours ever since!
Don't forget about The Pressure Boys reunion concerts this weekend at the Cat's Cradle in Chapel Hill. Friday, May 2nd is sold out but there are tickets available for the Sat. May 3rd show. All proceeds go to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
Saturdays concert was so awesome guys. Thanks for playing again. Wish I could see you guys more often. Please continue to do some reunion shows! Love you guys!
![J*i*F[VA Beach]](http://c2.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/116/s_10aad6058fdf93ecdba52714f36a3b61.jpg)
