Grown Children are the following, in no particular order, at no particular time...without forewarning...
Jared sings and plays guitar. Megan sings so so loud and plays glock and tambourine and keys and cocktail kit. Joe Plays Drums better than you. Quilty is small but plays bass big. Javier plays Trumpet something fierce. Aaron bangs the premiers. Sean plays bass and sometimes drums. Josiah plays Mandolin and blazing electric leads. Megan C. plays violin. Jake plays bass and sometimes Drums. Sam plays violin, banjo and keys. Andrew plays bass. Jordan plays drums and violas. Kevin plays drumkits. Josh plays the bass guitar and sings gang vocals. Gilbert plays keys, organs and synths. Cam plays percussion and drum set. Lisa plays gutar, and washboard and tambourine and sings. Brianne sings. Bri sings. I sing. You sing. yes.
"Stories are told with the cleverness and refined skill of an old-fashioned songwriter and filled with words that need to be heard – and shouted along to." -PERFORMER MAGAZINE
“Wicked-smart lyrics are in full effect...the brash, powerful sound of Mees' acoustic guitar and jumpy vocal melodies continues to chop his songs into delectable little pieces.” -LOCALCUT
"each song on Caffeine, Alcohol, Sunshine Money exudes a tone of child-like optimism." -NPR
"With Caffeine, Alcohol, Sunshine, Money, Mees has divorced the pursuit of a quick buzz and has wed himself to his band, who prove that man cannot live on guitar alone." -PENSATOS
"...one of the BEST I've heard in a while. Seriously - this band is my new favorite." -REVOLT MEDIA
"...quirky and trippy folk rock pop bop in the vein of The Flaming Lips, Weezer, King Missile and The Violent Femmes." -THE RUN OFF GROOVE
PRAISE FOR "If You Wanna Swim w/ The Sharks"
"Like Elvis Costello if he had grown up an American Stoner... If you wanna swim with the sharks... is fucking fantastic. " -WILLAMETTE WEEK
"A distinctly Portland blend of lo-fi and high quality – pervades his new album, “If You Wanna Swim With the Sharks …”... These are songs for the morning after and the night before" THE PORTLAND TRIBUNE
"Mees croons out emotionally laden numbers reminiscent of Conor Oberst but with a wordmanship indicative of the Lucksmiths..." PDX MAGAZINE
"Packed full of irresistible melodies and clever turns of phrase…between the varied instrumentation and deliberate dashes of harmony Mees displays an impressive talent with composition and signs of greatness to come” HARMONIUMMUSIC
If You Wanna Swim With the Sharks... is full of songs mixing highly palatable pop-punk and sincere and rambling indie-folk, with a wide-eyed exuberance... -INDIE FOLK FOREVER
PROFESSIONALS HARD AT WORK ON OUR BEHALF
Booking:
Smoke Signals Booking
theo (at) smokesignalsbooking.com
Label:
Tender Loving Empire
jared (at) tenderlovingempire.com
Santiago Uceda has made us a brand new T-Shirt. Tender Loving Empire printed them on super soft American Apparel shirts with a cool fade from Silver to Black. They're available from us in unisex sizes X-Small to X-Large. If you missed us on our summer tour, these are the very same shirts we had out there! Get one while they last!
Spring 2010 - Quilty, Megan, Jared, Javier, Joe Photo by Tyler Kohlhoff
The Summer 09 Children Megan S., Megan C., Nicholas, Josiah, Jared
The Spring Children:(l-r) Sam, Jared, Sean, Aaron, Megan Phtoto by G*Force
.. Caffeine, Alcohol, Sunshine, Money.. Hand Screenprinted Version Available for $10 from Tender Loving Empire
The Fall Children: Sam, Jared, Kevin, Megan, Jake Photo by Cameron Browne
The Summer Children: Sean, Jordan, Megan, Jared Photo by Tim Gunther
The story so far...
The brainchild of songwriter/composer/arranger/screenprinter Jared Mees, “The Grown Children” are the catchall name for the current amalgamation of players collaborating with Mees on recordings or on stage. Mees’ first solo effort “If You Wanna Swim w/ the Sharks” was named one of the best albums of 2007 by Willamette Week and called “fucking fantastic” by current Willamette Week Music Director Casey Jarman.
The first incarnation of the Grown Children was borne of a Panamanian Island, where Mees, his wife (and Tender Loving Empire co founder) Brianne and 2 friends wrote the bulk of the songs that would eventually become “Sharks...” After recording Sharks in L.A. and moving to Portland Mees embarked upon 2007’s ill fated and aptly named No A/C tour, with the members of Finn Riggins playing many of Mees’ songs.
Since then many friends have joined the Grown Children Family, and while the constant lineup changes and improvised, infrequent rehearsals would cause many bands to suffer, they have become the vitality of the Grown Children, giving live shows a devil-may-care energy and keeping the recordings on the new album Caffeine, Alcohol, Sunshine, Money dynamic, vibrant and honest.
About ..Caffeine, Alcohol, Sunshine, Money .. (out 10-07-08 on Tender Loving Empire)
Tender Loving Empire is proud to announce the release of Portland OR based, Jared Mees and the Grown
Children’s new full length album Caffeine, Alcohol, Sunshine, Money. The 11 song (+ bonuses) follow up to
2007’s “If you Wanna Swim W/ The Sharks” (Named one of the best albums of 2007 by Willamette Week will
cause fans of “high quality/lo-fi” (Portland Tribune) “wry wit and slacker folk charm” (West Coast Performer)
or “sprawling box car folk songs” (Portland Mercury) to take note. The band will tour the U.S. in October
Recorded at Mastan Music Studios in Portland OR and Produced by Jeremy Wilson (Dharma Bums/Pilot)
and principle songwriter Jared Mees, Caffeine, Alcohol, Sunshine Money features percussion/drum work from
Ezra Holbrook, (Decemberists, Dr Theopolis) viola and string arrangements by Jordan Dykstra, (VP - Marriage
Records, sometime contributor to Valet, Atlas Sound) accordion, piano and organ from Eric Gilbert
(Finn Riggins) and vocals by Megan Spear as well as contributions from a host of others.
hey Jared, We are gonna be in your neck of the woods playing the portland folk festival next friday. It is a free show at the know on friday night!!! Hope you can be there and we will try to catch your show on saturday, looks like a killer lineup. Is the street fair free?
THIS WILL BE AN ALL AGES EVENT, 10$ to get in, We have a Pool, BBQ, House, Techno, Breaks, Dubstep, Electro, Pretty Ladies. Full Bar for 21+ Plus a whole lot more. Come Soak up the sun and enjoy some good beats! ALL AGES ALL AGES,
Hey! If you are interested in guerrilla urban camping, you're going to love this. I'm currently camping in the city park and making an Internet mini-series based on my experiences. Episode II of Artopium's Guide to Urban Camping is now playing on my YouTube channel. Come check it out, and leave a comment! YouTube.com/StealthCamping
Thanks for being friends with Fair Trade Music PDX! If you haven't already, please take 5 minutes to complete our online survey. It’s completely anonymous, incredibly simple, and is essential to moving Fair Trade Music into the next level of venue implementation. The survey is at: http://fairtrademusicpdx.org/?q=node/275 It’s a cliché because it’s true – WE CAN’T DO THIS WITHOUT YOUR HELP! Thanks, and Solidarity, Fair Trade Music PDX
YAY!!! I wasn't sure if I should message you guys or not, so I kinda waited to hear from you. but yay! You should play at a all ages thing, cause my friends want to go too! I think my mom said you could play at my house! I would really like that. when are you going to be in Santa Cruz?
Hello all, I would like to welcome you to view the new and updated MirrorTree Music page! We have great MUSIC! If you enjoy sex, you will enjoy our MUSIC! Guaranteed great MUSIC! Come listen to our MUSIC! You won't be disappointed. :) - MTm Management.
Howdy! We lowered our prices for one inch buttons $18 for 100! and now you have the option to get 1.5 inch buttons! Still get rim text for free! Thanks -gnat Decaying Youth Buttons www.decayingyouth.com We are still making patches! www.faceplantindy.com
Whats good "THE ARRIVAL" coming soon!!!!!! Thanks for following the Movement HCB-ENT. twitter.com/chie2443 search facebook for CHIE or CHIE/2443 n check out the music leave comments send love Im in diff states right now so make sure 2 follow 2 find out my next spot CHIE2443 HCB-ENT. THIS OUR YR.
Hey whats up, love your sound by the way. Let us know what you think of ours. Thats awesome that your a local band,we should play some music together sometime….