The Good Brothers will perform at the Etwell Concert Series on Sunday, Aug. 4. Merv and Donna will open at 2:45 p.m., and The Good Brothers will take the stage until 6 p.m.
Admission is a suggested $20 cash donation (at the gate). Kids are admitted for free. The location is 2012 Etwell Rd.
The title of The Good Brothers’ current album, Wide Awake Dreamin’, aptly conveys how the brothers feel as they reflect on decades of writing, recording, and performing music together.
In 1970, twin brothers Bruce and Brian Good of Richmond Hill, Ontario, met James Ackroyd from Winnipeg, Manitoba, and formed a band simply called James and The Good Brothers. Their first show was with Grand Fund Railroad at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. Then came the cross-Canada tour on the outrageous Festival Express with such artists as The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Ian & Sylvia, Ten Years After, Traffic, and The Band, just to name a few. With a little help from friends The Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane, they recorded their first album on Columbia Records. What excitement – the nights at the renowned Troubadour in West Hollywood, the gigs at San Francisco’s famed Fillmore West and Winterland Ballroom with The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and the New Riders of The Purple Sage.
Later, James would choose to remain in the U.S. while the brothers returned home to Canada and recruited younger brother Larry. This was 1973 and would be the beginning of a wonderful musical trip… The Good Brothers. Their first gig was the legendary Toronto club, The Riverboat, on May 14, 1974. They played simple, straight-from-the-soul music that encompassed country, bluegrass, folk, Celtic, and the occasional taste from their rock & roll songbook. Highlighted by Larry’s fiery banjo breaks, Bruce’s award-winning autoharp styles, Brian’s guitar fingerpicking, and their unique sibling harmonies, they produced enough energy to burn down the barn.
It wasn’t long before The Good Brothers were packing Toronto’s fabled El Mocambo five nights a week, breaking bar records, attendance records, and exhausting determined dancers. Then, there were eight straight Juno awards for Best Country Group, headline gigs at Toronto’s Massey Hall and Roy Thompson Hall, The National Art Centre in Ottawa, and weeks at L.A.’s Universal Amphitheatre with their mentor Gordon Lightfoot. There was even a certified gold self-titled double album.
They kept the flame glowing and the music flowing throughout the 1980s, 90s, and beyond. Canada’s musical soundtrack included The Good Brothers throughout all those years.
In 2004, they were honoured by being inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame and receiving two nominations for Country Group and Roots Artist of the Year at the Canadian Country Music Awards. In 2015, they received a “Lifetime Achievement Award” from the Toronto Musicians Association and, in 2016, were inducted into the North American Country Music Association International Hall of Fame in Tennessee.
In 2019 The Brothers received the Impact Award from The Country Music Association of Ontario which recognizes artists and individuals who have made a lasting impact on the landscape of country music in the province.
This year, The Good Brothers are off to Europe again, marking their 41st tour on the other side of the Atlantic. To see the brothers live is an experience not to be missed. The music, intertwined with side-splitting stories and song introductions, is said to be as entertaining as their songs.
Today, the warm family harmonies are still there on their sixteenth recording, “Wide Awake Dreamin’.” Their music lives on, and the songs still come straight from their hearts to your tapping toes and the smile on your face.
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