home
The Grand Fiasco first came into being in Kansas City in the spring of 2001. Two promising bands from the area, The Troubadors and Four Score, had gone their separate ways leaving some very talented musicians bandless.
Among these talented musicians was guitar virtuoso/singer/songwriter Brian Brooks, Percussionist Nathan Herrington, guitarist/singer/songwriter Jerry Kolich, and Keyboardist/organist/guitarist Scott Middleton.
Not to be denied, these players set out to find a new vehicle for their talents and the seed that grew The Fiasco was planted. After searching around K.C. for a bassist, the boys found a bassist/singer/songwriter in Brad McTighe and The Grand Fiasco was born. Four years and more than fifty shows later, the Fiasco is still kickin’.
After early incarnations that included Mitch Higgins on drums, Stephen Leiker on keyboards, and later Chris McTighe on drums, The Fiasco settled on its current lineup of Brian Brooks, Brad McTighe, Nathan Herrington, Scott Middleton, and Matt Gader. Original founding member Jerry Kolich left the band to pursue a family, furthering the band’s emphasis on staying in touch with their professional and personal lives. Almost immediately, fans of extended improvisational jams and tight rock, funk, and country-rock progressions began supporting the fiasco and their moment by moment philosophy of making live music.
Quite a respectable following made up of some of K.C.’s finest young men and women gathered around the music to celebrate its many powers. From then to now, the Fiasco has strived to create a spontaneous show environment for the thinking fan as well as the fan who just needs to boogie. From Prog. rock heavyweights like Rush and Yes to the alt-country of the Rolling Stones to numerous original tunes penned by Brad, Brian, Scott, and Matt, the Fiasco keeps fans and themselves aware of the magic of live, improvised music by taking risks. Naturally, some pay off and others don’t.
The true energy of the music, however, lies not in flawless note by note performance, but rather in the commitment of a group of people to attempt something risky, with the common mind that elation cannot be measured by performance alone, but rather by the feeling of joy one gets when surrounded by friends with beautiful, strange, emotional, moody music in the air. Suddenly, one does not feel so small.