HISTORY OF THE BAND
In 1978, three students from Carleton County New Brunswick Canada attending the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton started a band. They were Alan Morris (guitar), Stephen Hunter (harmonica) and Garth Watters (drums). They acquired Kevin (Heavy) Maddox of Maddox Farms, Carleton County to play bass. Singer/guitarist Rick Bartlett from Williamsburg (almost in Carleton County but not quite!) started hanging out with the guys and became their first lead singer. They performed one show - a dance in a hall on the UNB campus - under the name "Ricky T And The OD's". Rick then moved to Toronto, and the other four found singer/guitarist Paul Bragdon, also a County boy, who was living in Fredericton and working as a McDonald's manager. This band performed at dances and various events around the UNB campus as "Native Flash and Funk" and played a selection of blues and rock favourites of the day, as well as a few originals. Rick Bartlett returned from Toronto and performed with this group every now and then. With the departure of Garth Watters later in the year, Billy Priestman of Fredericton was crowned to rule from the drummer's throne. In early '79 bassist Kevin Maddox returned to the County to work on his farm, and was replaced by Peter Sisk, a student from Moncton NB who was just finishing up at UNB. At this time Rick Bartlett joined up as a permanent member. The band now consisted of Paul Bragdon (Lead Vocals and Guitar), Alan Morris (Lead Guitar), Steve Hunter (Harmonica), Rick Bartlett (Lead and Harmony Vocals, Lead and Rhythm Guitar), Peter Sisk (Bass) and Billy Priestman (Drums). They changed the band name to Howard Brook Express, named after a friend's van which used to negotiate the sometimes rough County backroads to a camp in the community of Howard Brook, a place where folks could get away from it all, do some hunting and fishing and boating, have a beer or two and share a few laughs with some good buddies. It was this very kind of mood that the Howard Brook Express band tried to create at performances for its growing number of fans. Since the band was now a more-or-less fulltime occupation, bookings were stepped up and in the fall of '79 the "Express" was dropped from the Howard Brook name because of some bookers' confusion that this was a disco band and the Howard Brook Band was anything but! This lineup of personnel remained intact until January of '82, the only exception being the departure of harmonica player Steve Hunter in early '80 and he was not replaced. The five-man unit went on to perform around the circuit and eventually included a large amount of original songs in its repertoire, mostly penned by Paul, Alan, and to a lesser extent Rick. Rehearsals were intense with attention paid to the most minute details of arrangement, timing, who would be soloing when and where, etc. The hard work and persistence paid off as it caught the ears of Andrew McCain, currently the president of Loggerhead Records. Andrew took over management and suggested that the band should make a record, and the result was an LP called "Howard She Goin'", a collection of folk-flavoured tunes mostly focusing on the theme of trials and tribulations of growing up in Carleton County and other parts of Maritime Canada. In the summer of '81 the group played at the Atlantic Folk Festival, headlined by John Prine, and from that exposure the Howard Brook Band proved they were a force to be reckoned with anywhere in the Maritimes! January of '82 saw the departure of drummer Billy Priestman. He was replaced by Wayne Hynes from Newfoundland. Bassist Peter Sisk and singer-guitarist Rick Bartlett left the group in April of '82. Peter was replaced by Robert "Rocket" d'Eon of Kentville NS, and eventually Colin McRae of Fredericton was brought in to play keyboards. The band lasted another year or so in that formation.
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
Paul Bragdon owns Bragdon Music with his cousin Lloyd in their native Woodstock NB. Alan Morris is the principal of an alternative school called Carleton Project in Presque Isle, Maine, USA. Rick Bartlett
lives and works in Fredericton and plays in a band called Good Measure.
Pete Sisk is in Hamilton, Ontario playing in the
Scotty Campbell and band, and he's a webmaster and technician for Creative Radio, an independent internet radio station.
Billy Priestman is believed to be living somewhere around Kingston, Ontario. Steve Hunter has lived and worked in Oshawa, Ontario for many years and still plays his harmonicas sitting in with many bands in the area.
HOWARD
BROOK MUSIC!!
Recently provided my Alan Morris is a link to where you can hear some HBB tunes
from the album -- http://www.dooryard.ca/hbb/
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