Grapes of Wrath: Acoustic Duo

Kevin Kane first met Tom Hooper in 1977 (when they were aged 13 and 11) after

Kevin and Tom’s older brother Chris bonded over a mutual love of The Beatles

when the two had entered junior high school in Kelowna, BC. Kane started

hanging out with the Hoopers in their basement for regular Friday night jam

sessions, where they essentially learned to play their respective instruments

together.

By 1983 - influenced in equal parts by the British Invasion of the 60s and the DIY

attitudes and immediacy of punk and new wave - the trio took the name The

Grapes Of Wrath and began working on the songs that would make up their

debut EP (1984) and first album (“September Bowl Of Green”) in 1985, released

by the fledgling Vancouver indie Nettwerk Productions. The band were soon

signed by Capitol/EMI for the albums “Treehouse” (1987, with the breakout

singles Peace Of Mind and Backward Town), “Now And Again” (1989, building

on their successes with All The Things I Wasn’t and What Was Going Through

My Head), and “These Days” (1991, featuring the hits I Am Here and You May Be

Right). Thanks in no small part to the support of MuchMusic, The Grapes

enjoyed gold and platinum sales and sold out shows at home in Canada,

extensive radio play, and toured Europe twice in support of albums that also

saw release in Japan, Australia, and South America. Then - with international

success looming and for reasons no one is entirely clear on - the band

disbanded in 1992.

Tom and Kevin resurrected the Grapes in the late 90s, releasing the album “Field

Trip” (2000) on the Song Corp label, who folded immediately after it’s release.

They came together again in the summer of 2009 for a series of acoustic duo

shows around BC, celebrating their enduring friendship and the music they had

created together. The following year, an offer from a festival for a full band

reunion led to the return of drummer Chris, and the original three recorded “High

Road” (2013 - named after the street the Hoopers lived on when they first

started playing together as kids), their first album of new material in almost 22

years. They have been gigging regularly ever since and are arguably the longest-

running and still-active “original lineup” in rock.

Now - and as they had done briefly in 2009 - Tom and Kevin will once again hit

the road as a duo to perform The Grapes’ music in an intimate and unplugged

setting - telling the stories behind the songs and putting the focus on the

harmonies and melodies of their timeless music.