Brother Rock

Brother Rock is a life-time labor of love. Randy Gabbard, the band's founder and co-producer, has been playing professionally since the 70's in bands opening for the likes of Cheap Trick, Molly Hatchet, and the Ozark Mountain Daredevils. Hailing from Cincinnati Randy has been making music for the majority of his life. Still, every band, every gig from then until now, has been a warm up for this band and this time. Bruce Sanford, who is from Tempe, AZ. has been playing drums professionally...

Brother Rock is a life-time labor of love. Randy Gabbard, the band's founder and co-producer, has been playing professionally since the 70's in bands opening for the likes of Cheap Trick, Molly Hatchet, and the Ozark Mountain Daredevils. Hailing from Cincinnati Randy has been making music for the majority of his life. Still, every band, every gig from then until now, has been a warm up for this band and this time. Bruce Sanford, who is from Tempe, AZ. has been playing drums professionally since the 70’s. He played on the road with a band from Phoenix called Axsent who played all over the Southwest in the early 80’s and opened for The Guess Who and Stevie Wonder. He’s played with many local bands in the Tullahoma, TN area over the years since moving to Tennessee including a jam session with Blues legend Lonnie Mack, but finally found his calling when he started playing drums and percussion for Brother Rock. Clayton Griffin was born and raised in Memphis, TN and grew up listening to his parents music ( 3 Dog Night, Led Zepplin, Blood Sweat and Tears, and Mama’s and Papa’s). MTV was still young, and so was Clayton who was not allowed to watch it. So, of course, every chance he got his eyes were glued to the forbidden station. It wasn’t long till Clayton was initiated into the world of Metal; Black Sabbath, Megadeath, and the other luminaries of the Headbangers Ball. At fourteen Clayton went from observer to participant, when his father purchased the first bass guitar. Teaching himself to play songs by his new found heroes, music was still just a teenage hobby. In his later twenties the music interest became more serious and he was a part of a friend’s death metal band. But change was in the wind. A new wife, a new Christian outlook, a new church, and a new direction in music were all just waiting for the chance to enter Clayton’s life. After being approached by a youth pastor , Clayton turned out to be one of the GoTo musicians in the church. He became a part of a couple of the youth bands and played in the Wednesday evening band for the main service, quite a change from death metal in a friends kitchen. However, the church was not Clayton’s only musical outlet. He was also rehearsing with a southern rock band (Moonshine Mafia, out of Southhaven, MS) and a cover band (Potluck Rock, out of Memphis). Potluck Rock had numerous gigs, including a rooftop party and a new Memphis fair where they opened for and backed up country artist Trey Jewel. February of 2008 saw Clayton moving to Music City (Nashville). There he saw a website ad for the band Brother Rock, and they were looking for a Bass player. After contacting the band, Clayton was invited to one of their rehearsals. Things seemed to mesh very nicely and Clayton is now part of Brother Rock. West Virginia native, Alan Young is the Go-To guy for hotrod guitar in BroRock. Whether it’s rippin’ up a solo or screaming slide, Alan’s got it covered. Born and raised in Charleston, he received a Bachelor’s degree in Communications. But like so many, the call of the music was stronger than "regular" career. He took his "hobby" a step further and started working with several regional acts, playing in many well known venues; the Coal Miner’s Lounge, Stinson’s Bar, and many others. Among these bands were a couple that stood out. One was Alibi, who had some local success with one of their original songs, Back Street, and Par Avion who achieved enough regional stature to be offered a short British tour. This constant work was taking it’s toll, and in 1993 Alan moved to Nashville, TN to get away from the music business. Go Figure! Of course, as with any dedicated (hooked) musician, the need to get away was short lived. It wasn’t long before the bug bit again and Alan was working with Nashville pop/rock sensation Hitchcock Circus. When the "Circus" took a sabbatical, Alan began working with the ministers of funk, GODchild. It was only with slight of hand and some major coaxing that BroRock was able to acquire Alan’s services to complete the current line up. And the result is major rock-n-roll, with the best yet to come.