Matthew Good Band

The Vancouver, Canada, group called the MGB, or the Matthew Good Band, formed in 1995 and quickly began stirring things up in the Canadian world of music. By 2000, they were further set to do a little stirring in the United States. The band walked away with a number of awards and nominations over the years, such as Best Male Vocalist, Best Live Performance, Artists of the Year, Best Group, Best Album, Best Video, Best Single, and more. The group's list of hits is growing just as fast. Members of the MGB are frontman Matthew Good as vocalist and guitarist, Dave Genn on keyboards and guitar, Ian Browne as drummer and percussionist, and Rich Priske as bassist.

When Matthew Good first formed the MGB, it was kind of by accident. He was recording a few songs he had written and called some musician friends together to help out. The name Matthew Good Band was just something he came up with, something he meant to use for a while until he could think up a better name. Fate happened to step in and take over. That first album, Last of the Ghetto Astronauts, an independent release, did better than any of them ever dreamed. It even earned the MGB Most Played New Artists for 1996. In 1997, a sophomore album, Underdogs, was recorded in Canada under the Darktown Records/A&M label. "Hello Time Bomb" was the first single released to the United States audience. It landed on the Billboard charts almost instantly. The single was followed in 1999 by another album, the accomplished Beautiful Midnight, completed on the Atlantic Records label. It was released in Canada first, debuting at number one on the Soundscan chart there, going double platinum, and then hitting the States for January 2000. Some of the other tracks from this first full-length offering to cross the border are "I Miss New Wave," "A Boy and His Machine Gun," "Running for Home," "Let's Get It On," "Failing the Rorschach Test," and "Strange Days." The Matthew Good Band released another album together, 2002's The Audio of Being, before Good began issuing material under just his name, beginning with 2003's Avalanche. His White Light Rock & Roll Review followed a year later, with the compilation release In a Coma: 1995-2005 appearing in the fall of 2005. ~ Charlotte Dillon, Rovi