Graham Edward Wilkinson was born in 1980 in the small East Texas town of
Denison to a Methodist minister father and a speech pathologist mother. He
s pent his early years moving from one small town to the next and picked up the
guitar at age 16, in an effort to mend his first broken heart. Graham finished
high school in Wichita Falls, TX and attended Hendrix College, Arkansas, in
pursuit of a fine arts and music degree. He decided to take a needed break
before graduation and traveled to the Greek islands of Mykonos and Paros
located in the Agean Sea where he worked at a diesel jet-engine power plant,
mingled among the locals and played his music in the streets. After gaining the
life experiences desired, he completed his degree in 2002. He then set out
upon another quest and traveled half way around the world to the Micronesian
island of Pohnpel, where he volunteered as an English teacher in the local
Jesui t school. While overseas, his older brother and best friend Aaron Rob ert
Wilkinson passed away in New York City. By far, his broth er’s death was the
most difficul t thing his family and he have faced. His brothers influence is easily
identified in many of Graham’ songs .You see, Aaron was singing and writing
in lower east side coffee shops, on the cusp of the Anti-folk scene. Hanging out
with the soon to be recognized Regina Spektor, Kimya Dawson, Adam Green
from the Moldy Peaches and the guys from The Strokes.
The Strokes went on to dedicate their second album "Room on Fire" to Aaron and all of these musicians continue to make appearances at the Annual
Memorial concert held in NYC every July.
Aaron’s death lead Graham back to the "states". "Had Aaron not passed away, I
may never have returned from my volunteer work on Pohnpel", he stated. It was
truly a crossroad in his journey, as he immediately knew upon returning to
Texas that he had to move to Austin to make "his music". The first few years in
Austin allowed Graham the opportunities to broaden his musical horizons from
leading a punk rock outfit to collaborating on an old-time/bluegrass quintet.
Unable to be pinned to one genre, Graham began developing a lineup of
interchangeable artists known as the Underground Township. Graham has
now found the sound he has bee n searching for with the current Underground
Township lineup and its reflective on his new album "YEARBOOK". Its been
well received by leading Austin radio stations KUT and KGSR and by his many
fans across the genres.
"YEARBOOK" features such artists as Alejandro Escovedo (No Depression
magazine Artist of the Decade), Hayes Carll (Top played Americana Record of
2009), and Lloyd Maines (Multi-Grammy winning producer/and father of Natalie
Maines).
The depth of his influences and breadth of his worldly experiences, are
unmistakable in this diverse collection of heart thumping tunes.From ska to
folk, honky-tonk to rock, his lyrics tackle such lofty and often neglected topics as
social responsibility and justice, political corruption and greed while consoling
the audience with pithy love songs and pure ‘feel good’ rhythms and melodies.
Though seen as the debut of this young songwriter one must know this is not
all we will hear and see from Graham, but rather an incredible step towards a
long musical journey.
