Chris Brokaw

Chris Brokaw grew up in and around New York City and moved to Boston in 1986. His first distinguished foray into rock was in 1990 as the drummer for slow-core progenitors Codeine, who by themselves seemed to establish a whole new sub-genre in music. After an LP and EP released over two years, Chris left the New York-based Codeine to play exclusively in Boston band Come, with whom he'd been playing guitar for about a year as well. He and co-founding singer/guitarist Thalia Zedek released four celebrated albums on the Matador label plus numerous singles. Their dark, blues-inflected rock vision was intimately tied into Brokaw's always expressively raw guitar stylings. The band exited quietly from the scene in 2001, even as Zedek completed her own solo work with backup by, you guessed it, Chris and others from the Come family.

In the last six years Chris has held even more moss at bay with his multiple contributions to other acts. These include stints as: guitarist for the Steve Wynn band, led by the ex-Dream Syndicate founder; drummer for The Willard Grant Conspiracy; one of four renowned guitarists in the band Pullman, also harboring Bundy K. Brown (Tortoise, Directions in Music), Doug McCombs (Eleventh Dream Day, Brokeback), and Curtis Harvey (Rex); drummer in The New Year, a post-Bedhead construction by the brothers Kadane; drummer and guitarist in Rivulets; and guitar-slinger once again in David Michael Curry's (Willard Grant Conspiracy, Thalia Zedek) Empty House Cooperative. Presently he also plays in Consonant, the new band led by Mission of Burma's Clint Conley, and accompanies former Lemonhead Evan Dando in his musical ventures.

So why hasn't he ventured forth previously to stand on his own? "No one asked me to," was his response. That is, until 1999 when Doug McCombs suggested he open up for Brokeback in a live setting. "Yeah, that's who's responsible for the mess we're in now," Chris offers. No doubt speaking for many, Kimchee would like to formally thank Doug for making this remarkable mess possible.