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 spent his early years moving from one small town to the next and picked up the guitar at age16, 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 Jesuit school. While overseas, his older brother and best friend Aaron Robert Wilkinson passed away in New York City. By far, his brother’s death was the most difficult 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 been searching for with the current Underground Township lineup and it’s reflective on his new album “YEARBOOK”. It’s been well received by leading Austin radio stations KUT and KGSR and 12 other stations through out the country.
“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 successful musical journey.