Brad formed officially in 1992 (though the members had been playing together for a long time before that) and in 1993 released their debut album Shame. Brad includes 4 friends from the Seattle area who are musicians, including Stone Gossard (of Pearl Jam fame), Regan Hagar (former member of an early Grungeband Malfunkshun), Shawn Smith (also a member of Pigeonhed and Satchel) and Jeremy Toback.
While often considered simply a side-project of Stone's, Brad has a sound all its own, due to the wide variety of influences brought to the band by its members. The distinctive vocals of Shawn Smith are a major factor in this sound.

Shawn Smith contributed on the tiltle-track for the Belgian group Arsenal on their album Lotuk. He is currently spending his 2008 summer touring along with the band.

Brad has released 4 albums for so far and a new release is expected in 2008.