The Arbutus Collective

In 2006 Brandon Chalmers began to form what is now known as The Arbutus Collective. It all started when Brandon began playing guitar in 1998 after his step father brought home a guitar from a pawn shop. For 6 years he tenaciously began to grow a passion for learning more and more through the influences of such artists as Ben Harper, Simon & Garfunkle, and Jack Johnson. As he began to write songs and play them at family gatherings and social events, they quickly became campfire favorites. After having many day dreams of playing music as a career, Brandon recruited long time friend, and guitar player, Jeremy Rae to help bring his musical creations to life. In October, 2006 Brandon moved into a house where Jeremy was living with hopes of spending more time playing music together and focusing on his song writing abilities. Upon moving into Jeremy's house, Brandon met Bob Peterson through a common friend of theirs who would eventually become his percussionist. Discussions of finding a base player lead Brandon to Jemia Fong, a friend in which he had met two years prior on a road trip. In October, 2007 Bob Peterson left the band to travel the world with his wife leaving the drum pounding up to yet another long time friend of Brandon's, Steve Wasstrom. A few months practicing as a band of four, the nameless group sought open mic nights at local cafe's around the city of Vancouver, BC. From playing only a handful of shows came invites to play more and more gigs until it was decided that they needed a name. Upon naming the band as The Arbutus Collective, they were contacted by musical engineer Josh Bowman (Bowman Sound) to record a demo record at the Warehouse Studios in Gas Town, Vancouver. Brandon and his band are now currently working on a full length independent album that should be out sometime towards the end of summer 2008. In the meantime The Arbutus Collective can be found playing shows in and around Vancouver and are working towards going on tour during the summer of 2008. If you cannot find The Arbutus Collective at either of the previous places stated, you may be able to find them at one of your local beaches watching the embers burn down over a good old fashion sandy jam!Masthead Banner Made with MyBannerMaker.com! Click here to make your own!I got my layout at Cleanupmyspace.com