Artist:The Czars
Song:Paint the Moon
Album:Goodbye
The Czars was a folk rock band that had modest success in the late 90s. After disbanding, Czars leader John Grant has recorded solo. He was born July 25, 1968 in Buchanan, MI. His family moved to Parker, CO when he was 12 years old. Grant is gay and his parents were conservative Methodists. The conflicts were enough that Grant moved to Germany in 1988 to study languages. He was a big fan of 80s bands like The Cocteau Twins. Grant returned to Denver in 1994 and formed the band Titanic with Chris Pearson on bass and Jeff Linsenmaier on drums. Grant was lead singer and he played piano. Guitarists Andy Morley and Roger Green were added later. Grant changed the band name to The Czars. They released the 2006 album The La Brea Tar Pits of Routine on their own Velveteen label. Grant wasn't happy with it so he sent it to bassist Simon Raymonde of his favorite band The Cocteau Twins for tips. Raymonde had just started his Bella Union label so he agreed to help Grant and release The Czars albums on Bella Union. That led to the 2000 album Before...But Longer followed by the 2001 album The Ugly People vs The Beautiful People. At that point, Raymonde wasn't willing to continue to finance The Czars' albums with little return. So Grant raised the money to record the 2004 album Goodbye. This turned out to be The Czars' most successful album. Then they split up. Goodbye is available as a budget CD. Grant quit the music business and moved to New York. But a chance encounter with the folk rock group Midlake convinced him to record solo. And that's what Grant has been doing since 2010. He moved to Iceland in 2013. His latest album was released in 2021. Here's The Czars performing Paint the Moon.
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