// The Gleam //


Official website: www.thegleamusa.com
Myspace page: www.myspace/thegoddamngleam

// Bio //

THE GLEAM is a 3-piece Punch-Country band from the heart of Chisago County, MN, located about 60 miles north of the Twin Cities. This area is the dividing line between the suburbs and the rural small towns; where trailer parks, strip malls, and bars break-up the monotonous fields, swamps, and forests.
Zachary Johns (Vocals, Guitar) and Blackie LaCoushiair (drums) began wood shedding in the spring of 2000 under the name THE GLEAM. Recording on an old Teac four-track recorder in Blackie’s farm house basement, they created a few “home made” - Indie Rock/Noise Art meets Americana - mini albums. Recruiting Zachary’s elementary school mate Timmy Wreck (Bass, Vocals, Piano) to play the 2001 Mr. Minnesota Contest, THE GLEAM continued to refine their sound. In September 2003, due to sporadic activity, Blackie quit. Now without a drummer the two soldiered on with an idea to make a “lo-fi country album” about home.
Eric Gustafson, a local landscaper, who also once was the singer/bass player in the mid-eighties Minneapolis punk band, Baby Astronauts, was brought into fold. Deciding to record in a “real studio”, they began work on what would become “The Chisago County E.P.” in January 2004, at Flower Pot Studio in Nordeast Minneapolis. THE GLEAM started playing gigs in and around Minneapolis, to help pay for the recording, and to see if anyone would care. Their often drunken, always energetic live shows quickly created a buzz and gained them a loyal following. In September of 2004, when they where finally ready to release the album, Eric quit. Being ten years their senior, he felt that he could not give THE GLEAM his all. Not wanting to give up, Zachary and Timmy convinced their high school buddy, Butch, to play drums. After only one rehearsal, they were back playing gigs.
“The Chisago County E.P.” was released on Dec 7th 2004 on SMA Records/Lo-Fi Mein. It received great reviews, radio play, and was named “Best Album of the Last 12 Months” in the “Best of the Twin Cities ‘05” issue of the City Pages. Tours followed, and work on a full-length album began. Yet, in September of 2005, Butch quit, for reason’s THE GLEAM will not disclose. Johnny Bon-Bonnie, Timmy’s younger brother, got the job on the cursed drum chair.
With his energy, THE GLEAM has become an even more dynamic live band. In January 2006, the three went to Sparta Sound Studio in Sparta, MN. An analog facility in a converted church, set in the middle of Minnesota’s Iron Range. In four days they recorded “Lookout for Evils”, a much more ambitious full-length album, which they released on April 4th, 2006, again on SMA Records/Lo-Fi Mein.
They are sure Johnny Bon-Bonnie will make it through September.