The Preakness

The Preakness arose from a collection of tunes, scratched out over years on various basement cassette tapes and legal pads. Scattered throughout Brandon Arnold’s collection of Maxell’s and TDK’s was a library of songs belying a penchant for catchy hooks, straight-forward structures, and a reverence for the sloppy simplicity of long-lost indie classics.

 

In 2005, he posted a few tunes on a then-new service called Myspace and soon got some positive feedback from bassist/vocalist Tracy Clark. Around the same time, Brandon and drummer Tim Genius rocked a couple of the early Preakness drafts at a practice space in Cabbagetown. Busy with other projects, nothing more came of these early seeds of Preakness until winter of 2006. A slightly drunken conversation between Tim and Brandon set the wheels in motion. They needed a third, and Brandon remembered Tracy. He asked. She said “sure,” and the Preakness was born.

 

After that first practice on a cold February afternoon, the tape hiss and quaint flubbery of Brandon’s early demos gave way to a more cohesive sound. Tim’s energetic, intuitive drumming coupled with Tracy’s natural harmonies and solid basslines breathed a vitality into the tunes only hinted at in the original demos, while maintaining the loose allegiance to the lo-fi aesthetic that gave the songs life.

 

The Preakness played its first show at the EARL April 20th, 2006. The band has since played many more shows, including well-received performances at Corndog-o-rama, the Paste Rock and Reel Festival, and a Syd Barrett tribute, and shared the stage with bands like the Celebration, Sound Team, Ultrababyfat, and Portastatic. The Preakness is out of the gate and running strong.

 

eskimo kiss will release The Preakness's debut recording, a 4-song vinyl EP, in March 2007. For a sampling of songs from the upcoming 7" visit www.myspace.com/thepreakness