Grilling Wilson

Grilling Wilson is an American pop/rock band from Braintree, Massachusetts. Comprised of Ryan Harrington(vocals/guitar), Brendan Ryan(vocals/bass), James Jarzyniecki(lead guitar), and Eric Donahoe(drums), the group formed while attending high school together in September 2003. The name is a reference to a friend of theirs from Junior High, Wilson Dang, who would commonly stare down, or in this case "grill" Harrington and former/forming member, Brian Manning, in the school hallways.

The early years

The group was formed by Harrington and Ryan along with their friend Brian Manning in the early fall of 2003. Besides a short lived Middle School cover band Harrington and Ryan had been a part of (Down And Out), this was the first time the boys had experienced being in a band. It was then that the three boys had just graduated from Junior High and were entering into high school, the idea of forming a band like some of their bigger influences (Nine Days, Third Eye Blind), Harrington and Ryan began writing music for the first time. Coming from this were three original songs that fell within that year: Harringon's "Childish To Say", Ryan's "Predictable", and the Manning/Ryan song "Cheese Doodles" Using nothing but Harrington's computer, a Cakewalk recording software, and a computer microphone, the three recorded and released the three song demo. The demo would go on to be passed around high school creating the first announcement of Grilling Wilson. Coming with this demo would be the band's drummer, Eric Donahoe, joining the band that same year. By the summer of 2004, the band had a line up of Harrington on vocals/guitar, Ryan on vocals/bass, Manning on guitar/saxophone, and Donahoe on drums. As a summer kickoff, the band had their first gig in Harrington's rec room: a gig featuring the three originals and many covers.

The next year, the band added a guitarist to their line up, friend and former Down And Out guitarist, James Jarzyniecki. With constant practices, the band added new originals to their repertoire such as Ryan's "Fast Lane" and Harrington's "The Mark You Left On Me." Unfortunately by December of 2004, Brian Manning had left the group at his own decision and band became the lineup that would stick for the majority of their time so far.

A few months later, the band would make their first full band demo, recorded live in a loft in Rhode Island. This demo featuring live and rough versions of "Childish To Say," "Fast Lane," and "The Mark You Left On Me," became referred to as "The Road To Rhode Island Sessions" and were not released for too long.

Recording "The Grilling Wilson E.P."

In The Spring of 2005, due to further concentration within his other band "The False Empiric, Donahoe decided to leave the group. His last performance with the group was during the BHS Spring Battle Of The Bands. Only a few days after, the band had a new drummer, then Freshman, Guy McGuinn. McGuinn would be with the group during the long sessions that would create the band's first proper EP, "The Grilling Wilson E.P." The E.P. was created at Rockwell Studios under the producing of Dan Joyce. The EP featured cleaner and newer versions of the then well known songs, "Fast Lane" and "The Mark You Left On Me" as well as three brand-new songs, Harrington's "Sunshine Don't Mean A Thing," Ryan's "My Message," and Harrington's "Let's Call It A Night." However, before the release of the E.P., McGuinn left the group out of interest differences. A few days later, Donahoe would come back and join the group just in time for the release of the E.P. on March 3, 2006

2006-2007 Demo

The next season beginning in September 2006 would become the most successful time for the band to date. As seniors of Braintree High School the band had become a well known band. The band had released its first line of merchandise with the infamous red/yellow Grilling Wilson t-shirts. The band had also come out with a new line of material under a three song demo recorded with Jon Perri of "Ericson" known as the "2007 Demo." Featured on the demo were, "Another Red Letter Day At The Business", "Don't Be A Stranger", and the band's first some-what single, "Helplessly Fallen." In the spring of this year, the band was asked to play Seventeen Magazine's fashion show in Macy's. It was here that the band met Fashion Show host, Kiss FM's Billy Costa who would then go to play "Helplessly Fallen" during his Top 30 Countdown a few weeks later.

Other Projects

In late 2005, Brendan Ryan started his solo work under "The Detour," releasing his first E.P. "Compilation Of You" in September 2007. He is currently working on a full length album scheduled for an Early 2009 date.

Eric Donahoe currently works sololy under the name, "Somatic" but also takes part in an acoustic duo with his brother Bill, called Duluth, which released its first full length, "In The Envelope" in mid-2007.

Ryan Harrington released his first solo full length entitled, "I'm Already Home" in Summer 2007. He commonly plays and collaborates with James under the name "The Moves."

2008 - Current

Going off to different colleges in the fall of 2007, the band took some time to adjust. Meeting up again that December, the band began recording their upcoming first full length album tentatively titled ""The Grilling Wilson Youth Band" The album is said to include new and final versions of some of the groups bigger songs as well as some unreleased material such as "Ain't Got Nothing," "Everything She Ever Wanted" and "Shining Star."