- Greg Graffin
Infobox musical artist
Name = Greg Graffin
Img_capt = Greg Graffin on stage with Bad Religion in 2007 at theStarland Ballroom
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Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Gregory Walter Graffin
Alias =
Born = Birth date and age|1964|11|6|mf=yRacine, Wisconsin ,United States
Died =
Origin =Los Angeles, California ,United States
Instrument = Vocals,guitar ,piano ,harmonica
Genre =Punk rock Melodic hardcore Hardcore punk Folk Alternative country
Occupation =Musician ,lecturer
Years_active = 1980–present
Label = Epitaph, Atlantic,ANTI-
Associated_acts =Bad Religion
URL = [http://www.badreligion.com www.badreligion.com]Gregory Walter Graffin, Ph.D. (born
November 6 ,1964 inRacine, Wisconsin ) is the vocalist and co-founder of thepunk rock bandBad Religion , as well as alife sciences andpaleontology lecturer atUCLA .Biography
In 1980, at the age of 15, Graffin and a few high school classmates formed Bad Religion in Southern California's
San Fernando Valley . After making a name for themselves in the Los Angeles punk scene, releasing three EPs and two full-length albums, they disbanded in 1984. However, the band reformed in 1986 and released their highly acclaimed comeback album, "Suffer", two years later. The album was a comeback for Bad Religion as well as a watershed for the Southern California punk sound popularized by their labelEpitaph Records , which is owned by guitaristBrett Gurewitz . The band has recorded and toured frequently ever since the release of "Suffer". Bad Religion is known for its articulate and often politically charged lyrics as well as its fast-pacedharmony ,melody andcounterpoint .Graffin and Gurewitz are the band's two main songwriters, though Graffin wrote the bulk of the material on his own for a three-album period in the late 1990s when Gurewitz left the band. Graffin recorded a solo album in 1997, called "
American Lesion ", which consisted of softer, more pop-oriented songs. Most of this album was written during the break up of his marriage, and the songs reflect this in lyrics and style. After a stint with major labelAtlantic Records ended in the early 2000s, Bad Religion re-signed with Epitaph and Gurewitz rejoined. They have since co-written and recorded three records, the latest of which, entitled "New Maps of Hell ", was releasedJuly 10 ,2007 . In June 2005, it was reported that Graffin would continue his solo work with the release of "Cold as the Clay ." [ [http://www.shock.com.au/news/news_item.asp?News_ID=532 Shock.com news article] ] The new album is an amalgamation of new songs by Graffin and 18th- and 19th-century American folk songs. It was produced byBrett Gurewitz and released on ANTI- Records on July 10, 2006.Graffin attended
El Camino Real High School , then double-majored inanthropology andgeology as an undergraduate at theUniversity of California, Los Angeles . He went on to earn a master's degree in geology from UCLA and received his Ph.D. fromCornell University . The Ph.D. dissertation was officially azoology Ph.D., supervised byWilliam B. Provine at Cornell. The dissertation was entitled "Monism , Atheism and the Naturalist Worldview: Perspectives from Evolutionary Biology." It is described as being essentially an evolutionary biology Ph.D. but having also relevance to history and philosophy of science. [ [http://www.cornellevolutionproject.org www.cornellevolutionproject.org] ]Greg Graffin spends most of his time in upstate
New York , and teaches Life Science 1 atUCLA during the winter or fall quarters of each school year. [ [http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/news/2007/mar/01/evolution_professor/ UCLA Daily Bruin article] ] According to a recent interview with Bad Religion bassistJay Bentley , Graffin will be teaching there from January to March 2009. After that, Bad Religion plans to record their next album for a June 2009 release. [ [http://www.punknews.org/article/29193 Bad Religion looks ahead to 2009 album] ]Greg Graffin received the Harvard Secular Society's "Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award in Cultural Humanism" on
April 26 2008 . During the award ceremony he played some acoustic versions of Bad Religion songs as well as songs from his solo career. [ [http://www.harvardhumanist.org/2008/02/26/announcing-2008-cultural-humanism-awardee-greg-graffin/ Harvard Humanist Chaplaincy's Announcement of Cultural Humanism Award] ]olo discography
* "
American Lesion " (1997)
* "Cold as the Clay " (2006)References
External links
*
* [http://www.badreligion.com Bad Religion] official website
* [http://www.cornellevolutionproject.org/ The Cornell Evolution Project] , Graffin's Ph.D project
*
* [http://www.bad-religion.net Bad-religion.net] fan site
* [http://www.punknews.org/article.php?sid=9413 Interview with Greg Graffin and Brett Gurewitz] published June 12, 2004 on Punknews.org
* [http://www.magazine.ucla.edu/exclusives/bad-religion_greg-graffin/ "Reading, Writing and Rock 'n' Roll"] by Paul Feinberg, UCLA Magazine
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