Graham was raised in Luxemburg, a small farm town in rural Wisconsin with a population of a mere 1,100 friendly residents. Graham was like any other young boy and started dabbling in different activities to find out what would really interest him. At the age of 10, Graham was turned on to music and he started taking saxophone lessons. As he entered Junior High, the band director asked Graham if he'd like to learn a new instrument. The wide-eyed impressionable young Graham bravely stepped up to his next challenge. Soon, Graham expanded his study of instruments and now had tuba to add to his repertoire of musical feats now mastered. Next on his list was spending the summer touring and playing contra bass with the Northmen Drum and Bugle Corp of Green Bay, Wisconsin.
As his musical talents began to mature, Graham was approached by the Luxemburg-Casco High School choir director to audition for a musical, as they needed 13-14 year olds to play the children of the High School leads. On the day of the auditions, Graham had math homework to complete at the same time as the auditions, so he had decided he wasn't going to go. Fifteen minutes into the class, while feverishly trying to be a responsible student and complete his assignments, one of Graham's friends was sent by the choir director to get him. He told Graham that the choir director demanded that he be at the audition. He had a great many algebra problems to complete before class but after much coaxing, reluctantly Graham went to the audition. Midway through the audition, Graham had a revelation which would be a turning point in his life: He could sing!
Graham was only 13 years old with a pre-pubescent voice which was perfect for his next musical challenge. At the audition he received the nod for the high tenor lead in the quartet behind Albert in "Bye Bye Birdie" Graham was ecstatic!
He ran home to tell his parents of his newest accomplishment. He bolted into the dining room where his father was eating his dinner. "Dad!!! Guess what???" he shouted, barely able to contain himself eager to see the proud look on his dad's face. Dad was a stocky, tough wrestling coach with hands calloused from years of farm work. Definitely a manly man, he was anxious to hear the news charged with testosterone that his boy was either the new quarterback of that he defended himself against the bully and won. Dad lit up with hope for this great news. Graham puffed up his chest while trying to catch his breath at the same time and proudly exclaimed, "I got a part in the high school musical!"
The dead silence was broken by Dad's fork clanking onto his plate after what is still historically perceived today as the longest, slowest fall a fork could possibly make. Dad stared at Graham and mulled over how to tell his friends that his son, a wrestler, football player, and baseball player, would be singing and dancing on stage. Dad asked as calmly as he could possibly muster, "You did WHAT?!" The delivery of his question somewhat matched that pre-pubescent pitch Graham so magnificently executed earlier that afternoon.
After his first performance, sailing on high A without effort during his quartet lead, Graham received many unexpected accolades from many who heard his beautiful voice. The audience's reaction was incredible; however it was the tears welling up in his brawny father's eyes that made Graham believe he had a special gift.
Throughout high school, Graham participated in many choirs, bands, plays, musicals and was a three-sport athlete, but it was his role as Tony is West Side Story his junior year of high school which convinced Graham that singing is what fulfilled him most.
After high school, Graham attended Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin on a partial music scholarship for Vocal Music Performance. He studied voice intensely, taking German, Italian, French, and Latin courses. Graham was immersed in classical voice training at a top university where many graduates ultimately perform on the stages of Germany, Australia, or the Met. While studying voice, Graham was also the captain of his college wrestling team. Although he knew music was his future, he could not give up his passion for the sport of wrestling. He would never give into the notion that singers were supposed to be sissies, that "choir boys" weren't tough.
In 1999 as a lover of cappella music, Graham received an invitation from a professional acappella group in Atlanta, GA called Vocal Tonic to audition for an opening they had in their lineup. Graham sent Vocal Tonic an audition tape and waited for a response. After a couple of weeks Vocal Tonic invited Graham to fly to Atlanta to audition in person. At the age of 24, having spent all his years in Wisconsin, Graham had never been on an airplane before. His first flight would be to Atlanta, GA, by himself, to audition for his future.
Graham was accepted into the group and two months later all his worldly possessions (which consisted of some clothes, a twin bed, and a 19" television) were loaded into a 1986 Chevy Cavalier and headed for Atlanta, Georgia. Vocal Tonic toured the country and produced various recordings, but after 3 years decided to call it quits. Graham was burned out from the music scene, he didn't think he'd sing again.
Paul Tate, founding member of Vocal Tonic and the person who hand picked Graham for the group, was also an accomplished Christian recording artist and composer. Paul asked Graham to sing at his church and do some recordings with him. Ten years and multiple recordings later with Paul, Graham is still singing and branching out on his own.
Graham believes, "We may cross paths with someone today who will change our future FOREVER. We all have to take risks." Had Graham stayed in his class and completed all his algebra problems, he probably would have gotten an A. However, he may have never realized the gift God had given him... the gift that still makes his father cry each time he hears his boy sing.
the moral of Graham's story is... don't do your algebra.
Carpe Diem.