By By MARCIA STEFFENS / Niles Daily Star
NILES - You mat not know him by name but an undercurrent throughout the country recognizes his music.
Riverfront Cafe is bringing New Jersey's Garen Gueyikian, better known by the name Granian, to its intimate concert venue this Friday, Jan. 28.
For his newest and fourth CD "On My Own Two-Feet," he has a full band, but he will be appearing in Niles as a solo acoustic guitarist and singer.
Though he hasn't signed with record label, Granian been named by a major music magazine, Spin, as the hottest unsigned artist on the planet, with sales of more than 25,000.
His music is a mix of pop, rock and folk. Playing guitar since he was 14, the singer's first CD was released in 1996. After playing with a band for a few years, the singer is now going solo.
One of his own songs, "Foresight" was used in the show "Dawson's Creek."
Watson was contacted by Granian's booking agent, as he had an open date between a gig in Chicago on Thursday, and one in Detroit on Saturday.
What was interesting, Watson added, was the booking agent asked if they had ever heard of Stage Fright Remedy. "They're local kids, from Niles," she told him.
In fact, Stage Fright Remedy played at the Riverfront in the summer, and "were very well received and are extremely talented," she added.
Stage Fright Remedy will be the opening number for Granian, a local brother and sister who are also experience a rise in popularity through the Internet.
Rachel and Taylor Clark, grew up in a musical family. Their father Doug Clark, was once a performer. Clark, an artist in mid '90s, writes jingles for television and radio. He is still in show business helping newcomers such as Granian, and is his offspring debut their first CD. The youngest child of Doug and Diana is Dylan, 8, a student at Howard Elementary.
The young performers blend modern acoustic rock with traditional folk music creating a pop music experience. The theme of love, and love lost, can relate to both adolescents and adults who have had similar experiences.
Doing vocals, Rachel, 20, is a sophomore at Western University studying psychology. On guitar and also doing vocals, Taylor, 17, is a junior at Niles High School. They will be joined by Jess Silk on piano.
Stage Fright Remedy put their music on a web site: Purevolume.com, which allows bios and photos of budding artists, "70,000" of them, Clark said. His children were lucky and talented enough to be picked the week before Thanksgiving to be featured with seven or eight other artists, on the front page.
Immediately their music caught the ear of listening across the nation.
They had "40,000 hits on their web site," he said. "Stage Fright Remedy received an almost unmanageable amount of e-mails from all over the country requesting a copy of their upcoming album, as well as inquiries about possible bookings all over the country," Clark said.
While they have gained exposure by playing at clubs and coffee houses throughout the Midwestern area, Purevolume.com and Garageband.com have helped to bring their music to a broader, and extremely responsive audience.
When they do let their followers know where they will be playing, like when they were in Buchanan last week, via their Internet website, fans drive in from Detroit and Chicago to see and hear them in person.
More importantly in the long run though, was the interest their music evoked in a representative from Warner Brothers Records, who requested them to send a package for him to listen to. They are hopeful this will be the break they are waiting for.
Along with his children's success in their one and a half years of playing, Clark adds, "It is amazing what he (Granian) has accomplished on his own," where in the past artists needed to be discovered by a major record label.
Now when artists who have already built up a fan base independently go with a major label, they earn more money, he added.
For $5, at the door of the Riverfront Cafe Friday, Jan. 28, you can hear one set by Granian and Stage Fright Remedy. The music starts at 8:30 p.m.
For more information visit: www.nilesriverfrontcafe.com or call Doug Clark at (269) 683-9500.