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In a search to find others interested in trading videos of live shows, drummer/singer Bob Nanna, of Friction, placed a classified ad in Maximum Rock 'n Roll and met drummer Roy Ewing, of Champaign-Urbana, IL, in 1993. That fall, Bob, a freshman at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, started hanging out with Roy, who played in Lowercase N. Bob's friend guitarist Pete Havranek, of 42 Loads and Inkadink, wanted to play with someone new, so Roy volunteered. Bob became their singer and guitarist, Jay Ryan joined them on bass, and Braid was born.
Shortly after, Jay left the band and went on to play with Hubcap and Dianogah. Todd Bell, who had played with Roy in Lowercase N, replaced Jay on bass. Kate Reuss was recruited to sing. Braid played their first show December 10, 1993, in Danville, IL. Kate left the band after the second show.
After this, Braid went through some drastic changes. Bob's other band, Friction, broke up for good, which meant that Braid was no longer a side project. Chris Broach joined as singer. Pete left the band in August 1994, and Chris took over on guitar. A week later Braid recorded the Rainsnowmatch 7-inch, which was released in December 1994 on Enclave Records. Braid's debut album Frankie Welfare Boy Age Five was released in June 1995 on Divot Records.
In March 1997, Roy left the band. Damon Atkinson, of Figurehead, joined Braid's spring tour and became the band's drummer. Two years later, in August 1999, Braid disbanded; the posthumous Lucky to Be Alive followed in the spring of 2000.
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