Todd Kerns

Todd Kerns (born December 5, 1969 in Lanigan, Saskatchewan, Canada) is a Canadian musician who has worked with several successful Canadian bands, most notably Age of Electric.

Early years

In the 1980s Kerns started playing with a band called "The Wicked Infants", a cover band who played a few original tunes. After "The Wicked Infants", he joined another cover band named "Bladerunner", which didn't really amount to anything.

In 1989, Kerns moved to Calgary, Alberta and started writing songs. Todd and his brother John Kerns joined with another set of brothers, Kurt and Ryan Dahle, to form a band named "Electric", originally playing a lot of LA glam rock-era covers. At gigs, they sold a 5-song cassette entitled 'Electric' and an album called 'The Latest Plague' under the "Gods Teeth Ethel!" label. Later on, the band changed its name to "Age of Electric".

Breakout years

In 1994, the band released the 'Ugly' EP, which sold well independently. The group gave Cargo the rights to distribute the EP, and its title track debuted on the Canadian Album Charts at #73. Invasion Group Management helped with the promtion of the album, and got 'Ugly' video airplay on Muchmusic. No major label deal was in sight, so the group decided to continue and release an independent LP called 'Untitled'. In the 'Ugly' video, Todd Kerns had long hair, which was subsequently cut down to a shorter length to accommodate the grunge style.

After performing at Music West in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1995, "Age of Electric" group got signed to Mercury records, and re-released 'Untitled' as "The Age of Electric". They won a Canadian Rock Award for 'Best West Coast Independent Artist'.

In 1997, Kerns starred in the independent film "Horsey", which saw little critical support. Also that year, "Age of Electric" released their most successful album "Make a Pest a Pet", and their song "Remote Control" gained heavy airplay on both radio and television channels.

In March 1998, Age of Electric was nominated for "Best New Group" at the Juno Awards.

Meanwhile, the Dahle brothers had formed a side project known as Limblifter, and Age of Electric fell dormant in 1998, disappearing after a 1999 cross-Canada tour as openers for fellow countrymen Our Lady Peace.

Post-Electric Age

After the dissolution of Age of Electric, Kerns started a number of his own projects. In addition to Todd Kerns Odyssey (TKO), Kerns formed the group Static in Stereo with brother - and fellow Age of Electric member - John Kerns, younger brother Ryan Kerns, and drummer Scott MacCargar. They released a self-titled album in 2002. The band was nominated for a Canadian Radio Music Award for "Best New Group" in 2002. [ [http://www.cab-acr.ca/english/media/news/02/nr_crma_jan1502.pdf] "5th Annual Canadian Radio Music Awards Announce red-hot list of nominees" - NewsNouvelles, Canadian Association of Broadcasters, January 15, 2002]

Todd, among other artists, was also briefly considered to front Velvet Revolver [ [http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/BlabberMouth.Net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=26629] "Canadian Singer TODD KERNS Misses The VELVET REVOLVER Boat" - BLABBERMOUTH.NET News Archive, Sep. 8, 2004] , though that position was ultimately filled by Scott Weiland.

He joined Faster Pussycat on 2007 for their 20th Anniversary tour.

References

External links

* [http://www.myspace.com/toddkerns MySpace Profile]