The term "justmegan" plain and simply began as a stage name that was used to represent an 18 year old girl, Megan Carlson, a singer/songwriter from Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. This name has remarkably evolved from a one-woman-band to a tight, rock and blues group, with each member offering an essential, irreplaceable talent.

You might ponder, "is that a typo?" No! You have read correctly. "justmegan," all lowercase letters and one word, to boot, is completely deliberate. What started as a clear indication of a young woman establishing herself in the musical world, has grown into a close-knit group of musicians completely using their individual talents to accentuate her original songs. Together, they have created a very unique sound that blends blues, rock, and indie music with influences from various other genres to become quite the musical force. The name was originally intended, "Just Megan." to be certain people would know there was, in fact, just Megan: her guitar, her vocals, and her raw implausible gift for writing deep, melodic songs of well beyond her years. Her paradigms were entirely shifted, as her hopes of having a full band to support her music had finally come to pass. "I love to create independently. But, by no means am I the lime-lighter type. I firmly believe that as an artist, you have to be willing to be a team player and work together and compromise. You can't do it all on your own. When that begins, sadly, it's reflected in your music. They don't say two heads are better than one for nothing!" Carlson chuckles. "Besides, there's no feeling better than other musicians wanting to play TO you! It's easy to go strictly acoustic all the time," she articulates.

In June of 2006, the band released their first album as a unit, Blue Avenue, gaining a whole new entourage of fans and radio stations, as well as a well-known author from Alabama, "Quillan." "[The album] is a well "put-together" project [with] excellent music, well written lyrics, and good photo work. I highly recommend it," he raves.

In addition to writing and performing inimitable tunes for all types of listeners, the band is extremely passionate towards using music to benefit assorted organizations. In the past, a track off their debut album was featured on a compilation disc to benefit cancer research. Most currently, the band is working with Illumina Records. Their latest endeavor was participating in a "Rockers for Life" campaign to promote drunk driving awareness.

As if this now 22 year old front woman for "justmegan" isn't busy enough with creating music, she is a recent college graduate teaching elementary students, in addition to creating digital art for an accomplished author, while continuing to photograph as a side hobby. Her vocals have been compared to those of Pat Benatar, Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac, Tracy Chapman, Chrissy Hynde of the Pretenders, Blondie, Joan Jett, Jewel, Ani Difranco, Lisa Marie Presley, and most recently, Aimee Mann.

Currently, the band has just released their second album, I Get What I Want, and their music is being played on over 100 FM radio stations, as well as numerous Internet stations, podcasts, and XM/Satellite radio. For more information, or to hear sample tracks, visit www.justmegan.net or check out their myspace site at www.myspace.com/justmeganmusic.

We are also currently on TONS of sites so please be sure to check them all out! (listed below)
Visit www.justmegan.net to see them all!

One Brave Soul is:

kip - vox/guitars
lex - bass
kenny - drums

I try to put something into each song that will disarm the listener in some way... to evoke certain feelings or thoughts.... or even colors in some cases. I think in some of our songs you could be looking at the bare shell of the music and thinking, well this isn't much... but lyrically the song is making you wonder, or soothes you, or is troubling you. Or maybe the lyrics seem like candy but something musical seems to be poking you in the eye. Duality of meaning is common in One Brave Soul songs. You could very easily write out several different meanings to each song and all of them would be right. But overall, I hope people get a good vibe from our songs. We are not a negative band by any stretch of the imagination. I am just a huge fan of art that seems incredibly odd... yet somehow in the end leaves you happy and satisfied. Like a Robert Smith song or a Tim Burton movie.
-kip

By the time they produced their third album, ACHE and the 4 track 12" single DIE TOMORROW, The Cateran were edging closer to finally shaking off the Hüsker Dü comparisons that had dogged them since they formed in Inverness in the mid 1980s. With these two releases they were creating their own sound, merging layer upon layer of grungy guitars and delicate harmonies into a sonic maelstrom that only found its true expression in the bands increasingly intense and unstable live performances. High spots for the band included joyfully chaotic European tours, an abysmal BBC Radio One session and a couple of disastrous TV appearances. More memorably and despite the earlier unfavourable comparisons, the band played with Grant Hart on his first UK appearances after the demise of Hüsker Dü. They also had close links with such luminaries as Nirvana, Mega City Four, Bitch Magnet, Lemonheads and many more. Shortly after the release of Ache, Andy Milne left the band and was replaced by Willie Murray on drums. An acrimonious split followed soon after, which saw Kai and Murdo move on to form the Joyriders before eventually going their separate ways. There are no reports of Cameron having done anything post Cateran.