“Without the Harmonix game “Rockband”, Familiar Strangers wouldn’t have existed” says Guitar Player/Singer, Todd Graham.
Familiar Strangers, The Northshore based Acoustic Pop band credits the wildly successful video game for bringing them together.
“I had never played a musical instrument in my life until I learned how to play drums using the drum kit that came with the game. I haven’t stopped since.” says Percussionist Kenny Nestle.
Originally, Todd Graham was set to release a solo album entitled “Familiar Strangers” with alot of the material that appeared on the bands first E.P. “Uplifting”…However an unfortunate incident in Kenny’s love life prompted the change of the aforementioned solo album by Graham.
Kenny and Todd then tasked themselves with writing a song about the situation. Once completed the duo had their first song, “Whenever I’m Close To You”. After the completion of the song, the boys decided that maybe this music thing would be better if they were a group as opposed to a solo act. Kenny, a fan of the album title Todd had selected, made the suggestion that the band be called “Familiar Strangers”
Since 2012, Kenny and Todd have been playing all around the Northshore, Including Notable appearences at The Topsfield Fair, Witchstock, and the bands “Home Base”, The Walnut Street Cafe.
“We keep it simple, relatable, and catchy, and that’s the way the fans like it, so that’s what we will keep doing.”
Familiar Strangers 