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Sons of Maxwell is a Canadian music duo who perform both traditional Celtic folk music and original compositions with a pop-folk sound. The duo consists of brothers Don and Dave Carroll, originally from Timmins, Ontario and now living in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Don and Dave began singing together while in college.
The band became an international media sensation in July 2009 when the band released a country song and music video, "United Breaks Guitars," explaining how United Airlines personnel poorly handled and damaged their luggage and then refused to take responsibility or compensate for the loss.
Career
While attending university the two brothers Don and Dave Carroll began to sing together. After graduation they began their professional music career. Sons of Maxwell has toured extensively both in Canada and internationally. The group was won an East Coast Music Award in 2006 for the Vibe Marketing Country Recording of the Year with Sunday Morning. The Sons of Maxwell also won an ECMA in 2002 for Roots Traditional Group of the Year with Among The Living. They are 5 time ECMA nominees.
United Airlines incident
On March 31, 2008, the band was flying from Halifax to Omaha, Nebraska on United Airlines while on tour. While waiting to take off from O'Hare following a stopover in Chicago, passengers noticed that baggage handlers were carelessly tossing guitars. Dave Carroll notified flight attendants that the band's instruments were being mishandled but to no avail, and when the band arrived in Omaha, he discovered his $3,500 Taylor guitar had been substantially damaged.
After months of contacting the company and being pushed from person to person, each saying it was not their problem, Carroll told United he would write three songs and produce videos for each about the airline and how they treated his complaint indifferently. The first single, titled simply "United Breaks Guitars" premiered on YouTube on July 6, 2009, and quickly became a sensation. The video achieved 3 million views within its first ten days on Youtube.
Soon after the video's success, United contacted Carroll and said they hoped to settle the matter soon. In an interview with the CBC, Carroll said United mentioned they may change their customer service policy as a result of the incident. United also claimed they wanted to use the video and song as a "training aid" for baggage handling.
Personal life
The Carroll brothers also serve as volunteer firefighters in Halifax. According to several newspapers carrying the "United Breaks Guitars" story, Dave was 41 years old when he posted the first "United #1" video to YouTube (Born in 1968 or 1969). However, a pre-YouTube sensation myspace page last accessed in September 2008 states he is 34 years old, single, and Pisces (Born between February 18 - March 20, 1975). Note: The referenced MySpace page was canceled 12 hours after appearing as a reference in Misplaced Pages Dave Carroll is married to Jill Carroll, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Discography
Albums
| Year | Album |
|---|---|
| 1993 | Sons of Maxwell |
| 1994 | Bold Frontier |
| 1998 | Live at Tim's House |
| The Neighbourhood | |
| 2000 | Sailor's Story |
| 2001 | Among the Living |
| Instant Christmas | |
| 2004 | Sunday Morning |
Singles
| Year | Single | CAN Country | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | "The Neighbourhood" | The Neighbourhood | |
| 1999 | "And We Danced" | 54 | |
| "Oceanside Again" | |||
| 2000 | "Queen of Argyle" | ||
| 2001 | "So Confusing" | Among the Living | |
| 2002 | "Burning Bridges" | ||
| 2004 | "The Best of Things" | Sunday Morning | |
| 2005 | "Uphill Battle" |
References
- Sons of Maxwell visit Riverview Arts Centre This Month. This Week, November 10, 2007. Accessed December 26, 2007.
- Rock Groups lead ECMA Nominations. CBC News, January 11, 2006. Accessed December 26, 2007.
- United Breaks Guitars - Dave Carroll Blog. Accessed July 8, 2009.
- United Breaks Guitars video - YouTube
- Broken guitar song gets airline's attention CBC News. Online, July 8, 2009. Accessed July 8, 2009.
- http://www.myspace.com/davecarrollmusic
- http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=F.91daee63-0589-4f16-bda8-825d58dbc419
- http://travel.latimes.com/daily-deal-blog/index.php/guitarist-and-united-4858/