Cover band Not Quite Brothers brings familiar hits to Cedar Rapids

Not Quite Brothers is a curious moniker for a band that features twins. Vocalist Sam Johnson and guitarist Isaac Johnson are fraternal twins.

"But I'm not their sibling," guitarist Cooper Corcoran explained while calling from Des Moines. "We're not quite brothers. I'm the odd man out."

In terms of music, that's not so. When it comes to sonics, the Johnsons and Corcoran are brothers in arms. Each member of the band, none of which were born in the prior century, came of age in Cedar Falls listening to the sounds their parents played. Each member of the group, which also includes bassist Nathan Klein and drummer Ben Schmelzer, embraced recording artists of the '70s and '80s, which is what Not Quite Brothers delivers during their sets.

"I grew up loving Aerosmith and Motley Crue even though they were popular well before I was born," Corcoran said. "We all grew up on what our parents listened to."

The Johnsons and Corcoran did not suffer from a misspent youth. Not Quite Brothers is a cover band that delivers eclectic sets, which draws from their childhood jukebox.

"I grew up on Van Halen, Guns N' Roses, Aerosmith, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and Led Zeppelin. Those are some of the greatest rock bands ever. People respond to our songs. I love watching how people react to an AC/DC song. They love it,“ Corcoran said.

Not Quite Brothers, which will perform Saturday, Oct. 4 at the Paramount Theatre, gives the audience what it wants. That means sometimes stepping out of the box and delivering a pop tune out of the '90s from a recording artist such as Shania Twain.

"It's fun for us to play songs from someone like Shania," Corcoran said. "It's a good time playing her material like it's fun playing Ozzy Osbourne songs. Our guitarist (Isaac Johnson) is an Ozzy freak, who loves Zakk Wylde (who was Osbourne's guitarist from 1987 to 1995). When you play in a band, I believe there should be no borders. And I'm big on what was from back in the day. I love the sound from that era."

Corcoran is such a throwback that his favorite band is Blackberry Smoke, a young band out of Atlanta that embraces Southern rock with a bit of gospel and R&B tossed into the mix for good measure.

"Blackberry Smoke is amazing," Corcoran said. "They rock."

Each Not Quite Brothers show is capped with Guns 'N Roses' signature song "Sweet Child of Mine."

"How can we not close with that song," Corcoran said. "’Sweet Child of Mine’ is a piece of history. I look back at the '60s, the '70s and '80s, and it was such a great time for music. I like the gear the bands played with then and the overall song structure from those eras. I love that bands from that era were all about being original. I just don't see a lot of that authenticity in music today."

Corcoran and Johnson's parents are proud of their children's gig.

"They absolutely love what we're doing," Corcoran said. "There is nothing cooler than being in a band and seeing your parents in the audience. A close second is seeing your teachers in the crowd. They gave us hell for playing our music, but I've seen some of our teachers out there at our shows and that's just amazing."

Corcoran's parents fueled their son's musical fire by taking their son to shows in Cedar Rapids.

"We would drive in and see bands like Def Leppard, Tesla and REO Speedwagon, and it was so cool," Corcoran said." I have nothing but thanks for my mom and dad for driving into Cedar Rapids for the concerts. All of the stuff I heard and saw had an impact. I wouldn't be where I am now without that experience."