South Jersey's powerhouse trio Whiskey Grin was founded by Jim Mayberry (guitars) and John Tidwell (bass and lead vocals). These two life-long friends started their first band together in their teens under the name Exodus (A.D.). While John disappeared into obscurity to raise kids and serve as a church musician and worship leader, Jim became best known for recording and touring the East Coast with his original heavy metal band "Sanctum", opening for national acts like Pantera and Savatage, whose founding members went on to create Trans Siberian Orchestra. Sanctum's debut album "Believers", is still one of the most sought after underground metal CD's of all time.
On drums is the man known as "Dreem", who has been one of the most in demand drummers in the South Jersey club scene, playing everything from country, to R&B, to heavy metal. As a part of the hard rock band "Now", Dreem has opened up for national acts such as Blue Oyster Cult, The Pretenders, .38 Special, and Jason Bonham.
Somewhere around 2008, Jim and John reconnected with their former Exodus (A.D.) bandmates to rerecord the 30+ songs they wrote together in their first band. The project took a few years to complete but from that reunion and those recording sessions, the itch to "get the band back together" kicked in, and so, in 2013 Whiskey Grin was born. During those initial years Whiskey Grin honed their craft working the cover scene in South Jersey and the Greater Philadelphia Area where they brought their own defiant signature style to rock classics, and soon began integrating their own originals with powerful 3 part harmonies, hook-laden guitar riffs, and rock-solid drumbeats. By 2016 they began work on their debut cd as they continued to bring their unique and powerful tunes to venues all throughout the South Jersey and Philly area as they continue to expand their territory throughout the Tri-State area and beyond. In 2019 they toured with Chad Szeliga's band Walking With Lions, and up and coming artists Silence No More and John Garcia and the Hopeless Romantics. In addition to being a major force in the Philadelphia Rock Music scene, they've opened up for Cheap Trick, Pat Travers, Faster Pussycat, Kickin' Valentina, Roxy Blue, HammerFall, and Flotsam and Jetsam.
Their debut CD of 9 original songs was released in 2018. Philly Rock Radio called it "collection of great songs you will want to hear again and again". It's available on most streaming platforms. Make sure you get out and see this one-of-a-kind power trio.
