Athenaeum was an alternative pop rock four-piece band from Greensboro, North Carolina, USA formed in 1990 at an eighth grade dance by Nic Brown and Mark Kano.

After several personnel changes, Kano and Brown recorded an eight song EP in 1995 with bassist Alex McKinney and lead guitarist Grey Brewster. The "Green Album," as it is widely known, sold about 10,000 copies.

In 1996 the band was signed by Atlantic Records. They released their major label debut, Radiance, in 1998. The first single, "What I Didn't Know," was a minor hit. During the recording phase for their next album, Brown left the band to attend college. He was replaced by Jeremy Vogt, who performed with the likes of Tonic and The Connells. Brewster also dissolved his membership with the group and was replaced by Mike Garrigan, the lead singer and songwriter of Collapsis.

This new line up played their first show on March 31, 2001, at Ziggy's in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The new set included Garrigan's Collapsis anthem, "October". [correction they actually played their first show with this lineup in Boone, NC]

Athenaeum's sophomore album Athenaeum was released on September 18, 2001. However, it received little promotion in the wake of the September 11th attacks.

Athenaeum was eventually dropped by Atlantic Records. They toured for an additional three years and released their final record, Hourglass, a collection of rare outtakes and demos, before performing their last show at Ziggy's in Winston-Salem, North Carolina on December 28, 2004.

Kano and Garrigan subsequently formed the band mg4 (with Alex McKinney, the original bassist for Athenaeum and Jeremy Vogt), who released an EP in the summer of 2004 titled Gravity Affects Me. "mg4" continues touring to date and information on shows can be found at Mike Garrigan's official website.

Discography and stand-out tracks :
- Radiance (1998): "What I Didnt know", "Flat Tire", "Radiance"
- Athenaeum (2001) : "Comfort", "Frozen in time", "Suddenly"
- Hourglass (2002) : "On Her Way", "Family Tree", "One Day at a time"

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