Brown comes home to Broomfield for Broomstock

It might not do much for the rock star reputation of Andrew Brown, lead guitarist for OneRepublic, but the people who knew him growing up in Broomfield think he was a pretty decent guy.

OneRepublic was dropped by Columbia Records two months before the release of its debut album, but when it became the No. 1 unsigned band on MySpace, the band was the first picked up and signed by Timbaland`s Mosley Music Group. Since then, “Apologize” became the largest Top 40 hit in the history of the charts, with 10,306 spins a week.

Brown will be home next week. OneRepublic will play the nightcap to the all-day Broomstock music fest.

Broomstock was started 11 years ago by Broomfield High School students to celebrate the end of the school year. It has grown into a must-attend event for youth from across the north-metro area and moved from Community Park to the roomier confines of Broomfield County Commons. The jam runs all day May 27, with Brown`s OneRepublic wrapping up the day with its show at the 1stBank Center that night.

Growing up, Brown was your typical band geek (drums) and orchestra nerd (bass).

“All my kids were in orchestra,” Drew`s mom, Barbara, said. Drew has two younger sisters, Kendall and Abby.

“He didn`t come into his own until his high school career,” said Drew`s Broomfield Heights Middle School band director, Mike Kreeger. “He was the average middle schooler as far as band goes.”

Kreeger said his son, Drew, actually played in some of Brown`s garage bands early on, performing at local coffee shops.

Chris Stahr, who has known Brown since elementary school, remembered listening to him play.

“He was just a kid strumming chords,” he said, adding that Brown just kept playing and kept getting better.

His mom remembers Brown always being musical. When the family was all packed up for a road trip, he would come running out with a guitar.

“My husband would always find room,” she said.

Stahr remembered listening to one of Brown`s earlier bands, Faster Avenue, which had a faster, more punk rock vibe. What does he think about the polished pop of Drew`s latest venture?

“I`d rather listen to OneRepublic,” he said.

Stahr worked with Brown at Big Dog Deli, and remembers Brown being a “total slacker.”

“He`d always find ways to get off early,” he said.

He also said Brown was always into music and has a “really cool family,” and they still keep in touch. In fact, they had just talked on the phone 30 minutes ago, he said.

(Brown was not available for interviews by press time because he was shooting a music video.)

The deli`s owner, Pete Walsh, doesn`t remember it that way.

“One of my best employees,” Walsh said. “He was a really interesting person, really smart, with a sly sense of humor.”

Asked if those were the qualities he looked for in an employee, he answered, “I have to work here.”

Brown`s sister also worked at the deli, and both do “guest dogs,” which is when past employees slip behind the counter and start making sandwiches, which Brown is still known to do when he`s in town.

He also worked for his aunt, Cindy Lamontagne, at Burritos to Go.

“He could pick up and play anything,” she said, adding he was always taking things apart to figure out how they worked.

As a kid, she remembers going to McDonald`s, and her nephew opened a bunch of ketchup packets and mined the playground, so they`d squirt when kids crawled over them.

“He always had a sense of humor,” she said, adding his wit is the first thing most people mention about him.

Brown`s mom said her son hung out with a whole group of creative kids who have gone on to be in bands.

“Broomfield is such a small town,” she said, adding Brown is an example of how it “takes a village.”

She can recall countless times other parents would pitch in to drive him home from the airport or get him to Scouts.

“He`s not a rock star,” she said.

He was just your average Broomfielder, like a lot of others who didn`t happen to hit it big, she said.