Grandaddy
was an indie rock group from Modesto, California, United States.
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GRANDADDY TICKETS
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Biography
Grandaddy was formed in
1992 by
singer/
guitarist/
keyboardist Jason Lytle,
bassist Kevin Garcia, and
drummer
Aaron Burtch. In
1995, guitarist
Jim Fairchild and keyboardist
Tim Dryden joined the band.
Musically, the band features guitars (both in the
indie rock style and in a fashion calling
Jeff Lynne to mind), keyboards reminiscent of
Philip Glass's minimalist style and vocals in the key of
Neil Young. The band's musical style often combines experimental electronic sounds with elements of folk and rock.
Lyrics generally focus on isolation in a high-tech world
grafted onto
rural America. Common themes in the band's music are
wildlife, obsolete
technology,
robots, incompetency and heartbreak. Lyricist Jason Lytle spent time working in a
sewage treatment facility, which heavily influenced many of the songs on
The Sophtware Slump
.
Around the time that
The Sophtware Slump
was released, Grandaddy was invited to open for
Elliott Smith on his tour for
Figure 8
. On some nights, Smith would join Grandaddy onstage and sing lead vocals on portions of "He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's the Pilot".
"A.M. 180" from
Under the Western Freeway
was featured prominently during a sequence in the
2002 British film
28 Days Later
, and is also used as the title music for the BBC Four series
Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe and for an advert for
Colin Murray's
BBC Radio 1 show. As of April 2008, "A.M. 180" also is being used in television commercials for the Dodge Journey automobile. Starting in late
2005, the Grandaddy song "
Nature Anthem" could be heard in a
Honda Civic Hybrid
television commercial and is currently heard in a
Coca Cola commercial.
On
January 27 2006, Jason Lytle announced that the band had decided to split up. This was partially due to their work ethic in not releasing music on major labels or playing at typical
Ticketmaster/
Clear Channel sponsored venues. Lytle spoke to
NME: "It was inevitable...On one hand our stubbornness has paid off, but on the other hand refusing to buy into the way things are traditionally supposed to be done has made things worse for us... The realistic part is it hasn't proved to be a huge money-making venture for a lot of guys in the band." He also revealed that the band had a meeting in downtown Modesto during December
2005 to decide on the group's future. The meeting was tense and filled with the airing of grievances, but "far from blows." The feeling at the meeting was described by Lytle as the result of a breakdown in communication between the band members.
[1]
The band did not tour after the release of their final album,
Just Like the Fambly Cat
, though Lytle stated that he intends to continue making music, and embarked on a couple of quiet solo tours. He has moved from Modesto to
Montana.
In the spring of 2008, Lytle launched his own website , stating that he is working on a solo album to be released in 2008. In September 2008, Lytle gave an interview on local radio station
KGLT in
Bozeman, Montana in which he stated that his solo album would be called
Yours Truly, the Commuter
and would be released "early 2009". The album was eventually released on May 19th, 2009 on the
ANTI- record label.
In April 2007 Jim Fairchild put out his first solo record on
Dangerbird Records, entitled
Ten Readings of a Warning
, under the name
All Smiles. He currently lives and works in
Portland, Oregon. He has completed the second All Smiles album entitled
Oh For the Getting and Not Letting Go
, due to be released on June 30.
Jim Fairchild has also played for the bands
Giant Sand,
Great Northern,
Lackthereof, and
Modest Mouse.
[2]
Aaron Burtch is now in a band called
The Good Luck Thrift Store Outfit.
[3]
Discography
Self-released albums
- 1992 Prepare to Bawl
- 1994 Recorded Live Amongst Friends And Fidget
- 1994 Complex Party Come Along Theories
- 1997 Live at the Art Factory
Studio albums
- 1997 Under the Western Freeway
- 2000 The Sophtware Slump
- 2003 Sumday
- 2006 Just Like the Fambly Cat
Compilations
- 1999 The Broken Down Comforter Collection
- 2000 The Windfall Varietal
- 2002 Concrete Dunes
- 2004 Below the Radio
(songs by other artists compiled by Jason Lytle)
Contributions
- 1997 Zum Audio Vol. 2
- "Ghost of 1672"
- 2000 It's a Cool Cool Christmas
(XFM's benefit compilation album) - "Alan Parsons in a Winter Wonderland"
- 2002 I am Sam
Soundtrack - "Revolution"
- 2002 28 Days Later: The Soundtrack Album
- "A.M. 180"
- 2007 Acoustic 07
- "Rear View Mirror"
EPs
- 1996 A Pretty Mess by This One Band
- 1998 Machines Are Not She
- 1999 Signal to Snow Ratio
- 2001 Through a Frosty Plate Glass
- 2005 Excerpts from the Diary of Todd Zilla
Singles
- 1994 "Could This Be Love"
- 1995 "Taster"/"Nebraska"
- 1998 "Everything Beautiful Is Far Away"
- 1998 "Laughing Stock"
- 1998 "Summer Here Kids"
- 1998 "A.M. 180"
- 2000 "The Crystal Lake"
- 2000 "Hewlett's Daughter"
- 2000 "Alan Parsons in a Winter Wonderland" (Note: Promo single)
- 2000 "He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's the Pilot"
- 2001 "The Crystal Lake" (re-issue)
- 2003 "Now It's On"
- 2003 "El Caminos in the West"
- 2004 "I'm on Standby"/"Stray Dog and the Chocolate Shake"
- 2004 "Nature Anthem"
- 2006 "Elevate Myself"
Split singles
- "MGM Grand Single" (2000) (Note: Split single with John Wayne Shot Me)
- "Fishing Boat Song" (2000) (Note: Split single with Persil and Beachwood Sparks available with Devil in the Woods
magazine)
- "The Rugged and Splintered Entertainment Center" (2003) (Note: Split single with The Polyphonic Spree)
- "Aisle Seat 37-D" (2003) (Note: Split single with Verbena available with Devil in the Woods
magazine)
References
- Exclusive - Grandaddy split up | News | NME.COM
- Interview with Jim Fairchild of All Smiles (formerly Grandaddy)
- [1]