Grandaddy

Infobox musical artist
Name = Grandaddy


Img_capt =
Background = group_or_band
Origin = Modesto, California, USA
Genre = Indie rock Psychedelic pop revival
Years_active = 1992–2006
Label = V2 Records
URL = [http://www.grandaddylandscape.com/ Official website]
Past_members = Jason Lytle Kevin Garcia Jim Fairchild Tim Dryden Aaron Burtch

Grandaddy was an indie rock group from Modesto, California, United States.

Biography

Grandaddy was formed in 1992 by singer/guitarist/keyboardist Jason Lytle, guitarist Jim Fairchild , bassist Kevin Garcia, and drummer Aaron Burtch. In 1995, 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. [ [http://www.nme.com/news/grandaddy/22068 Exclusive - Grandaddy split up | News | NME.COM ] ]

The band did not tour after the release of their final album, "Just Like the Fambly Cat". Lytle has stated that he intends to continue making music, and has embarked a couple of quiet solo tours. He has also moved from Modesto to Montana. He has also recently announced that he is starting to record some solo work. No release dates have been announced, nor is it clear if Lytle has a record deal. In the spring of 2008, Jason Lytle launched his own website [http://www.jasonlytle.com/] . The website states that the title of the solo album will be Sew Low Owl Bum, and that it will be released in 2008, although no specific release date is given. On the 19th of May, Jason Lytle created an account on Myspace. According to the information on his profile page, he is currently unsigned.

In April 2007 Jim Fairchild put out his first solo record on Dangerbird Records, entitled "10 Reading of a Warning", under the name All Smiles. He currently lives and works in Portland, Oregon. He has just completed the second All Smiles album entitled "Oh For the Getting and Not Letting Go".Jim Fairchild has also played for the bands Giant Sand, Great Northern, Lackthereof, and Modest Mouse. [ [http://www.perfectporridge.com/2007/05/24/interview-with-jim-fairchild-of-all-smiles-formerly-grandaddy/ Interview with Jim Fairchild of All Smiles (formerly Grandaddy) ] ]

Aaron Burtch is now in a band called The Good Luck Thrift Store Outfit which also features Chris Doud who was once part of the band Built Like Alaska, as well as Will Taylor, Matt Cordano, and Taylor Webster, formally from the band The Puffin Billies.

Discography

elf-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"

tudio 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 (compilation)"
*2000 "XFM It's a Cool Cool Christmas" benefit compilation
*2002 "I Am Sam (soundtrack)"
*2002 ""

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

External links

* [http://grandaddylandscape.com/ Grandaddy official website]
* [http://grandaddylandscape.com/discography/ Grandaddy complete illustrated Discography on the official website]
* [http://talkscape.grandaddylandscape.com/ Grandaddy official message board]
* [http://www.stewdio.org/jed/ Grandaddy official music video for "Jed's Other Poem (Beautiful Ground)"]
* [http://www.jasonlytle.com/ Official website for Jason Lytle]
* [http://www.myspace.com/jasonlytle/ Jason Lytle's MySpace page]