Giant Sand

Giant Sand (currently recording as Giant Giant Sand) is an American band from Tucson, Arizona. Its most constant member is singer-songwriter Howe Gelb. The group started as Giant Sandworms in the late 1970s post-punk and paisley underground scenes. They later shortened their name and developed an idiosyncratic sound rooted in alternative country but touching on a wide range of other styles and featuring Gelb's beatnik-influenced vocals and songwriting.[1]

Giant Sand
Giant Sand performing in Faenza, Italy in 2006
Background information
Also known asGiant Sandworms, Giant Giant Sand
OriginTucson, Arizona
GenresAlternative rock, americana, roots rock, alternative country
Years active1985–present
LabelsFire Records (UK) / Loose Music
Websitehowegelb.com
MembersHowe Gelb
Thøger T. Lund
Anders Pedersen
Peter Dombernowsky
Nicolaj Heyman
Brian Lopez
Gabriel Sullivan
Jon Villa
Iris Jakobsen
Asger Christensen
Maggie Björklund
Lonna Kelley
Past membersJohn Convertino
Joey Burns
Rainer Ptacek
Chris Cacavas
Paula Jean Brown
Tom Larkins
Iain Shedden
Andrew Collberg
Billy Sedlmayr

Members have included keyboardist Chris Cacavas (of Green on Red),[2] bassist Paula Jean Brown (who was briefly a member of The Go-Go's and was married to Gelb at the time),[3] Mark Walton (of The Dream Syndicate and Continental Drifters), drummer Tom Larkins (later to become a Jonathan Richman sideman).[4] and Iain Shedden, drummer with Australian band The Saints. For a long while the band's rhythm section consisted of John Convertino and Joey Burns (of Calexico fame). In the early 2000s Howe Gelb reinvented the band again – this time with players from Denmark.

Guest artists over the last 3 decades have included Victoria Williams, Neko Case, Juliana Hatfield, PJ Harvey, Vic Chesnutt, Steve Wynn, Vicki Peterson, Rainer Ptacek, M. Ward, Isobel Campbell, nearly all members of the band Poi Dog Pondering, and Indiosa Patsy Jean (Gelb and Brown's daughter).[5]

Discography

Giant Sand
  • 1985: Valley of Rain (Enigma Records)
  • 1986: Ballad of a Thin Line Man (Zippo)
  • 1988: The Love Songs (Homestead)
  • 1988: Storm (What Goes On)
  • 1989: Long Stem Rant (Homestead)
  • 1990: Swerve (Demon)
  • 1991: Ramp (Restless/Rough Trade)
  • 1992: Center of the Universe (Restless)
  • 1994 Stromausfall (Return to Sender)
  • 1993: Purge & Slouch (Brake Out)
  • 1994: Glum (Imago)
  • 1995: Goods and Services (Brake Out)
  • 1995: Backyard Barbecue Broadcast (Koch)
  • 1997: Official Bootleg Series Volume 1: Build Your Own Night It's Easy (¡Epiphany!)
  • 2000: Chore of Enchantment (Loose)
  • 2000: Official Bootleg Series Volume 2: The Rock Opera Years (OW OM Finished Recorded Products)
  • 2001: Official Bootleg Series Volume 3: Unsungglum (OW OM Finished Recorded Products)
  • 2001: Selections Circa 1990–2000 (V2 Records Benelux)
  • 2002: Cover Magazine (Thrill Jockey)
  • 2002: Infiltration of Dreams (Mucchio Extra)
  • 2003: Official Bootleg Series Volume 5: Too Many Spare Parts in the Yard Too Close at Hand (OW OM Recorded Products)
  • 2004: Is All Over the Map (Thrill Jockey)
  • 2008: *proVISIONS* (Thrill Jockey)
  • 2008: Provisional Supplement (OW OM Recorded Products)
  • 2010: Blurry Blue Mountain (Fire)
  • 2015: Heartbreak Pass (New West)
  • 2018: Returns To Valley Of Rain (Fire)
  • 2019: Recounting The Ballads Of Thin Line Men (Fire)

Giant Giant Sand
  • 2012: Tucson; a Country Rock Opera (Fire)

Melted Wires
  • 2010 Melted Wires (self-released)

Howe Gelb
  • 2011: Snarl Some Piano (Scatterland)

Filmography
  • "Good Luck Suckers" Giant Sand's concert at the Trabendo in Paris – France 2016

Editing in DVD with the documentary "Sounds of Tucson" – Director Guillaume Dero – La Huit.

  • Score for Ingenius (2011) – feature film with Jeremy Renner (Bleiberg Distribution)
  • High and Dry: Where the Desert Meets Rock and Roll (2006) – a documentary about Tucson musicians which includes music and interviews with Giant Sand members[6]
  • Drunken Bees (1996) – a documentary about Giant Sand by Marianne Dissard.

References
  1. Jason Ankeny. Giant Sand: Biography, Allmusic.com, accessed March 27, 2019
  2. Lepper, Joe (January 27, 2012). "Giant Sand – Highlights from Fire Records' 25th anniversary 16 Album Reissue Series". No Depression. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  3. Stance, Frankerton (May 1, 2006). "Howe Gelb". Crooked Rain. Retrieved August 2, 2008.
  4. "Jonathan Richman Biography". High Road Touring. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  5. Archived September 21, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  6. unattributed (2007). "High and Dry: Where the Desert Meets Rock 'n Roll". Upstairs Film. Retrieved August 2, 2008.
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